230 Convening and Cancellation of Classes

230.01 Instructional Time

Instructional time (excluding registration and final examination periods) may not be shortened from that designated in the academic calendar without the written approval of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

230.02 Statement of Course Policy

Academic policies which are applicable to each course, including its learning objectives and methods of assessing student achievement, must be made explicit by the instructor at the beginning of each term.

230.03 Student Attendance Policy

The student is responsible for all assigned course work and cannot be absolved of his/her responsibility. When enrolled in a particular course, the student is obligated to do all of the work assigned. Punctual and regular attendance is vital to the discharge of this obligation.
Absences, excused or not, do not alter this responsibility.

Absences will be excused for (a) documented illnesses, (b) official representation of the College, (c) death of a close relative, (d) religious holiday, and (e) other circumstances beyond the control of the student. Excuses for official representation of the College must be obtained from the official supervising that activity or event.

Students whose unexcused absences exceed 15 percent of the scheduled classes and laboratories may receive a lowered grade or failure at the instructor's discretion. The instructor for any course may establish regulations more restrictive than College policy, but not in conflict with it.

Instructors are responsible for distributing their individual course attendance policy in their syllabi during the first class each semester or summer session.

Student objections to an application of an instructor's attendance policy must be pursued through the Attendance Appeal Process.

Attendance Policy Appeal Process

The student shall discuss the matter informally with the instructor who enforced his/her attendance policy. If the instructor is off campus or otherwise not available, the student must confer with the chair of the department, who will attempt to contact the instructor or, failing that, to ascertain the facts of the case.

Step 1

By mid-semester of the next regular semester, the student, after having conferred with the instructor and not receiving satisfaction, shall initiate the Attendance Policy Appeal Process by preparing written statement which shall meet the following criteria:
1. Sets forth the student's case in detail.
2. Indicates the date on which the student conferred with the instructor.
3. Sets forth the reasons why the student believes the attendance policy was unfairly enforced.
4. Includes all relevant supporting materials, documents, evidence, etc., identified and listed in an index.
  - The student shall submit complete copies of the written statement and all attachments to the chair of the department which offered the course in question and to the instructor.
  - In an effort to resolve the matter, the chairperson shall carefully review the student's written statement and confer with the student and the instructor, individually and/or together. The chairperson will review the material provided by the student and may also employ other means to review and investigate the matter.
Step 2
1. If the matter is not resolved to the student's satisfaction in Step 1, the student may write the Vice President for Academic Affairs and request a hearing, forwarding the documentation as outlined above. The Vice President for Academic Affairs shall assign a dean to convene a hearing panel of three faculty members. These three faculty members must be acceptable to the student, the instructor, and the dean. If an acceptable panel cannot be agreed upon, then the dean and the President of the Faculty/Staff Senate or his/her designee shall prepare a list of seven faculty members, and the student and the instructor shall alternately strike names until three names are left.
2. The panel shall meet and solicit a response from the instructor regarding his/her application of his/her attendance policy and the student's case against his/her attendance policy. The panel members will familiarize themselves with the attendance policy for the course. Their concern shall be limited to a consideration of the fairness of the application of the attendance policy and whether the attendance policy was made known to the student in a reasonable manner and as required by College policy. The burden of proof shall be on the student, who may be asked to appear before the panel.
3. If, in the opinion of a majority of the panel members, no case can be made, the original application of the attendance policy will remain in effect. If they find the attendance policy was not made known to the student as required by College policy or was unfairly applied, they may recommend a different outcome and give their reasons for so recommending. The panel shall report their findings in writing to the student, the instructor, the dean, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
4. If the panel recommends a different outcome, the instructor shall have ten (10) working days from the receipt of the panel's report to implement the recommendation of the panel or appeal the decision to the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
5. Either the student or the instructor may appeal to the Vice President for Academic Affairs when:
  1. There is substantial new evidence.
  2. There is clear evidence of substantial irregularity on the part of the panel.
  - If the Vice President for Academic Affairs supports the appeal, he/she will convene a new panel, whose decisions are final.
6. If the panel recommends an alternative solution and the instructor does not appeal or, upon appeal is denied, the Vice President for Academic Affairs will instruct the appropriate administrative office to implement the recommendation of the panel.

230.04 Cancellation of Individual Classes

Faculty is required to be present at all classes for which they are scheduled. If an individual faculty member cannot meet the scheduled class because of illness or other extraordinary circumstance, the faculty member must so notify the appropriate department chairperson and explain the reason as soon as possible prior to the class meeting time. The department chairperson, in consultation with the faculty member and anyone else deemed appropriate, will decide whether to cancel the class. If it is the department chair that must be absent, he/she should notify the appropriate dean. Every effort should be made to obtain appropriate class coverage or to provide for make-up of the missed work at another time.

If the chair decides to cancel the class, he/she will provide the information to the campus switchboard operator and to the radio station, WBSU FM 89.1. WBSU personnel, who maintain an accurate list of names and telephone numbers of all department chairs, will return the call immediately to verify the accuracy of the information.

In the case of a planned absence, the faculty member must notify the department chair at the start of the semester and present a plan for a structured learning experience at least two weeks prior to the planned absence. The chair must approve the plan prior to the absence.

230.05 Cancellation of Classes Prior to Scheduled Vacations

Because the cancellation of classes prior to scheduled vacations is contrary to the academic standards of the College and in direct opposition to the best interests of the students, the College, and its faculty and staff, faculty are strongly discouraged from canceling classes prior to scheduled vacations.

230.06 Cancellation of all Classes

The College policy regarding extraordinary weather conditions requires that normal operations be continued as much as possible, that essential College services be maintained in spite of severe weather conditions, and that College employees remain on duty or report to work to avoid interruption of essential services unless directed or permitted to do otherwise.

If all classes are to be canceled before the beginning of the instructional day because of extraordinary circumstances such as severe weather, an announcement will be made over radio stations WHAM AM 1180 and on WBSU 88.9 FM.

If all classes are canceled after the beginning of the instructional day, the Vice President for Academic Affairs will notify the department chairs and radio stations WHAM AM 1180, and WBSU 88.9 FM.

230.07 Examination Policy

Each member of the faculty shall have the right and the responsibility to determine the form and content of end-of-the-semester examinations (whether of the comprehensive "final" type or of the "last unit" type), subject to departmental regulation. Specifically, he/she may determine that some other form of evaluation is more appropriate.
All end-of-the-semester examinations of the comprehensive "final" or "last unit" type shall be given during the period designated in the academic calendar for examinations according to a schedule published no later than mid-semester by the Office of Registration and Records. (Clarification: No "final" or "last unit" exams shall be given during the week prior to the final examination period, and that such exams, when necessary to the course, shall be given during that designated examination period.)
- Instruction time (excluding registration and final examinations) cannot be shortened from that designated by the academic calendar without written approval from the appropriate administrative officer.
Take-home examinations, term papers, and term projects may be scheduled with a due date during the last week of classes or during the examination period.
The periods designated for examinations shall be spread over a period of at least five days. Each examination period shall be two hours in length. There shall be at least 15 minutes (and, if possible, 30 minutes) between examination periods.
1. Examinations for single section courses will be scheduled according to normal class meeting times and places.
2. Multiple section courses having a common class meeting will be examined during the examination period assigned for the common meeting time.
3. Multiple section courses for which a single examination is required of all sections may be examined according to the meeting times of the several sections, or a request may be made for special scheduling at the time the course is requested to be listed in the class schedule. Five examination periods will be reserved for the scheduling of such multiple section courses. Preference will be given to courses with large enrollments.
The Office of Registration and Records shall have the responsibility to permute the end-of-the-semester examination schedule so that no particular class meeting time is continually assigned to any one-examination period.
Changes from the published schedule may be made only under extremely unusual circumstances, and with the approval of the appropriate dean. Clearance for the physical arrangements will be made with the appropriate administrative officer. The instructor is obliged to notify his/her students of such rescheduling at least three weeks prior to the examination.
Students with more than two examinations in one day or with more than one examination scheduled during the same time shall have the right to request rescheduling. The scheduling difficulty must be verified by the appropriate administrative officer, after which the examination will be rescheduled for a time mutually agreeable to the instructor and the student. At least one period on the last day of the end-of-the-semester examination period shall be reserved for the resolution of conflicts, which cannot otherwise be resolved.