Class Attendance

Students are expected to attend classes; for online and blended courses, participate in weekly activities.  In some circumstances, a student may be absent from classes for College-excused absences noted below.  Beyond those College-excused absences, each instructor has the freedom to set a specific attendance policy for their class and is responsible for communicating that policy to class members via the syllabus.

If a student misses a class meeting or does not complete required activities in a blended or online class for any reason, including illness, emergency, or College-excused absences, they are still responsible for the material covered and any assignments due.

Faculty are required to report student attendance for face-to-face courses and engagement in online or hybrid courses at the beginning of the semester and again as part of mid-term grading. Financial Aid will only be disbursed after a student satisfies the following attendance expectation as reported by faculty at the beginning of the semester:

• For face-to-face courses, a student must be present in the classroom to be considered as “attending”.

• For online courses, a student who has completed the required online activities is considered as “attending”.  

• For blended courses (which consist of a combination of online and face-to-face sessions), completion of online activities and/or attendance of the in-class meeting is considered as “attending”.

Federal regulations require Springfield College to accurately track students who may or will be withdrawing from courses or from the College.  Therefore, if at any point during the semester, a student stops regularly attending a face-to-face course or stops completing required online activities in a blended or online course, faculty are required to immediately notify the Registrar’s Office. 

Absences Due to Illness or Emergency

In the event of an absence due to illness or emergency, students should notify their professors as soon as possible via email, through the LMS and/or via phone.  Students should ask about options for obtaining missed material and whether it is possible to make up missed work.  In the event of an extended illness or emergency, students should also notify the Dean of Students (studentaffairs@springfield.edu or 413-738-3922).

College-Excused absences

The following situations should be recognized as College-excused absences from class:

1. Participation in an intercollegiate athletic contest (including travel time) approved by the athletic director and posted on the Springfield College Athletics website.

2. Participation in a scheduled College curricular or co-curricular activity approved by the appropriate dean or vice-president and on file in the dean of students’ office.

3. Observation of religious holidays.

In order to be considered as excused, the student follows the guidelines listed below:

• For intercollegiate athletics or other scheduled curricular or co-curricular activities, the student must provide their instructors with a list of dates of expected absences by the end of the first week of class and discuss with each instructor the impact of such absences. If the instructor deems that the absences will interfere with the student’s ability to successfully complete the objectives of the course, the student must seek to reduce the absences or drop or withdraw from the course.

• The student should arrange in advance of the absence for the make-up of any work that will be missed and for submission of any assignments due.

• The student should notify the instructor as soon as possible in the event of a sudden change of schedule (for example, participation in a game rescheduled due to rain or joining a co-curricular activity mid-semester) and provide documentation if requested. Again, the impact of the absence(s) must be discussed with the instructor.

If possible, the instructor should allow the student to make up the class work or complete an alternative assignment.