Attendance

Discipline

The faculty member shall have jurisdiction over the classroom and shall take measures to maintain discipline in conformity with the regulations of the University.

Cancellation of Class Meeting

If the faculty member is not present ten minutes after the scheduled beginning of a class, the class is cancelled. The class will select one class member to report the cancellation to the Department Chair/School Director of the appropriate academic department/school or the Dean of the College.

Class Attendance

Students are expected to be on time for all scheduled classes and laboratory sections and are responsible for handing in all required work on time.

Faculty are responsible for clearly stating the course attendance policy on the syllabus. Unless stated otherwise, the maximum number of all permitted absences (excused or unexcused) is twice the number of times the course meets per week.

If this policy is stated on the syllabus faculty members may remove students from his/her class roster whose total absences, excused or un-excused exceeds the number of permitted absences.  The students will be assigned a grade of W if the report of their absences is made no later than the withdrawal date (60% day of the term), and a grade of F if the absences are reported after that date.

If the faculty member chooses to enforce this policy, when a student is within one absence of the maximum number of permitted absences, the faculty member must send an email warning of impending dismissal from class with a grade of W or F to the student and student’s advisor. If a student does not resume academic activities following the warning email notice, the faculty member can request the removal of the student from the class with an appropriate grade (W or F).  The request will be emailed to the Registrar and copied to the student’s advisor and the Department Chair of the course. The request must include a copy of the warning communication to the student as well as the last date of attendance.

Faculty may allow students with passing grades to exceed the maximum number of permitted absences 15% limit.

Students who have not attended a class within the first six days of the term will be reported by the faculty to the Registrar on the last day to Add/Drop period.  The Registrar will drop these students from classes they never attended.  There is no record of dropped courses on transcripts. Exceptions may be granted to students who are unavoidably absent as defined by the excused absence section of this policy.

If a student does not participate in any academic activity for any 14 consecutive calendar days while school is in session, after the add/drop period, the faculty will notify the student’s advisor, Registrar (registrar@norwich.edu) and the Center for Student Success (success@norwich.edu)  via an Excessive Absence form, within two business days after the 14 consecutive calendar days of no academic activity while school is in session after the add/drop period ends. The notification will include the date of student’s last academic activity (such as in-person class attendance, submission of an assignment or a test, email discussion of an academic topic, etc.). This action will result in the withdrawal of the student from the class with grade of W (prior to 60% day of term) or F (after 60% day). Student may be subject to financial aid re-payment, based on the date of the last academic activity.

On the last day to withdraw from classes (60% day of the term), faculty will submit to the Registrar a report with names of all students who stopped being academically active in the class, as defined above, who will be Withdrawn with a W grade.

Excused Absences

The following are considered excused absences, by the Provost, who is the authority on academic policy:

• Documented debilitating illness
• Emergency leave, as approved by the Commandant or Dean of Students
• Single-day course field trips, military obligations for students contracted for commissions in the US military and other military obligations beyond the student’s control, varsity athletic contests, and regimental band appearances.
   

For these types of excused absences, students are required to submit a formal notice of their expected absence to their instructors at least six calendar days in advance. Faculty may deny an excused absence for students currently achieving a D+ or lower grade in their course if the faculty member believes that additional absences will be a serious detriment to the student.  Faculty members must promptly notify the coach, or appropriate official, of their denial.

Faculty will, in conjunction with students, schedule a make-up exam or a make-up lab, or other appropriate work in lieu thereof, for students with excused absences.

Students are responsible for all missed coursework.