Class Attendance and Student Success

At Lindsey Wilson College, students are responsible for regular class attendance, in-class participation, and completion of assignments. Specific expectations concerning attendance and class performance in each course are stated in the course syllabus. When a pattern of excessive absence or other unsatisfactory performance occurs, the instructor will take one or more of the following actions:

1. Request the student make special arrangements to improve his or her performance (e.g., meeting with a tutor);
2. Enter the student in the Early Warning System (EWS), a system in which the student's instructor, academic or freshman advisor, Academic Affairs Office, Student Affairs Office, and coach (if the student is an athlete);
3. Place the student on attendance probation, whereby an additional unexcused absence would result in a grade of F for the course; and
4. Contact the student's parent(s)/legal guardian about continuing problems if the student has given written permission for contacts.

Authorized Student Activities and Class Absence

A student's principal responsibility is to the academic program. However, the living-learning nature of campus life may impose additional and sometimes conflicting expectations and demands on the individual. Participation in student government, choral activities and athletic events are examples of authorized activities that may create conflicts for the student. The College policy concerning absence from class includes the following:

• Absences for scheduled, authorized obligations (e.g., athletic events, choir tours, field trips in other classes, etc.) are not counted as class absences;
• Students must notify their instructors prior to the absence;
• Students are responsible for completion of missed class work due to an authorized absence within a reasonable (defined by instructor) length of time;
• By the end of the first week of classes, coaches are expected to communicate directly and clearly with instructors as to schedules and rosters of students involved, including subsequent follow-up as changes occur. Sponsors, directors, and teachers responsible for other activities should notify faculty as far in advance as possible; and
• Faculty members are encouraged to remind students that participation in extracurricular activities (intercollegiate athletics in particular) places additional demands and responsibilities on them and therefore requires that any additional absences be kept to a minimum.  

Final Examinations

All classes are required to have final examinations or other culminating final activities during a specified final exam time at the end of each term. The final exam schedule is available on the College website prior to the beginning of the academic semester and near the back of the College Catalog. Any student with more than three examinations scheduled in one day may request rescheduling of one examination at the discretion of the VP for Academic Affairs or Associate Academic Dean. Students will not be permitted to take early finals unless extenuating circumstances exist. Extenuating circumstance means illness, a verified family emergency, or participation in officially sponsored travel in support of an event arranged by the College. All requests for early finals must be made in person to the VP for Academic Affairs or Associate Academic Dean.