This request form is only for students in the Professional Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program. Students outside of this program should reach out to their faculty member directly.
Attendance Policy
Guidelines and Requirements:
- Attendance at all didactic lectures is expected. Individual course coordinators may choose to make attendance mandatory and assign points based on attendance or participation in classroom activities. If attendance is required for an individual course, the policy must be specified in the course syllabus.
- The course coordinator should be the first point of contact for missed lectures.
- Attendance at midterm and final examinations, quizzes, laboratories and in-class graded assignments are all part of the learning experience is required. Attendance should be the students’ highest priority and, in general, permission to make up missed work will be granted only for excused absences. Whenever a student has an excused absence, either urgent/unplanned or planned absences, the faculty member may choose to provide the original or a different make-up assessment, laboratory experience, or in-class graded learning experience.
- Students are expected to attend at least 85% of all required labs, discussion sections, and attendance required lectures (if designated by course coordinator) in the curriculum each semester. Students are also expected to attend at least 85% of all exams/assessments as scheduled each semester. If a student should miss 15% or more of the required activities (these will be evaluated as labs/discussions and assessments) in a single semester (whether absences are excused or unexcused), they will be required to meet with the Academic Advancement Committee.
- Unplanned/Urgent absences include illness, family emergency or death in the family. The student should follow the procedures below for reporting the absence. The student is responsible for communicating with the course coordinator to determine how the missed work is to be made up.
- Planned absences include medical/dental appointments, attendance at scientific meetings where the student is making a scholarly presentation, receiving an individual award, or is representing the College in an approved official capacity ( president of SCAVMA, SAVMA delegate, national president of a national organization). Adequate documentation of the student’s role must be provided, and the student must submit a written request to the Associate Dean/Director for Student Affairs at least 4 weeks before the planned absence following the procedure in Planned Absences below. Students should not schedule travel without prior approval from the Associate Dean/Director for Student Affairs, and incurred travel expenses do not in themselves warrant an excused absence. In addition, it is the student’s responsibility to communicate with the course coordinator(s) prior to a planned absence in order to determine how the missed work will be made up.
- Absences that do not fall into the categories discussed above will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The student should discuss the absence with the Associate Dean/Director for Student Affairs at least 4 weeks before the planned absence. The Associate Dean/Director for Student Affairs will discuss the absence with the relevant course coordinators and a final decision of an excused absence or unexcused absence will be determined.
- Individual faculty members may be less restrictive in their application of the guidelines described in Planned absences, but may not be more
Procedures for Reporting of Absences:
- For Unplanned Absences, students should complete and submit the Absence Request Form (see below) prior to the absence, if possible, or as soon as possible thereafter. If the student is unable to complete the form, please contact the Office of Academic and Student Affairs (ASA), which can help to notify the course coordinator of the unplanned absence.
- For Planned Absences, it is recommended that student should discuss the planned absence with the Associate Dean/Director for Student Affairs to make sure the absence meets the criteria for absence. Students are advised to contact the Associate Dean/Director for Student Affairs as well as the coordinator(s) of any course(s) that will be impacted by the planned absence as early as possible, but no less than 4 weeks prior to the planned absence. Documentation may be required to substantiate the request. For example, if a student has been invited to give a presentation at a scientific meeting, the student will be required to provide documentation of the invitation and a copy of the presentation abstract. Such documentation may be helpful in situations where approval is requested prior to final posting of class schedules and it is unclear what assignments will be missed. Also, in general, attendance at scientific/CE meetings will not be considered an approved absence in the first 2 years of the curriculum, unless the student is presenting, receiving an award, or representing the College in an official capacity as a club president/officer/etc.
- For All Absences that affect a graded experience or opportunity, students should complete and submit the Absence Request Form (see below) for each graded opportunity that was or will be missed. The form will be reviewed by the Director for Student Affairs or their designee and the student will be notified of the decision to approve or disapprove the absence within 2 business days. The course coordinator(s) will be notified of the decision and, if approved, it is the student’s responsibility to work with the course coordinator and ASA to schedule any make-ups.