Online Class – Attendance
An academic week for online courses is from Monday 12:00 a.m. ET to Sunday at 11:59 p.m. ET (seven calendar days). In rare instances, the academic calendar may stipulate that an academic week for an online course is only six calendar days. Attendance is recorded for the day the action was completed regardless of the day a particular assignment or item was due. Additionally, items submitted prior to the official start date of an academic week, or after the official end date of an academic week, do not record attendance for that week; rather, they record attendance for the actual week during which the assignment was submitted.
In order to satisfy weekly attendance requirements, online students must complete one or more of the following actions: (1) submit an academic assignment in the Learning Management System (LMS), i.e. Canvas, (2) submit a quiz or an exam in the LMS, or (3) actively participate in a posted online academic discussion in the LMS. Additionally, some courses use labs to supplement a portion of their material. These labs do not count for attendance unless noted in the course guide.
Weekly attendance participation must be within the class-specific online LMS. Logging into the online class without active participation (as described above) does not constitute official weekly attendance. The university reserves sole discretion to determine that attendance will not be awarded for posts that do not constitute active participation in online discussion posts.
Campus Class – Attendance
Students are expected to attend for the full duration of all regularly scheduled campus classes. Should absence, tardiness or early departure be necessary, students are responsible for the material covered during the absence. Faculty cannot grant requests for excessive amounts of makeup material. Strayer University requires all faculty to take attendance during each class period, generally in the form of a sign-in sheet, and to record it accurately on their permanent roster.
In order for a campus class student to be marked as present for attendance purposes, the student must attend at least half of the class and be recorded as present on the sign-in sheet. Being marked as present for attendance purposes does not obligate the instructor to give the student credit for participation for grading purposes.
Hybrid Class – Attendance
Students are expected to attend for the full duration of the regularly scheduled on-ground portion of the hybrid class and complete all assignments in the online portion of the class. Should absence, tardiness or early departure be necessary during the on-ground class, students are responsible for the material covered during the absence. Faculty cannot grant requests for excessive amounts of makeup material. Strayer University requires all faculty to take attendance during each class period, generally in the form of a sign-in sheet, and to record it accurately on their permanent roster.
For the on-ground portion of the hybrid class, following the circulation of the class sign-in sheet, the instructor will mark their own signature next to each student to confirm they were actually present in class. Being marked as present for attendance purposes does not obligate the instructor to give the student credit for participation for grading purposes.
Absences from Campus and Online Classes
Students are advised to work directly with their instructor as personal emergencies arise that prevent satisfactory class attendance. A student who expects to be absent due to extended mitigating circumstances should contact a dean, advisor, or coach and their instructor. The university has defined the following as possible mitigating circumstances of physical or financial hardship: serious injury or serious or chronic illness of the student; serious illness or injury of a member of the student’s immediate family for whom the student is the primary caregiver or which results in the student becoming the immediate family member’s part-time or full-time caregiver; death of a member of student’s immediate family; military deployment; mental health conditions that are severe enough to warrant hospitalization and/or treatment and multiple sessions of counseling, psychotherapy, or psychiatric consultations, and/or a medical provider’s recommended break from school; unforeseen travel requirements; significant cost of living increase; or relocation related to the student’s employment. To request an accommodation or waiver based on mitigating circumstances, the student must provide a dean, advisor, or coach and their instructor with the appropriate written documentation supporting the student’s claim of mitigating circumstances. If the student’s request for an accommodation is granted based on the documentation provided, a dean, advisor, or coach will notify the student. Students may be required to submit additional documentation before enrolling in subsequent quarters to demonstrate that the mitigating circumstance has been alleviated or no longer exists.
If circumstances are such that, due to the extended length of the class absences or anticipated absence, the preferable course of action is class withdrawal, the student may petition an advisor or coach for withdrawal and consideration for a tuition and/or fee adjustment and/or waiver of the withdrawal fee. Appropriate written documentation supporting a withdrawal request must be provided to the advisor/coach.
For campus and synchronous classes, a student who is absent from four consecutive class meetings (two consecutive class meetings for mini-sessions), will be withdrawn automatically from that course. Note: in situations when a class was rescheduled because the originally scheduled class was cancelled or fell on a scheduled Strayer holiday, it is possible that the four (two for mini-sessions) consecutive class meetings may be greater than or less than 28 (14 for mini-sessions) calendar days.
An online student who is absent for four (two for mini-sessions) consecutive academic weeks (i.e., for online classes an academic week is Monday, 12:00 a.m. EST to Sunday at 11:59 p.m. EST) will be withdrawn automatically from that course.
A student who does not attend any of the classes for which they are registered in a term will be administratively withdrawn from the university.
Emergency Cancellation of Classes
In case of inclement weather or other emergencies, the university will notify the campus community that classes are canceled. Students may also view emergency announcements on the website at https://icampus.strayer.edu and will receive notification from StrayerALERT via text message and/or email. When cancellation of classes is necessary, instructors will arrange for additional class meetings to compensate for attendance time.