Class Attendance
Messiah University expects all students to attend scheduled classes regularly in order to maximize opportunities to profit from a professor’s expertise and from interchange with their peers, as well as to contribute to the quality of intellectual interchange in the classroom, whether traditional or virtual.
Regular attendance is expected throughout the duration of the course. For online courses, a student’s presence is evidenced by active and meaningful participation in virtual chats, discussion board assignments, synchronous and asynchronous class meetings, and any other threaded discussions/assignments required by the professor. Lack of participation may result in a student being marked absent for a class session, or failure in the course if he/she does not properly withdraw. Having a substitute participate in the registered student’s place is a violation of the University’s academic integrity policy.
Punctual and regular attendance at classes is expected except when a student is prevented from doing so by illness, death in the family, or a similar emergency. Individual course regulations about class attendance are left to the discretion of the instructor. Attendance regulations should be conveyed to students at the beginning of the semester and must be delineated in the syllabus.