Policies/Attendance

From Gerald R. Lucas

Attendance will be taken at every class meeting, either orally or with an attendance sheet. If you come in late, it is your responsibility to ask me for the attendance sheet so that you may sign in. If you fail to do so, you are absent.

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Merely being in the classroom does not count as attending; you must be prepared and ready to participate. Not having your required materials — especially the daily reading — will count as an absence. I’m very serious about this.

MGA Policy

Students whose absences exceed four (4) may be assigned a failing grade for the course at the discretion of the instructor. Two tardies count as one absence.

Remember: what counts here is the physical presence of a body with materials in class; excuses will not help this measurable fact at all. It is your responsibility to discover what was missed in class and any assignments.

Quizzes and in-class activities cannot be made up for any reason. If you miss an exam, you must have valid evidence to show why to be allowed a make-up.

Students with excessive absences or behavioral issues (see Behavior) will also not benefit from a potential qualitative boost of their final grades (see Evaluation § Qualitative).

Online Courses

Evidence of consistent participation is what counts for attendance in an online course. This could be taking a reading quiz, posting to a forum, or making an edit on Wikipedia. Any gaps in participation means an absence. Too many could constitute class failure.