Attendance Policy
Classroom attendance and participation in classroom activities are integral components of the educational process. Students may miss up to the equivalent of two weeks of classes for unexcused absences, at which point they will be notified of their Administrative withdrawal (AW). Students may miss a reasonable number of classes per course for excused absences. However, upon reaching four weeks of absences of any kind, CARES team intervention will be required (see below). If a resolution cannot be reached or students fail to follow CARES team instructions, an AW notification will be issued. Attendance policy for courses meeting once a week, subterms, miniterms, and summer terms will be outlined in individual syllabi and determined by the instructor. An AW may only be assigned after a student has reached absences equivalent to 25% of the total duration of the term (aka, equivalent to four weeks of class for a regular term).
Details About Missed Classes
Faculty must use Canvas to record attendance daily.
Students are expected to attend the first and all subsequent course meetings. Students who enroll during the add/drop period may not be counted absent when not formally enrolled in the course; however, students are responsible for catching up on missed content and assignments.
Students who miss class for any reason are responsible for informing their faculty as soon as possible and conferring with individual professors regarding missed assignments/works/class content, etc.
Faculty will make a good-faith effort to provide students with catch-up opportunities for graded work and graded learning experiences in cases of excused absences. Students who fail to do the graded make-up work or learning experiences offered in the timeline decided by the faculty will not receive credit. In the case of lab classes with multiple sections (according to seat availability and prior approval from the faculty) or when faculty offers a catch-up lab session, the absence will not be counted if the student attends another lab section/the catch-up session. No grade or participation penalty will be imposed on students who missed class for excused absences if a catch-up opportunity was not provided.
When excused absences occur because of approved sanctioned activities, the Lyon College employee will submit the information using the Laserfiche available in the forms tab on my.lyon.edu. For other excused absences, students must initiate the process of submitting their documentation using the Laserfiche available in the forms tab on my.lyon.edu within two days of the absence, even if they do not have the documentation available right away. Otherwise, the absence will be recorded as unexcused. If a student misses multiple consecutive days, they must take action within two days of the first missed day.
Absences due to medical incapacitation can be granted retroactively and must involve documentation from a certified professional. Students must request this by contacting the Chief Academic Officer and/or the Dean of Students within two weeks of the first missed class AND prior to the final exam week. The Chief Academic Officer and Dean of Students may grant Medical leave or an Incomplete in extraordinary circumstances outside of other mechanisms presented here.
Students must keep up with how many absences they have in each class using Canvas attendance recording. Faculty will submit the following alerts:
For unexcused absences
- “One week of unexcused absences”: this alert will issue a reminder of the College’s attendance policy, will be issued to the student. When the alert is submitted, it will result in the advisor and CARES team contacting the student via email and offering a meeting to discuss ways to prevent any more missed class.
- “Two weeks of unexcused absences”: this alert will result in the student being administratively withdrawn from the course and assigned an “AW” grade.
For students with a mix of excused/unexcused or excused only
- “Four weeks of absences”: This alert will result in the student having a mandatory meeting with the CARES team (coordinated by CARES) to determine the conditions under which the student can stay enrolled in the course. This meeting must occur no later than 3 working days from the last absence. If the student misses any more classes before the meeting, if a resolution can’t be reached, or if the student does not follow the CARES team instructions, the faculty will submit an AW alert, resulting in the student being dropped from the course with an AW grade. Academically withdrawn students may petition the Chief Academic Officer to remain in the course. The petition to return may be granted at the discretion of the Chief Academic Officer, in consultation with the CARES team, and generally with the support of the instructor and advisor(s) on a case-by-case basis.
Academically withdrawn students may petition the Chief Academic Officer to remain in the course. The petition to return may be granted at the discretion of the Chief Academic Officer, in consultation with the CARES team, and generally with the support of the instructor and advisor(s) on a case-by-case basis.
Excused Absences Definition
Faculty, staff, and administration acknowledge that students may be prevented from attending classes for unavoidable and/or uncontrollable reasons. Absences due to such reasons are excused absences.
Here are some examples of excused reasons for absences:
- Illness (physical and mental) of the student: students must have a medical note or a note from the Lyon College nurse indicating the student was unable to attend class.
- Family crisis and emergencies: severe illness or death of a student’s immediate family member or other family crises. Students must provide one of the following: a death certificate, memorial service program, obituary, a note from the doctor of the family member, or any proof of the validity of the absence.
- Jury duty or subpoena for court appearance: students must provide appropriate documentation as proof.
- Military duty: students must provide appropriate documentation as proof.
- Approved sanctioned activities under the supervision of faculty or staff advisors, which include:
- Intercollegiate athletic competitions (not practices)
- Collegiate academic competitions
- Commitments on behalf of the College (Choir representation, Theater play)
- Class field trips
- Professional activities recognized by the College related to academics (e.g., ROTC field leadership exercise, professional or research conference attendance)
Students participating in college-sanctioned activities will communicate, verbally and in writing, with faculty during the first week of class about the dates they expect to be absent for scheduled events. For events planned later in the semester, students will inform faculty as soon as they are informed of the date for the event. Students will also remind the faculty immediately before an upcoming absence.
Students shall not miss classes more than 1 hour before they are scheduled to leave for the event or more than 1 hour before they are expected to arrive for at-home games.