Attendance Definitions
Present and Tardy (In-person Courses)
Students are expected to be present when class begins and remain the entire session. Students who arrive more than 30 minutes late or leave more than 30 minutes before the end of a class session are considered tardy. Two tardies equal one absence.
Online Attendance through Participation
To be counted present in an online course, students participate in weekly activities such as posting in forums and completing assignments. Students who participate in a graded discussion or submit a graded assignment within a week are counted present. The week is measured from the day the class starts (usually Tuesday through Monday).
Hybrid Class Attendance
When courses employ a blend of online and onsite delivery, these attendance policies apply to the appropriate portion of the course.
Absence Limits
Online Campus
Withdrawal for Non-attendance
Online Campus students who are absent once in a 3-week course, or two or more times in a 5- or 6-week course are automatically withdrawn from the course. Students who do not plan to attend any part of a course should contact their academic advisor to be withdrawn from the course. The student’s account will be credited for the tuition.
University-sponsored Events
If a team qualifies for post-season play (i.e., National Tournament), an exception will be made to the attendance rule while the team is engaged in tournament play. If a student in good academic standing must miss more than the allowed absences for university-sponsored events, the necessary absences will not be counted against them. Faculty members are asked to provide an alternative option to missed participation points.
Military Deployment
In keeping with Ohio Christian University’s a military-friendly policies, faculty reasonably accommodate reserve and active military personnel when deployment interferes with normal attendance or assignment submission.
For guidelines see Military-friendly Attendance and Assignment Policy under Appeals later in the Academic Policies section of this catalog.
Circleville Campus
Alternative meeting days (such as a special speaker's event), or assignments in lieu of class meetings count as one of the meeting days in the attendance policy. Students who do not complete these assignments will be counted absent.
Absences are prorated for courses that meet fewer times. For example, if a 2-day-per week course meets 9 weeks instead of 15, the allowed absences would be 9/15 x 6 allowed absences, or 4 absences. The limit is published in the syllabus.
Failure Due to Excessive Absences
If for any reason a student misses more than the allowed absences in a Circleville campus course, the student automatically fails the course unless an appeal is approved. The appeal form is available at the University Registrar’s office, or ohiochristian.edu/registrar/forms. Appeals must be submitted by the last day of regular classes (before final exam week).
Makeup Work
Tests and other work may be made up when an absence is beyond the student’s control (e.g., university-sponsored field trips, athletics, or music or drama presentations; hospitalization; death or hospitalization of an immediate family member). However, all absences remain a part of the student’s attendance record and count toward the total allowed absences in a class.
Absence Appeal
An absence appeal may be filed when extenuating circumstances lead to more than the allowed absences. See the instructions under the heading Appeals, later in the Academic Policies.
