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Northern Illinois University

College of Business - NIU

Attendance Policy

The OM&IS Department believes that student academic success is enhanced by good classroom attendance. The following Attendance Policy was developed in an effort to be consistent and to inform students of the attendance expectation in the department.

  1. Students not in attendance at the start of class time will be counted absent.
  2. Penalties for non-attendance are as follows:
    • Courses with Three Class Periods per Week

      • Number of Absences Penalty
      0-4 absences No penalty
      5-8 absences 1 course letter grade reduction
      9-12 absences 2 course letter grade reduction
      13-16 absences 3 course letter grade reduction
      17 or more absences Automatic failure in the course


    • Courses with Two Class Periods per Week

      • Number of Absences Penalty
      0-3 absences No penalty
      4-6 absences 1 course letter grade reduction
      7-9 absences 2 course letter grade reduction
      10-12 absences 3 course letter grade reduction
      13 or more absences Automatic failure in the course


    • Courses with One Class Period per Week

      • Number of Absences Penalty
      0-2 absences No penalty
      3-4 absences 1 course letter grade reduction
      5-6 absences 2 course letter grade reduction
      7-8 absences 3 course letter grade reduction
      9 or more absences Automatic failure in the course

  3. No missed exams, quizzes, or other in-class assignments, announced or unannounced, can be made up at a later date. Students missing class sessions in which exams, quizzes, or other assignments occur will receive the grade of zero for the missed work. It is the instructor’s sole discretion to either permit or not permit students to complete special make-up assignments prior to the class session(s) in which work will be missed. The sole exception to this is the case of an emergency absence, for which the student will be allowed to make up the missed work if the student so requests within one week of the absence. Students failing to request to make up the missed work within one week after the absence will receive a grade of zero for the missed work.
  4. Students may request an emergency absence for the following reasons:
    1. illness or medical emergencies
    2. death in the family
    Emergency absence requests must be in writing to the department chair within one week of the emergency absence and be accompanied with appropriate documentation explaining the reason for the absence, e.g., physician letter, newspaper obituary notice, etc. The instructor will notify the student of the decision made regarding the emergency absence request.
  5. Students are advised to plan and use their allotted non-penalty absences wisely. Employment interviews should be scheduled outside of class time, as they are not acceptable reasons for approved absences!