Class Attendance
Academics is the priority at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. Attendance is fundamental to engagement, involvement, and community in the Benedictine liberal arts tradition, a hallmark of our institutions. Class attendance is a student obligation and a student is responsible for all the work of all class meetings. A student absent from class for any reason assumes the responsibility for work that has been missed. It is the student's responsibility to notify the instructor in advance, if possible, of an absence. It is also the student’s responsibility to initiate communication with the instructor to determine what, if any, credit can be obtained for missed classes. Absences in class will likely impact a student’s ability to fulfill course requirements and therefore, the student’s final grade.
Each instructor determines the attendance policy for his or her class. Because attendance is integral to course design, these policies may be set by instructors at the departmental or individual level. For example, students may be required to interact with others in the class, to demonstrate the ability to think and argue critically, or to participate in group projects. Instructors also determine whether make-up work is possible and if so, its parameters. Students are entitled to information about course procedures, attendance policy, content, and goals, especially in relation to the grading policy. Students can find this information on their course syllabus.
Attendance policies should reasonably accommodate college-sponsored events, short-term illness, and family emergencies. College-sponsored events include varsity and junior varsity athletics and college sponsored activities led by faculty or staff, not including student organizations. Faculty and staff who organize such events should make all efforts to minimize disruption of course attendance. Directors of college sponsored events will provide notification to students well in advance of each event necessitating absence from class. It is up to the student to communicate and work with their faculty regarding the absence.
Remote Teaching and Learning
Because the mission of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University is based on residential liberal arts education and we understand the value of an in-person learning environment, most of our undergraduate courses will be taught in-person, with the expectation that both faculty and students are in the classroom. Remote learning is offered in courses specifically designated as synchronous hybrid (some students are in the classroom while some learn remotely) or fully online (remote learning and remote teaching) as approved by the Academic Dean and appropriate department chair.
On an individual basis, a student may request remote attendance for a single or limited number of class periods when they cannot attend in-person because of a college-sponsored event, short-term illness, or a family emergency. The opportunity to attend class remotely is at a faculty member’s discretion and will depend upon the course’s learning goals and pedagogical design. There will be instances where remote learning is not an option. Faculty will address their process for remote learning and whether it is possible in the course syllabus. Students may not request permission to learn remotely in order to travel other than for college-sponsored trips.
Remote instruction may be offered only occasionally and at the discretion of the instructor. In the case of a weather-related emergency or other campus shutdown, for example, instructors may move to remote instruction entirely at their discretion. Faculty may request permission from their department chair and/or Academic Affairs to teach remotely for single or limited number of class periods during a semester. For example, a faculty member who needs to attend a conference might find it beneficial to teach a class remotely while at the conference rather than having to cancel classes.