Cluster Attendance Policy
The trimester program is a hybrid program in which a highly qualified instructor will teach your classes for eight hours one Saturday each month, and you will also complete weekly online assignments. Because of its hybrid nature, there are two components to the attendance policy of the trimester program. There are four Saturday cluster meetings in each term and students are expected to attend all of them. Students who miss any of these meetings without official documentation such as a doctor’s note, flight cancellation or delay document from the airline, inclement weather that closes roads and highways to the St. Louis metropolitan area and campus, and things of that nature that are beyond the control of the student may have a grade drop in one or both courses in the cluster. A student who has missed or will miss two cluster meetings without the proper documentation will receive failing grades in the cluster. A student who misses a cluster meeting with an acceptable excuse will be given an equivalent amount of work by the instructor to complete as a make-up for the work he/she missed. All new students are required to attend New Student Orientation. Attendance at orientation is considered part of the scheduled coursework and attendance will be counted accordingly.
In addition, the attendance policy is structured so that it incorporates tardiness and early departure from class as part of overall attendance reporting. Students are expected to arrive for the beginning of class periods and remain until the instructor terminates the class meeting.
Instructors will monitor and record the names of students who arrive late for class meetings or who leave class early. Tardy or early departure absences are cumulative and counted according to the school's absence reporting policy. Students who accumulate eight hours of tardy or early departure penalties will be assessed one Saturday absence and will face a drop in grade in one or both classes in the cluster, depending on the instructor’s judgement. This policy shall be strictly enforced except in the event of the occurrence of any of the mitigating conditions stated above with supporting official documents. In such cases, an equivalent make-up work will be assigned by the instructor.
The other component of the attendance policy is the online attendance policy. Students are required to complete weekly online assignments, actively participate in weekly online discussions, and take assigned quizzes online. Attendance will be recorded for each week through participation in the weekly discussions. Students who do not participate will score an “F” grade for that week’s discussion. Students who do not participate in the discussions for two weeks will have a grade drop in one or both courses in the cluster. Students who miss or will miss discussions for seven weeks and who do not withdraw before the withdrawal date will earn an “F” in that cluster. A week in the trimester program is defined as Monday through Sunday.
Students are expected to take quizzes and submit assignments by the due date set by the instructor. Quizzes and assignments submissions will be blocked after the due date and students will score “F” for quiz or the assignment if they are not completed.