Attendance

General Policy

Students are expected to accept the responsibility for satisfactory attendance in each course for which they are registered. What constitutes satisfactory attendance shall be determined in each course by the instructor within the framework of rules below.

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 to make up the work missed.

Excused absences

Specific attendance requirements including how individual faculty assess absences and designate excused absences are set by the course instructor based on the needs of the course. Individual course attendance policies are described in the course syllabus. Students should contact their faculty regarding any circumstances, including illness, which will require them to stay home and/or which will cause them to be unable to keep up with course activities and expectations. 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.

Reasons that faculty may excuse student absences include: (a) ill health, (b) personal emergencies, and (c) instructional trips. In these cases, faculty have discretion regarding what flexibility to offer based on their syllabus policies. Students may contact the Dean of Students if they’re managing a temporary, extenuating circumstance that will affect their academics for an ongoing period to request that a notice be sent to their faculty. These notices will not be sent in situations where students are missing only one or two days of class.

Reasons that faculty must excuse student absences are: (a) participation in official intercollegiate events, (b) participation in official adaptive sports events facilitated by Northeast Passage, (c) jury duty, (d) required military service, and (e) important religious holidays and/or observances. In these cases, it is expected 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

In order that UNH students may fully exercise 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. 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.

Excessive absences

When students absent themselves from class to such extent that their own progress or that of the class or group is seriously impaired, they will be reported to the dean of their college by their instructor. When reports are received by a college dean, the dean will consider each student’s class standing, academic record, and other pertinent factors; the dean may then a.) warn the student against continued absences by letter or by interview, b.) place the student on scholastic warning or c.)report the student to the Academic Standards and Advising Committee for a decision as to whether the student shall continue in the University.