Winter 2020 > Academic Policies and Procedures > Attendance Policy

Attendance Policy

Class attendance, preparation, and participation are integral to a student's academic success.  Active attendance is determined by a student's continued participation and attendance in registered courses.  Students are urged to be accountable for in class time and outside of class time. As a result, students will be withdrawn from a class for any the following reasons:

1. Lack of recorded attendance by the end of the add/drop period.
2. Lack of recorded attendance for fourteen (14) consecutive calendar dates, excluding holiday and schedule breaks.
3. Violation of modality specific requirements as stated below:

Attendance Policy Details by Delivery Modality

(1) Face-to-Face Courses: Each student participating in a face-to-face course is expected to actively participate through in-person, on campus attendance in each defined course. Absences in excess of the limits stated below will result in a grade of “WF”.

*Students are required to make-up any missed clinical hours. 

Please note because of the unique requirement of each academic offering, additional details are provided below. Students are also advised to review their programmatic handbook.

Pharmacy: Students scheduled for an approved APPE term who will not be actively engaged for up to 45 days will be considered enrolled if they submit a signed "Intent to Return" form to the Financial Aid Office prior to their last date of attendance in the previous semester.  

Clinical Attendance Policy – Nursing

Students are expected to be on time, present and prepared to begin all clinical* shifts at the scheduled start time. Students are not to contact the clinical site directly for a make-up experience. There are no excused clinical absences.

• If a student submits a documented extenuating circumstance** and it is approved, the student will be required to make up the absence by attending/completing a campus specific activity.
• If the absence is not approved, the student will be required to make up the absence by attending/completing a campus specific activity, and the student will lose eligibility for the following programs/opportunities:

• Global Public Health
• Oxford Honors Program
• Sigma Theta Tau International – Nursing’s Honor Society
• Eligibility to serve as a Nursing Student Association Officer

• Eligibility to serve as a Peer Assisted Learning Tutor

   

  Clinical absences may result in course withdrawal or failure which in turn could lead to a delay in program progression due to clinical space availability. 

  Clinical Tardiness

  Arrival after the scheduled start time constitutes tardiness.

  • The student will be allowed to remain and participate in the clinical experience at the first occurrence of tardiness, if the clinical site allows.
  • The student will also be assigned additional clinical activities (6 to 8 hours.) by the clinical faculty.
  • Additional clinical activities will be given to the clinical faculty by the Lead instructor and will be related to the course at an advanced level.
  • Documentation of completion of the clinical activities will be submitted to the Lead faculty for grading via e-mail prior to the next clinical shift.

  All subsequent tardiness, and/or failure to complete the clinical activities prior to the next clinical shift will result in the loss of the eligibility for the following programs/opportunities:

• Global Public Health
• Oxford Honors Program
• Sigma Theta Tau International – Nursing’s Honor Society
• Eligibility to serve as a Nursing Student Association Officer
• Eligibility to serve as a Peer Assisted Learning Tutor

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*Clinical:  Denotes skills lab, simulation center or clinical experiences.

**Documented Extenuating Circumstance:  Death in the family; auto accident; illness of self or immediate family member (spouse, child, parent, and grandparent); wedding (if the student informs the course and clinical faculty member(s) no later than week 5 of the previous term).

(2a) Online Courses, Asynchronous Learning: Each student participating in an online course with asynchronous learning (without live instruction) is expected to actively participate through Academically Related Activities ("ARA"), all of which contribute to the students' overall academic goals. 

Academically Related Activities are used to determine a student's official last date of attendance and corresponding enrollment status at the University.  ARAs are also used to determine the effective date of active and withdrawn enrollment statuses. 

The following activities that occur after the course start date and on or before the course end date will be considered Academically Related Activities:  

1. Submission of a gradable assignment, such as a paper, test, exam or quiz.
2. Participation in a gradable online discussion, as directed by an instructor, with classmates, in a way that is substantively and academically related to the enrolled course.  
3. Participation in a gradable online discussion with an instructor (as defined by the University's Guidelines for Substantive Interaction Policy) in a way that is substantively and academically related to the enrolled course.  

The purpose of substantive interaction in an online discussion forum or thread is to promote comprehension of the academic topic through a collaborative, collective and interactive conversation.  Substantive interaction involves a sustained, interactive communication.  A substantive post adds to the discussion and encourages a response from fellow students.  A student's discussion post may include a well thought out opinion that applies ideas relevant to the course content.  It may compare and contrast the posts of others, perceptions of each student experience of facts may also vary based on the student's perception.  In some cases, the values of an outcome may be explored that further expands on the discussion thread.  By substantively interacting, it opens up the lines of communication with fellow classmates and instructors to help foster and promote a deeper academic understanding of the topics discussed in the course, which will contribute to student academic achievement.  Some examples of substantive posts that will be considered an ARA:  

• Making associations between coursework readings and the interactive discussion.  
• Apply lessons from your work, clinical rotations, and/or life to the interactive discussion.  
• Ask additional questions of your classmates.
• Explain why you agree or disagree, offering specific examples to support your beliefs.  
• Craft comprehensive academic thoughts on the academic topic that are at least 25 words.  

Some examples of non-substantive posts that will not be considered an ARA: 

• Discuss topics unrelated to the academic coursework (i.e., the plot line of your favorite television show).
• Mocking or insulting classmates for their opinions.
• Asking questions of the instructor that are not academically substantive in nature or related to the specific course (i.e., "will this test be hard?"). 
• Offering a two word response like "I disagree," without further explanation.  
• Merely logging into an online course without active participation (as described above) does not constitute attendance.
• Work submitted outside the Learning Management System does not count toward attendance.  

A student is considered to be in continuous attendance as long as no more than fourteen (14) calendar days exist between ARAs.

During the add/drop period, students are required to establish class participation by logging into each course before the end of the add/drop period and submit a required assignment/test/quiz/paper.  Students who log into the course(s) within the add/drop period of the term start date but fail to participate academically will be administratively withdrawn from the course(s).  

After the add/drop period, students' participation and substantive interaction for academic attendance will be tracked using the tools within the learning management system (LMS).  Throughout the term, students must participate in such a way as to ensure successful completion of the course by the end of the term (i.e., regularly submitting assignments and continuing to substantively interact with other students and the instructor).  Students are expected to abide by the institution's Attendance Policy and Online Student Attendance Requirements.  Students who do not engage in an ARA for a 14 consecutive calendar day period (excluding holidays and scheduled breaks) will be administratively withdrawn for lack of participation/substantive interaction, resulting in a grade of "W" or "WF" recorded on the student's academic transcript.  

A "class week" for online asynchronous learning courses starts on a Monday and ends on the following Sunday at 11:59 PM PST. 

(2b) Online Courses, Synchronous Learning: Each student participating in an online course with synchronous learning (live instruction) is expected to actively participate through in-person, online attendance in each defined course. Absences in excess of the limits stated in the Face-to-Face section / chart will result in a grade of “WF”.

Online courses with synchronous learning are those in which all students and the faculty are online at the same time (e.g., attend a Blackboard Collaborate video conference class session; take an online quiz, test, or exam; engage in an assigned group in Blackboard Collaborate). Attendance for courses with online synchronous learning is taken in a similar manner as on-ground / face-to-face web enhanced courses (i.e., time spent in live instruction).

(3) Blended Courses: Blended modality courses are subject to both the on-ground / face-to-face course and either the online asynchronous or online synchronous course attendance policies. Online asynchronous or online synchronous learning in blended courses is determined by each academic program.   For blended courses with online synchronous learning, absences in excess of the limits stated in the Face-to-Face section / chart will result in a grade of “WF”.

For blended courses, the "class week" corresponds to the week between the on-campus meeting times.  For example, if the on-campus portion meets on Tuesdays, the related online portion begins that same Tuesday and ends the following Monday at 11:59 PM PST.  

Additional Attendance Policy Details

Determining Last Date of Attendance: A student's last day of attendance will be the last recorded day the student attended an on-ground class or online synchronous class or for those students taking an online asynchronous class, the last day the student participated in an academically related activity, as defined under the Online Course, Asynchronous Learning section. 

Military Duty: Students whose military service requires them to be absent from their scheduled classes will not be penalized.  The student must provide the appropriate program Dean/Director/Chair with written documentation verifying the required military leave and length of time requested.  Students who are absent for more than the maximum allowed absences for the program including time for military service, will need to take a Leave of Absence.

Miami Campus - Veteran's Attendance Policy: Early departures, class cuts, tardies, etc., for any portion of a class period will be counted as unexcused absences.  In addition, each minute missed will be counted toward overall time absent from the course. Additionally, students who exceed the published absence allowances in the University Catalog will be dropped from the course. 

Students exceeding 20% total absences in a calendar month will have their Veteran Affairs Benefits terminated for unsatisfactory attendance. In order to show that the cause of unsatisfactory attendance has been removed, students must show good attendance (as defined) for one calendar month after being terminated for unsatisfactory attendance.  After such time, the student may be recertified for VA education benefits. The student's attendance record will be retained in the veteran's file for USDVA and SAA audit purposes.