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Penn's Policy about Student Attendance

Penn does not have an official policy on excused or unexcused absences except for religious holidays.

Penn's Policy on Secular and Religious Holidays asks that instructors excuse students observing religious holidays that affect large numbers of students, including Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Christmas, the first two days of Passover, and Good Friday. Exams scheduled immediately after those holidays should not include material introduced on that day.

Student Health Services will not provide notes verifying student illnesses. You should design policies that do not require medical confirmation. You may want to ask students to use Course Action Notices to alert you if they will be absent.  Students send CANs through courses@penn.

Should a student need to miss an extended period of class (more than three days), you should contact the student's advising office.

Sample Attendance Policies

CIS 1200 Programming Languages and Techniques I

What is the attendance policy for recitation?

  • Attendance at recitation is required.
  • You are permitted two absences from your recitation over the semester, after which you will be penalized.
  • If you have a conflict with your recitation, you may opt to attend another recitation in a given week to avoid taking an absence, with permission of that recitation’s TAs. Please inform both your own TAs and the TAs whose recitation you will be attending at least 24 hours before the earlier recitation, in order to ensure you are not penalized for an absence.
  • Spring 2022: If you can’t attend any recitation for a health related reason, please email cis120@seas.upenn.edu and you may be permitted to submit the worksheet before 11:59pm ET on Thursday for attendance credit.

NURS 1640 Integrated Human Anatomy, Physiology & Physical Assessment II

Students are required to attend all lab components of their coursework. In terms of this course, the Attendance & Absence policy means that you must attend all nursing and A&P lab classes. In the event that you will not be able to attend your regularly scheduled N163/164 Nursing or A&P Lab class, you are required to notify the professors via online Course Absence Report prior to the start of the class/lab you will miss. Please note that, as per the Attendance & Absence policy, students with unexcused absence (or with excessive excused absence) from lab will be asked to share the cost of the make-up hours with the School of Nursing. Additionally, excessive absences from lab for any reason may necessitate repetition of the entire course.

Sociology 2010 Social Statistics

Read before class, arrive on time, and come prepared to ask questions. We take attendance via PollEverywhere during the first 15 minutes of class (the poll is locked at 10:15am). Too many absences will lower your grade. You get three (3) freebies: use them wisely. Excused absences beyond your freebies require documentation/discussion/notification with me or your TA. If you plan to miss class, please use the Course Action Notices in courses@penn. In cases of emergency or extended absence, you are responsible for notifying me or your TA about your circumstance so we can help you determine your ability to complete the course. If you need to leave class early, let us know at the beginning of class. If you miss part/all of a lecture, assume that 1) you have missed "important" material and that 2) I will not give a repeat performance of my lecture in an office visit. Read, get notes from a classmate, review and work some problems. THEN, if you still have questions, by all means come see me and/or your TA.

Attendance at lectures is not mandatory. If you are feeling at all sick or displaying any COVID-19 related symptoms, please be considerate of your classmates and stay home. Students who cannot attend in-person lecture can join the class via Zoom (link at top of syllabus). Lectures, however, will not be recorded.

I will post modified slides on Canvas within 24 hours of class ending. The slides may prove helpful to students who attend lecture but want to revisit a specific topic or to confirm any announcements made at the beginning of class. But slides are not a substitute for attending class. Looking at the slides alone will leave a student confused and misled.

Political Science 0200 Introduction to American Politics

Attendance at lectures is not mandatory. If you are feeling at all sick or displaying any COVID-19 related symptoms, please be considerate of your classmates and stay home. Students who cannot attend in-person lecture can join the class via Zoom (link at top of syllabus). Lectures, however, will not be recorded.

I will post modified slides on Canvas within 24 hours of class ending. The slides may prove helpful to students who attend lecture but want to revisit a specific topic or to confirm any announcements made at the beginning of class. But slides are not a substitute for attending class. Looking at the slides alone will leave a student confused and misled.

Attendance in recitations is expected and is part of your grade. If you miss more than two recitations during the semester, you must be in contact with your TA or else be penalized in your grade. Also, if you need to miss a recitation for any reason, please contact your TA through Canvas.

RELS 1020 Sacred Stuff: Religious Bodies, Places, and Objects

This is a conversation class, which means a major part of the work of the class comes from our discussions. The texts are not the class! Attendance at all sessions is important. You may miss up to two sessions for any reason—illness, religious observance, sporting events—with no penalty. Beyond these two, each absence will lower your grade by three points unless we've come to an agreement in advance (regarding medical concerns, for example.) You'll be responsible for making up missed work and material for any missed class by liaising with your peers.