Students are expected to attend all lecture and laboratory sessions in courses for which they are registered. Absences interfere with the students’ progress and reduce the quality of classroom interaction. Instructors are required to drop all students who never attend a course prior to the 10 percent of the course. Instructors may elect to drop students whose absences exceed 5 percent of all scheduled contact hours for the course. Absences are counted from the first class meeting of the semester.
Students who miss class due to participation in an official college function must notify the instructor prior to the absence. (An official college function is one that has been approved by the appropriate college vice president.) Under normal circumstances, the absence should not result in the students’ total absences exceeding the maximum allowed by the course syllabus. If, however, the absence would result in a violation of the class attendance policy, then students must obtain written approval from the class instructor in order to be eligible to participate in the official college function.
Attendance requirements for each class are printed in the course syllabus distributed by the instructor. In addition, rules governing tardiness and leaving class early are addressed in each instructor’s addendum to the syllabus.
Students are given a course syllabus in every class in which they are enrolled. The syllabus contains the college policy on minimum attendance requirements. This core syllabus is the same for any section of a particular course.
Along with the syllabus, students are given an addendum prepared by the individual faculty member which gives specific information on the instructor’s attendance and lateness policy. The core syllabus will not change during the course (unless advances in knowledge on the topics covered necessitate a change), but the information in the addendum is subject to change. The instructor will notify students of any changes either orally or in writing as early as practicable. Instructors will make every effort to keep changes to a minimum but reserve the right to adjust the course as circumstances or need dictates. Students are responsible for learning about changes if they miss a class period in which a change was announced or given in writing.”