Attendance Policy

Regular and punctual class attendance is an important form of student participation, facilitating clear delivery of course material, discussion of key ideas, and development of cooperative relationships between students and faculty that yield immediate academic results and longer-term success in personal and career development. On the other hand, repeated absences may suggest that a student is experiencing academic, personal, or emotional distress. In these cases, early intervention may be needed by the Paul L. Foster Success Center.

At Baylor University, specific class attendance requirements are established within the individual academic units. According to the policy of the Hankamer School of Business, to earn academic credit in a particular course, a student must be officially enrolled in that course by the end of the second full week of the semester and must attend at least 75 percent of all class sessions for that course. Students who do not fulfill these requirements will receive a grade of “F” in the course.

Any University-related activity necessitating an absence from class shall count as an absence when determining whether a student has attended the required number of class sessions. However, if prior arrangements are made, the student may be allowed to complete scheduled assignments or examinations missed, or the faculty member may provide appropriate substitutes. Likewise, students are usually allowed to make up class work and/or tests missed due to serious illness, accident, or death in the family. In these cases, the instructor should be informed in a timely manner.

If a varsity student athlete is required to participate in an official athletic competition and must miss class in order to participate (or travel to participate) in that competition, this absence is ordinarily considered to be excused and should not be counted against the student athlete in the context of an applicable attendance policy. Moreover, provided that the student athlete seeks to make arrangements prior to the absence to complete scheduled assignments, the faculty member will work with the student to allow for the completion of missed classwork and assignments.

Faculty members are responsible for:

• providing a statement of attendance requirements in the course syllabus, and
• providing notification for students either through posted attendance records (such as on Canvas) or direct correspondence before the threshold for grade action is reached.

Faculty members may establish alternative class-specific attendance expectations and requirements for punctual arrival in class as long as the policy is stated in the course syllabus.

Adopted: July 1, 2011
Updated: October 13, 2023