Attendance and Participation Policy

Baptist University of Florida values consistent attendance and participation and believes that students have greater success with regular attendance and participation in class. To assist with retention and to meet federal guidelines for financial aid, the institution utilizes an extensive attendance/participation monitoring procedure. Attendance and absences are governed by the following regulations:

General Guidelines

The university grants excused absences for students when the following conflict with or prohibit attendance of classes or participation in coursework: 1) representing BUF; 2) military duty; 3) legal proceedings. An excused absence provides an exemption from attendance in a class session but does not exempt the student from the work required in most cases. With an excused absence, a student is given allowances regarding time and due dates commensurate with the excused time away. To travel and have excused absences for class trips, a student must be officially enrolled in the applicable course or have other official institutional assignments. Students with excessive absences and/or poor grades for the semester should not travel and will not be granted excused absences.
Students must be present or active during the first week of the semester or risk being dropped from the course.
In all cases attendance is counted from the first day of the semester.

Classroom Courses

For classroom courses, attendance is determined by physical attendance in a class session.
For classroom courses, attendance or absences are counted by the class session or meeting.
For classroom courses, three tardies equal one absence.
For classroom courses, students lose credit in any course in which absences exceed one-fourth (25%) the total number of class meetings of the course (the 25% rule). Final examinations count as one class meeting. For example, for a course meeting twice each week for fifteen weeks plus an exam or thirty-one (31) class sessions, the student would lose credit after the eighth absence or with the ninth absence. For a course meeting once each week for fifteen weeks plus an exam or sixteen (16) class sessions, the student would lose credit after the fourth absence or with the fifth absence. All absences except those officially excused (see item 1 above) must be managed within the 25% allowed before failure of the course.
For classroom courses, students must be present for at least one-half of a class session to be counted present.

Online and Other Courses without Regular Classroom Sessions

For online courses, internships, directed studies, graduate courses, or other courses without regular classroom sessions, students are expected to participate at least weekly. Participation is determined by any of four actions by the student:

Submission of an academic assignment;
Submission of a test of any type;
Contributing in online forums or discussions about academic matters;
Initiating contact with the professor to ask questions related to the subject or course studied.

Though no pre-determined number of weeks missed constitutes failure, students who do not participate weekly are at risk of failure of the course.

Connection Courses

For connection courses, students gathering in a classroom will be expected to adhere to the same attendance policies as other classroom students. Students connecting with the course and classmates synchronously will be expected to adhere to the same attendance policies as classroom students. Professors will record attendance/participation accordingly throughout the semester.

HYBRID Courses

For face-to-face class meetings, students lose credit in any course in which absences exceed one-fourth (25%) the total number of class meetings of the course (the 25% rule). Final examinations count as one class meeting. For example, for a course meeting twice each week for fifteen weeks plus an exam or thirty-one (31) class sessions, the student would lose credit after the eighth absence or with the ninth absence. For a course meeting once each week for fifteen weeks plus an exam or sixteen (16) class sessions, the student would lose credit after the fourth absence or with the fifth absence. All absences except those officially excused (see item 1 above) must be managed within the 25% allowed before failure of the course.

For face-to-face class meetings, students must be present for at least one-half of a class session to be counted present.
For online class meetings, internships, directed studies, graduate courses, or other courses without regular classroom sessions, students are expected to participate at least weekly. Participation is determined by any of four actions by the student:
- Submission of an academic assignment;
- Submission of a test of any type;
- Contributing in online forums or discussions about academic matters;
- Initiating contact with the professor to ask questions related to the subject or course studied

Absences from Semester Examinations and Sectional Tests

If a semester examination is missed, it must be approved by the professor prior to the exam date. The student should explain in writing the reason for the absence.

Sectional tests missed for reasons acceptable to the professor are taken no later than seven days from the date the student returns to a given class. To secure faculty permission to take the missed test, the student applies to the faculty member in question, giving reasons for the absence and requesting a definite day and hour for the exam.

Changing or Dropping Courses

15-Week Semester: Students may change courses only during the first week of a semester (see BUF Academic Calendar) without penalty or drop courses during the first eight weeks with penalty through the Registrar’s Office. Students who receive financial aid must have permission before dropping a course. Dropping courses after the eighth week results in an automatic failing grade. Fees may be assessed for course changes (see Refund Policies).

8-Week Terms: Students may change courses prior to the end of drop/add for that term (see BUF Academic Calendar) without penalty or drop courses by the third week of the 8-week term with penalty through the Registrar’s Office. Students who receive financial aid must have permission before dropping a course. Dropping courses after the eighth week results in an automatic failing grade. Fees may be assessed for course changes (see Refund Policies).