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Resources for Law Faculty: Attendance

Attendance Policy

Regular and timely attendance at class sessions is expected of each student.  The School of Law’s Academic Rule 3 provides:

  • Regular attendance is required in all courses. Failure to maintain regular attendance may be grounds for exclusion from a course.  A student who misses class in a single course more than twice the number of times per week that the course meets will be referred to the Assistant Dean of Student, who may impose the sanction of exclusion from the course.  Regardless of the Dean of Student’s decision to impose such sanction, a faculty member retains the discretion, consistent with his or her individual policy, to factor attendance into a student’s grade. 
  • Conformity to standards of professional responsibility, civility, and respectful behavior and to any rules published by the instructor concerning student conduct in connection with the course is required in all courses. A student whose behavior in a course does not meet such standards or the published rules for the course may be excluded from the course. (In trial advocacy, appellate advocacy, research paper, practical writing courses, clinics, or in any course in which students are informed that part of the grade will be based on student participation, a student who interferes with the academic process by either frequently declining to participate or by unsatisfactory participation may be excluded from the course.
  • A faculty member assigning a grade in any course may factor into the student’s grade a student’s attendance, class preparation and participation, and conformity with published rules for the course (i) by increasing or decreasing by one step what would otherwise be a student’s grade; or (ii) in a course in which the grade is not otherwise based entirely on an exam, by adjusting a student’s grade according to the professor’s individual published policy.  The faculty and Dean when deciding honors, awards, scholarships, and similar matters also may take into account a student’s record of attendance, class preparation and participation, and conformity with published course rules.

Reasonable absence for religious reasons is considered justified and will not trigger sanctions. If your policy as to those matters will affect the students' grades, announce that fact clearly at the beginning of the course.  If you find that a student is not maintaining regular attendance, you should contact the Assistant Dean of Students to discuss options or to start the exclusion process. 

Please see the Recording Attendance information below.

Class Lists & Seating Charts

In advance of your first-class log into NOVASIS to access a list of the students registered for your course. You may print a roster with photos by clicking on the 'enrollment' number listed and use this list as a preliminary roster. Students are permitted to add or drop courses before the end of the first week of class in each semester. After the Drop/Add Period, log back into NOVASIS for a revised class list that will reflect any changes. We ask that you check the list with your class. If any student’s name does not appear, they should be instructed by you to contact the Registrar’s Office.

 

Photo Seating Charts

A class list with images can be accessed an easily printed.

Simply log into MyNova, click on the Faculty Tab, then click on the people icon for your course.

If you would like to obtain a photo seating chart for your classes, please follow the process outlined below:

1.    Pick up a seating chart template from the Law School Tech Zone.

2.    Have your students put their full name and userid on the seating chart.  Please remind them to print clearly so it is readable.

3.    Write your name and class name on the chart. This is very important! The creation of your seating chart might be delayed if this information is omitted.

4.     Scan to email or drop off (Tech Zone) the completed template to Michael Hayden.

A digital representation of the chart will then be created and emailed to you with names and photos and a print copy will be available for pick up in the Tech Zone of the Law Library.

Canceling & Rescheduling Class

You have discretion to cancel a regular class session; however, you must arrange to reschedule your class so that students receive the required amount of instructional time as discussed in our Academic Credit Policy. Bear in mind that the availability of classrooms is sometimes limited by other classes and activities, and your students also may have scheduling conflicts. Accordingly, please cancel a class only if absolutely necessary.

When you find it necessary to cancel a class session, notify the Office of Academic Affairs and contact your students directly via Blackboard to notify them of the cancellation. Your faculty support assistant can help you reserve a classroom for a rescheduled class. If the cancellation occurs early in the semester, you may find it possible to make up the instructional time by adding time to subsequent class periods, so long as doing so does not conflict with your students' schedules, or with the starting time of any other class in the same room.

If an unforeseen emergency necessitates a last-minute class cancellation, call the Academic Dean’s office immediately and they will post a notice for the students.

Recording Attendance

Recording Attendance. Student attendance must be monitored in a manner that generates a comprehensive and reliable record of students in attendance. Attendance must be taken at each regularly scheduled class meeting and recorded using the Attendance Form.  Since attendance can not be mandatory at make-up classes, please note 'make-up' on the attendance form.

You can download your class roster in Novasis. After the Drop/Add period, your final class roster will be emailed to you. Please bring a copy to each class, use it to check of anyone absent by rollcall or pass it around for student signatures.  Use the Attendance Form on your Blackboard page to submit the date of the class and name(s) of any student who is absent or check if no one was absent.

Emergency and Weather-Related Class Cancelations

Even if the University is closed due to inclement weather, Law School faculty are permitted – and indeed encouraged - to hold their classes remotely at the scheduled time. This was not an option in the past, but new technology makes this possible. If faculty want to do this, faculty should take the follow steps so that students know what to expect (as this is a new option):

  • At the beginning of the semester, announce during class and in writing (i.e. an announcement on Blackboard or in syllabus) that you will plan to hold classes remotely if a snow day/late start/early dismissal occurs during a scheduled class day and
  • Send a reminder email to students when the snow day/late start/early dismissal is announced.

Please also remember to record your class session in case students have connectivity issues because of bad weather.

You may, of course, reschedule the class at another time.  Please coordinate with your faculty support assistant to reserve a room.  Another option is to make up the class time by assigning an out-of-class assignment. Villanova parking garage with snow

Within the ABA Standard 310-- it is best to couple an out-of-class assignment (such as reading, listening to a podcast, or watching video) with an additional assignment that requires your students to post a reflection or take a quiz via Blackboard. 

Below are several options for faculty wishing to make up their class without requiring the class to meet in person:

  • Audio or video record from one of our classrooms when class is not in session.  You may coordinate with your faculty support assistant to reserve the classroom and request technology support from UNIT. 
  • Record a lecture on your iPhone using the built-in voice recording application.  UNIT can convert the file for you to MP3 and post it to Blackboard. 
  • Record a lecture using narrated PowerPoint or recording software such as Camtasia. 
  • Post a presentation (PowerPoint, Prezi, or Keynote) of your class, couple this with a recording of your class from a previous semester (if the content is still applicable), and assigned reading.  Require students to answer several key questions on Blackboard's discussion board, submit via the assignment tool (if you don't want students each other’s answers), or give a test/quiz. 

Please feel free to contact:

Richard Wack for Blackboard support

Brian Sirak to help with classroom technology

Your faculty support assistant to reserve a classroom.