Student Attendance Policy Statement

The University of Nebraska at Kearney is invested in supporting students and promoting their success. This requires communication between instructors and students and setting clear attendance guidelines.

The university maintains that attendance is critical to allow the student to reach their full potential in their coursework. Students are expected to attend all meetings of classes for which they are registered, including the first and last scheduled meetings and the final examination period. Students are expected to be aware of attendance policies for all of their classes.

Instructors hold the right and responsibility to establish attendance policies for their courses consistent with this UNK Attendance Policy. Each instructor must inform and explain to all classes at the beginning of each semester their attendance policies in their syllabus. Asynchronous online course instructors must develop policies that align with their curricular expectations for participation. Students who are unable to meet the requirements of the course due to attendance issues may consider withdrawing.

Excused absences include official university sponsored activities as well as documented serious health concerns, medical or personal emergencies, and religious observances. Students are expected to inform faculty in advance of scheduled absences and to inform faculty within 24 hours or in as timely a manner as possible of unscheduled absences.

Instructors shall seek to make reasonable accommodations for a student with an excused absence. Students should also recognize that not every course activity (assignments, exams, labs, group discussions, etc.) can accommodate excused absences, and neither absence nor notification of an absence relieves them from meeting the course requirements. In such circumstances it is the obligation of both the faculty member and the student to work together to ensure that the student is held responsible for the work and provided the opportunity to engage in an equivalent or alternative assignment, if possible. In the event the instructor and student cannot come to an agreement on the terms of such, the student may initiate the Attendance Policy Appeal Process.

Attendance Policy Appeal Process

A student may appeal if their grade was placed in jeopardy for one of the following reasons:

  • Reasonable accommodations were not made for an excused absence
  • A request for an excused absence was declined when the absence met one of the described conditions above

The student must initiate contact with the instructor of record (or, in the absence of the instructor, the appropriate department chair) within 15 days of the absence or associated score/grade assignment, whichever is later. In an appeal:

  1. The student should meet with the faculty member teaching the course to resolve the dispute.
  2. If the student and the faculty member are unable to reach agreement, the student, the faculty member, and the department chair should meet to resolve their differences. Should the faculty member involved in the dispute be the department chair, the student shall proceed immediately to step 3.
  3. If the student, the faculty member, and the department chair are unable to resolve the dispute, the department chair will refer the matter to the dean. The dean may seek to resolve the matter informally and/or refer the matter to that college’s Educational Policy Committee before making a decision.
  4. If the student, the faculty member, the department chair, and college dean are unable to resolve the dispute, the matter will be referred to the Senior Vice-Chancellor of Academic Affairs for a final decision.
  5. This process, including steps 1, 2, and 3 above, must be completed within 25 University days of the end of the term for which the grade was assigned. University days are defined as weekdays during which the campus is open and specifically excludes those days for which the campus is closed.

Failure to notify the instructor/department chair within the allotted time will render the issue moot. If the appeal occurs within 15 days of the end of the semester, the student should follow the college’s grade appeal process rather than filing an attendance appeal.