Attendance Policy for Students

Faculty Senate (October 2014)

Education at the university level requires active involvement in the learning process. Therefore, students have the responsibility to attend classes and to actively engage in all learning assignments or opportunities provided in their classes. Instructors have the responsibility to provide a written policy on student attendance that is tied to course objectives and included in a course syllabus. There may be times, however, when illness, family crisis, or university- sponsored activities make full attendance or participation impossible. In these situations, students are responsible for making timely arrangements with the instructor to make up work missed. Such arrangements should be made in writing and prior to the absence when possible.

Examples of absences that should be considered excusable include those resulting from the following: 1) illness of the student, 2) serious illness or death of a member of the student’s immediate family or other family crisis, 3)University-sponsored activities for which the student’s attendance is required by virtue of scholarship or leadership/ participation responsibilities, 4) religious observances (see Students’ Religious Observances policy in section 2.8 below), 5) jury duty or subpoena for court appearance, and 6) military duty. The instructor has the right to require that the student provide appropriate documentation for any absence for which the student wishes to be excused.

A similar policy for graduate students was adopted by the Graduate Council (December 2022):  https://catalog.uark.edu/graduatecatalog/objectivesandregulations/#graduatestudentpoliciestext

A policy for law students can be found here:  https://catalog.uark.edu/lawcatalog/academicpolicies/