Regular attendance and participation in class is critical to a student’s success at Concordia College. Because any absence, excused or unexcused, detracts from the learning experience, students are expected to attend all classes.

In the case of illness, students should notify their instructors. In the event of serious or extended illness, or family emergency, the Center for Student Success should also be notified. Makeup work may be required for any absence. Students should note that their grade in a course may be affected by excessive absences.

Faculty members should keep attendance records and report excessive absences to the Center for Student Success by use of the Early Alert Notice, as well as confer directly with the student about absences. If a student stops coming to class and subsequently fails the course, the last date of attendance in the class must be reported to the Office of the Registrar along with the final grade in the course.

It is the duty of each faculty member to meet all scheduled classes during the entire semester. If a faculty member must be absent, an arranged substitute should be considered. Legitimate reasons for faculty missing a class include illness and professional travel.

Students are not permitted to attend classes for which they are not registered.

Class Attendance and Cocurricular Activities

In addition to course-based learning, Concordia also values the educational experience afforded by student participation in cocurricular activities. As a result, the following articulates a policy that encourages responsible decision-making on the part of coaches, directors, activity coordinators, and students participating in cocurricular activities, while also making it possible for students to participate in cocurricular activities. Such activities include but are not limited to participation in intercollegiate athletics, choral and instrumental ensembles, academic conferences, and Concordia Language Villages.

Concordia students should not be penalized for missing classes due to participation in a cocurricular activity. Students should be allowed to take all exams/quizzes or complete other graded activities as possible. If class attendance is a factor in determining the final grade, the students should not be penalized for missing these classes. If class participation is a factor in determining the final grade, faculty should allow students to fulfill the participation requirement by some other means or at some other time. Faculty will determine what kind of makeup work is required for absences, and whether the work is to be completed before the students’ departure or upon their return.

Coaches, directors, or activity coordinators of cocurricular activities must notify participating students of the dates of scheduled absences. This should be done as soon as possible; ideally, this information should be available before students register for classes. Students should notify their instructors of scheduled absences at the beginning of the semester, or as soon as that information is available to them.

Coaches, directors, or activity coordinators of cocurricular activities should provide faculty with verified rosters and dates of scheduled absences at the earliest point possible. If exact dates are unavailable, the number of expected absences and their approximate dates should be provided. To the extent that coaches, directors, and coordinators have control of the number of scheduled absences, they should be prudent in the number of absences they require of the students.

Under normal circumstances, students should not miss more than 10 percent of the total scheduled class periods because of a cocurricular activity. If scheduled absences will exceed 10 percent of class meetings, the coach, director, or activity coordinator of the cocurricular activity should submit the activity schedule to the Academic Procedures and Policies Committee for approval, prior to the start of the semester if possible. If the schedule is approved, students should be allowed to complete missed work without penalty. Coaches, directors, or activity coordinators must inform instructors that the schedule has been approved.

Students who choose to participate in more than one cocurricular activity, and will miss more than 15 percent of the meetings in any class, should consult with their instructors as soon as they become aware of this situation. The student should recognize that a grade penalty may result from this number of absences.

Faculty or students should bring to the attention of the Academic Procedures and Policies Committee any cocurricular activity that, in their opinion, has scheduled an excessive number of absences. Programs that, in the opinion of the Committee, persist in overscheduling will be reported to the dean and the president. Conversely, students or organizations who perceive that faculty members are not abiding by this attendance policy may appeal to the Academic Procedures and Policies Committee.

Required Contextual Learning Experiences and Cocurricular Activities

Faculty should notify students at the beginning of the semester if an academic program or course requires contextual learning experiences beyond the typical classroom schedule (e.g., clinicals, student teaching, internships that occur on evenings, nights, and weekends); students should also be informed of any additional fees that may be required for rescheduling the contextual learning activities. Students who are enrolled in such courses and who are involved in a cocurricular activity will be responsible for communicating with the course faculty member and the coach, director or activity coordinator if any schedule conflicts arise between course expectations and the activity schedule. As much as possible, students wishing to participate in cocurricular activities should plan their course enrollments so as to avoid such conflicts (e.g., scheduling student teaching in the spring to avoid conflicts with fall sports). Course faculty and the coach, director, or coordinator should consult as soon as possible to determine how to most effectively resolve the schedule conflict. If the course faculty and coach, director, or activity coordinator are unable to reach consensus on how to resolve the scheduling conflict, the issue may be referred to the Academic Procedures and Policies Committee for their consideration – or, if a decision must be made quickly, to the dean of the college. Decisions of the Academic Procedures and Policies Committee may be appealed to the dean of the college.

Other Contextual Learning Experiences

Occasionally, courses will require out-of-class learning experiences (field trips, lectures, etc.) that will cause students to miss other classes. Faculty should be prudent in the number of absences resulting from such learning experiences. These experiences are to be preapproved and monitored by the departmental chair. The course instructor should inform students at the beginning of the semester, or as soon as possible, of any such experiences including the date(s) and time(s) they occur. Students should notify their other instructors as soon as the information is available to them. The instructor should provide faculty with verified rosters and dates of scheduled absences at the earliest point possible.

Under normal circumstances, absences for department-approved learning experiences should be governed by the same policies as cocurricular absences, and students should not be penalized in any way. In situations where students miss an excessive number of classes due to the combination of cocurricular activities and department-approved learning experiences, course faculty and the coach, director, or coordinator should consult as soon as possible to determine how to most effectively resolve the schedule conflict. If consensus cannot be reached on how to resolve the scheduling conflict, one or more of these parties may refer the issue to the Academic Procedures and Policies Committee for their consideration – or, if a decision must be made quickly, to the dean of the college. Decisions of the Academic Procedures and Policies Committee may be appealed to the dean of the college.

(Approved by the Faculty Senate on Oct. 6, 2014; amended Jan. 16, 2017)