Students are expected to attend every class. (See Seton Hill University Catalog, p. 28-29, “Class Attendance” and “Excused Absences”.) Because a large percentage of your course grade depends on your familiarity with the assigned readings, falling behind or procrastinating can lead to big trouble.

Students with legitimate excuses, and students who don't have good excuses but who want to keep from falling even farther behind, should follow the procedure described below. Seton Hill University recognizes that extra-curricular activities of all sorts are important components of a liberal arts education. Nevertheless:

• Students who miss a class period for any reason are still responsible for the material covered that day.
• An excused absence does not automatically grant an extension for any work collected or assigned that day.

If you must miss a class, I don't mind if you come to the other section's repeat of the same material, but I will still record an unexcused absence from your assigned section -- unless you follow my absence reporting procedure, which I think is really quite reasonable (see below).

If you are absent from class without an excuse approved by the dean of students, on a day when a major assignment is due -- perhaps because you stayed up all night working on a paper and are too tired to attend class -- the assignment will be counted an extra day late. (You might as well go to bed without finishing the paper, come to class so you don't fall farther behind, and then turn in the paper the next morning.)

5.1.1. Emergency Absences

Those who miss class due to an unplanned emergency should submit an “Absence Form,” with proper documentation, as soon as possible.

For each class that you miss, print out and complete an “Absence Form” (available at http://jerz.setonhill.edu/teaching/AbsenceForm.htm). After you initiate this contact, we can discuss when or whether it will be possible for you to make up the work that you missed. Before you contact me, please consult the syllabus and/or a classmate's notes to determine what you missed. (If you ask me to e-mail you a summary of what you missed in class, I will refer you to this document.) For some classroom activities, such as listening to peer oral presentations, there may be no appropriate make-up assignment. (See 5.2 Participation.)

5.1.2. Scheduled Absences

Those who miss class due to a scheduled activity must plan to complete all make-up assignments before the missed class. This typically means that you must submit an acceptable “Absence Form” (see above) before the date you plan to be absent.

If there is insufficient time for us to agree upon an acceptable plan for making up missed work, or if an approved make-up assignment is late or unsatisfactory, I reserve the right to record the absence as unexcused.