Student Attendance

1. Students at Centre College are individually responsible for class attendance, but instructors may impose attendance requirements appropriate to any course. Instructors shall explain to students at the beginning of each course their expectations and grading policies with regard to attendance at class meetings.
2. Instructors shall make a reasonable effort to warn any student whose absences seem adversely to affect their standing in the course. It is effective to put such warnings in written form with a copy to the Assistant Director of Student Academic Support. Instructors should report to the Assistant Director of Student Academic Support the names of students who have a pattern of excessive absences in a course including those who are absent three consecutive times. The Assistant Dean of Academic Support will follow up with inquiries to other instructors, to the advisor, and to the student.
3. Instructors will keep an accurate record of each student's attendance, which will be available to the student, the faculty advisor, and the officers of the College. In addition, instructors will report on the grade summary sheet at the end of each term the number of class sessions missed by each student, so that a record can be kept of the correlation between attendance and grades. Instructors are also asked to report to the Assistant Director of Academic Support the names of those students who are absent from class excessively, including those who are absent three consecutive times.
   1. Excessive absences, that is, missing more than one-third of a term's total class meetings in one or more classes, are grounds for immediate suspension from the College.
   2. Students who miss more than one-third of a term’s class meeting days due to illness may be required to take a medical withdrawal from the College if the Director of Academic Support and the student’s instructor agrees that the student will not be able to successfully makeup the missed work in the class.
4. Prompt attendance at all classes and exercises is expected. The penalty for tardiness is left to the discretion of the instructor.
5. Subject to term-by-term review, the Faculty imposes no extraordinary penalties for absences from classes which meet immediately prior to or following College vacations or recesses. However, students are reminded that these class periods are integral parts of the term and are thus no less suitable for tests and other work than are other class periods throughout the term.
6. No student may, because of participation in College-sponsored activities, miss more than an hour of class time for each hour of academic credit assigned to a course (for example, three hours of class time in a three-hour course). In four-hour laboratory courses, students may miss three hours of class time and one laboratory session. Students participating in two intercollegiate sports in the same term may miss one additional class meeting, but not an additional laboratory session. This policy applies only to participation in varsity sports, and does not include non-traditional season. In the first two weeks of the term, the athletics director should send written notification to the Associate Dean and instructors of a student’s two-sport participation and the travel dates for all away contests in both sports. To be excused from any additional class meetings, a two-sport athlete may petition the Associate Dean, through the athletics director, at least one week in advance of the proposed absence. The Associate Dean will survey the student’s instructors to determine if the proposed absence could cause the student’s academic standing in any class to fall to a “marginal” or “unsatisfactory” level, in which case the student would not be allowed to miss any additional classes. The Associate Dean may allow for the additional absence when the student’s academic standing is satisfactory and when any in-class assignment or exam can be made up. This absence policy for the two-sport athlete will also be applied for single sport athletes in the event that an athletic team or individual qualifies for post-season competition (SAA, NCAA, or an approved sanctioned event).
7. When a faculty member sponsors an activity that will keep a student out of other classes, that activity must be approved by the Assistant Director of Student Academic Support. If the activity is approved as officially excused, the Dean’s Office or, in the case of a sports event, the Athletic Director’s Office, will send the Faculty a list of excused participants, but it is still the student’s responsibility to inform the instructor and make the appropriate arrangements. Participation in activities not sanctioned by the Assistant Director of Student Academic Support or the Athletic Director will be assessed by the instructor, who may excuse the absence if the situation warrants it.
8. The College recognizes the profound impact of grief in the life of our students. Those students who have experienced the death of a loved one must contact the Assistant Director of Student Academic Support immediately for an excused absence to attend funeral services. The Assistant Director of Student Academic Support will notify the appropriate College faculty and staff as requested by the student. Students remain responsible for making up any work missed during this time.
9. When a student misses class to observe a religious holiday, the student must notify both their instructors and the Assistant Director of Student Academic Support well in advance. The Assistant Director of Academic Support, in consultation with the College Chaplain, will determine if the absence merits an official College excuse. As is the case with all excused absences, the student must arrange with the professor to make up any work or assignments missed as a result of an excused religious observance.
10. When a student misses class because of severe illness, hospitalization, or family emergency, the Parsons Health Center, the Dean of Student Life, or the Assistant Director of Student Academic Support will inform the instructor of the official excuse. Absences due to other reasons -- including illness not reported to and/or granted an official excuse by the Parsons Health Center, attendance at funerals, or participation in activities not sanctioned by the Assistant Director of Student Academic Support or Athletic Director -- should be assessed by the faculty member who may excuse the absence if the situation warrants it.
11. All arrangements for make-up tests, late papers, and work missed because of absences are in the hands of the individual instructor. However, a student who misses the final exam or seeks an Incomplete in the course must get a medical excuse from one of the College doctors or from a physician who is not a family member and obtain clearance from the Associate Dean. Students will not be allowed to alter their exam schedules because of travel plans, job interviews, special projects, or scheduling preferences. A student who is absent from the final exam without clearance from the Associate Dean receives a "U" in the course.
12. All test proctoring reservations will be made by professors via the on-line test proctoring reservation program found at https://centrenet.centre.edu/ICS/Academic/Academic_Affairs/Proctoring_Center/ or accessed on the CentreNet Homepage in the left hand column.  You may also bookmark the link for easier access.   Professors complete all information in the form and click on “Submit your reservation” at the bottom of the form. One reservation form is completed for each student testing reservation. An automatic email is sent to the student, with a copy to the professor, that gives date and time of the testing session for that student. You may upload an electronic version of the test (which will only be accessible by the proctor) or you may deliver a printed version of the test to the CTL office for the proctor to pick up prior to the testing session. Testing instructions or any special information should be included on this form before submitting. Following the testing session, the system will send an email to you stating that the student completed the test or did not show for the testing session. Please make note that students should not make reservations themselves because doing so will prevent the automatic email functioning and students will not have all information required on the reservation form.