Attendance Policy

Regular class attendance is essential to academic success. Students are expected to attend scheduled class sessions, as consistent participation supports learning, engagement with course material, and progress toward educational goals. At the same time, the University recognizes that unexpected circumstances can interfere with a student's ability to attend class or complete academic work as planned. This policy establishes broad expectations for attendance across the University while providing pathways for reasonable flexibility when circumstances warrant it. Specific attendance requirements for each course are determined at the discretion of the faculty based on the essential requirements of the course and outlined in the course syllabus.

Student Responsibility

Students are expected to attend course meetings and adhere to the schedule of assignments as described in the syllabus. Further, students are expected to proactively communicate with their faculty when circumstances will prevent them from attending class or completing academic work. This communication should happen as early as possible and is the student's responsibility regardless of the reason for the absence. Students should also be prepared to reach out and proactively ask faculty if they are unsure of what is expected of them in the course, as related to their absences or in general.

Attendance Flexibility

Students may request flexibility for a wide variety of reasons. Some of these requests are required by law or specifically approved by the university, while others are general requests that do not rise to the need for formal accommodation but may still warrant consideration.

• Faculty – Faculty have discretion to work flexibly with students by setting general attendance policies for their course. In compliance with the Excused Absence section of this policy, faculty are responsible for managing general absence requests, determining when absences may be excused, and short-term absences (students missing one or two days of class). With the exception of medical documentation, faculty may request proof or documentation of absences from students for requests to excuse absences.
• Dean of Students – Dean of Student's Letters represent the university's acknowledgment that a student requires additional flexibility for a temporary period due to extenuating circumstances that interfere with the student's ability to complete academic requirements. Dean of Students Letters inform faculty that a student is managing a significant temporary situation. While specific accommodations are at faculty discretion, faculty are expected to work with the student in a flexible manner. Dean of Student's Letters are not issued for situations where students are missing only one or two days of class. More information can be found on the Dean of Students website.
• Student Accessibility Services (SAS) - SAS approves accommodations for students with disabilities. Compliance with accommodation implementation is mandatory as per the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Students who are approved for flexibility accommodations (attendance and/or assignments) are eligible for additional flexibility beyond what is in the course syllabus. It is highly recommended that faculty work with SAS to proactively create a “Flexibility Agreement” to ensure a clear understanding of what flexibility is available for the course.
• Civil Rights and Equity Office - The Civil Rights and Equity Office (CREO) can provide assistance with requests for academic flexibility for students who have been impacted by Sexual Misconduct (Title IX) or by Bias/Discrimination based on a protected identity. CREO works with students and their faculty members to arrange appropriate support within current UNH policy and Federal Regulations.

Absences from examination and laboratory periods

Any student who is absent without excuse from an announced test, quiz, examination, or laboratory period may, at the discretion of the instructor, be penalized for such absence or be allowed or disallowed to make up the work missed.

Excused absences

Discretionary Absences. Reasons that faculty may excuse student absences include: (a) ill health, (b) personal emergencies, (c) instructional trips, and (d) when students are representing UNH in regional, national, and international academic-related opportunities. In these cases, faculty have discretion regarding what flexibility to offer based on their syllabus policies.

Required Excused Absences. Reasons that faculty must excuse student absences are: (a) participation in official NCAA intercollegiate athletic events (more information can be found in the Intercollegiate Athletics section of this policy), (b) participation in official adaptive sports events facilitated by Northeast Passage, (c) jury duty, (d) required military service, (e) required court appearances, and (f) religious holidays and/or observances. A partial list of religious observances is available on the Civil Rights & Equity Office website, though faculty should be aware this list is not exhaustive. In these cases, it is required that students are not penalized for missed assignments or missed class. Faculty may still set expectations regarding how students make up missed work and learn missed content. Faculty may also request documentation regarding official intercollegiate events, required military service, and jury duty. If a student is called for required military service or jury duty that will cause them to miss class for an extended period and render them unable to adequately fulfill the standards and requirements of the course as determined by the instructor, that student should contact the associate dean of their college to discuss options to drop or withdraw.

Absence on voting day

To support UNH students in exercising their constitutional right to vote in New Hampshire state and federal elections, no examinations will be scheduled on the first Tuesday of November, and such should be designated in the University calendars. Where possible, students are encouraged to vote at a time that does not conflict with their academic obligations. However, opportunities for makeup of other scheduled exercises on those days should be provided where necessary. Faculty are requested to cooperate to the fullest extent with students from communities scheduling elections at other times.

Intercollegiate Athletics

Student-athletes have the responsibility of notifying each of their instructors before the end of the add/drop period about any possible conflict between scheduled class meetings, exams, or assignment due dates and scheduled athletic contests, especially those involving travel off-campus. Such notification shall be in writing or by email and shall include specific information about the dates the student will not be in class nor available for an exam.

Faculty must be flexible and offer reasonable accommodations for student-athletes whose schedule of official intercollegiate athletic contests requires them to be absent from class or miss scheduled quizzes, exams, or assignment due dates. The specific accommodation offered shall be determined by the faculty member. However, given that student-athletes represent the University when participating in competitions away from campus, absence by student-athletes resulting from their travel to or participation in a regularly-scheduled intercollegiate athletic contest, about which the faculty member has been properly notified, shall not incur an academic penalty (i.e., lower grade), even when a portion of the grade in a course is based on attendance.

No class time shall be missed for practice or other unofficial activities except when a team is traveling to an away-from-home contest and the practice is in conjunction with the contest. Faculty members may not  excuse student-athletes from class, or from an exam, quiz, or assignment, because of a conflict with regularly-scheduled athletic practices.

In the event of a conflict between final exams and a scheduled athletic contest, student-athletes have the responsibility to notify as soon as possible the instructor(s) of the course(s) involved in the conflict. Student-athletes have the option of requesting a rescheduling of the exam or using an official team exam proctor, typically arranged by the athletic department academic support staff, and faculty members shall make every reasonable effort to accommodate student-athletes. The final decision regarding rescheduling exams or assignment of alternate coursework remains with the faculty member. More information about Intercollegiate Athletics including a full list of our recognized NCAA teams can be found on the Athletics website.