On-ground Courses          

Regular attendance is essential for academic and professional success. Due to the concentration of the course material, regular attendance is mandatory and becomes a part of the student’s permanent record. Excessive absences may result in grade reduction, probation, and/or termination. At the discretion of the Dean or designee, a student can be withdrawn from a course where the student has been absent excessively. In such cases, the student remains financially liable for time enrolled. If a student is withdrawn for excessive absences, readmission is at the discretion of the University.  A student will automatically be withdrawn from the University for missing two consecutive class weeks without notifying the institution.  A student arriving to class beyond the scheduled class time or leaving prior to the scheduled class completion will be considered tardy. Specific information about the attendance policies can be found on the course syllabus. The faculty may consider mitigating circumstances in determining the effect of absences. The student must provide the University with documentation of any mitigating circumstances explaining absences. It should be understood, however, that the fact that an absence was unavoidable or understandable cannot change the fact that the student missed valuable classroom instruction and interaction that is essential to passing the course. In no case can a student attend less than 50% of the scheduled hours and pass the class.
 

Online Courses

Consistent and thoughtful participation in online discussions is essential for academic success online. Therefore, the quality and quantity of discussion threads are assessed.  The discussions will be graded based on frequency and quality.

Frequency: Students are expected to log into the course and post to the threaded discussion topics on at least three separate days per week, beginning no later than Wednesday.  For attendance purposes, the online week begins Sunday at 12:01am and ends on Saturday at 11:59pm.

Quality:  Students are expected to contribute meaningful and thoughtful insights to the discussion. Examples of quality posts include:

• Adding meaningful information to the discussion;
• elaborating on previous comments of peers or faculty;
• presenting explanations of concepts or methods to help fellow students,
• presenting reasons for or against a topic in a persuasive fashion,
• sharing personal experiences that relate to the topic, and
• providing sources such as a URL to enhance a topic being discussed.

Weekly attendance credit is awarded when both the frequency and quality expectations are met.

Time spent in online activities must be equivalent to that which a student would spend in a traditional classroom environment. A student will automatically be withdrawn from the University for missing two consecutive class weeks without notifying the institution.  The faculty may consider mitigating circumstances in determining the effect of absences. The student must provide the University with documentation of any mitigating circumstances explaining absences. It should be understood, however, that the fact that an absence was unavoidable or understandable cannot change the fact that the student missed valuable interaction that is essential to passing the course. In no case can a student attend less than 50% of the scheduled hours and pass the class