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Attendance Policy

Updated for Winter 2021 Semester

Classroom Attendance Policy. Attendance at class and laboratory appointments is expected. Professors prepare an absence policy for each class, which includes an explanation of penalties, if any, for absences, and the procedure for making up work, if such is allowed. It is the responsibility of professors to publish their policies for each class at the beginning of each semester, but it is the students’ responsibility to familiarize themselves with the practices of each professor from whom they are taking classes. Generally speaking, professors will not excuse absences for reasons other than illness, authorized school trips, or emergencies beyond the students’ control.

Students are not penalized if they incur absences while participating in school-authorized activities, but they are held responsible for work they miss. It is their responsibility to initiate arrangements to make up their assignments. One and one-half absences are given for missing a 75-minute class, two for missing a 100-minute class, etc.

Students who are on conditional standing are not eligible to participate in extra-curricular trips if the trip would require them to miss more than one day of classes per semester.

For inclusion in each Winter 2021 syllabus:

To enhance the safety of face-to-face classroom, the university has implemented several safety measures for in-person classes, in keeping with appropriate guidelines. These include, but are not limited to, reducing classroom occupancy, implementing physical distancing where possible, and utilizing personal protective equipment (e.g. masks). Refusal to follow guidelines or comply with safety measures will result in students being asked to leave class. Students refusing to follow established safety measures may also be subject to additional disciplinary action from the university. 

In keeping with the Southern Adventist University attendance policy found in the current university catalog, and in order to ensure the safety of students, staff, and faculty, students who are ill, have been exposed to anyone who is COVID-positive in the last 14 days, or have any of the following symptoms, should not attend face-to-face classes.
    • A recently developed cough
    • Have lost taste or smell
    • Any of the following symptoms in the last two days
      • Chills
      • Headache
      • Muscle pain
      • Sore throat
      • Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
Students who feel ill are encouraged to contact the University Health Center or another health provider as soon as possible. Students may be asked to present documentation from a health provider to be excused for repeated absences from class due to illness. Students must communicate with their professor before any absence or within 24 hours from missed class meetings.

Students who miss required class, clinicals, or lab periods for illness or COVID quarantine or isolation will be provided accommodations that may include:
    • synchronous live streaming 
    • asynchronous viewing of recordings
    • other methods as deemed appropriate. 
Students who are absent due to quarantine or isolation for COVID, will be officially excused from class by Academic Administration. Students who choose to self-isolate should contact the University Health Center or another health provider. Quarantined and isolated students must communicate with professors ahead of time (or as early as possible) to make the necessary arrangements to complete all assignments.