Policies & Expectations

Class Attendance

Attendance is required in MATH 205. This is a fast-paced course, and each class meeting builds on material covered in previous meetings.

Missing class can affect both:

• your understanding of the course material; and
• your eligibility to take an in-class exam.

Your attendance is governed by two separate rules. You must satisfy both rules.

Rule 1: Overall Class Attendance

There are 28 class meetings during the semester.

• You may have no more than 5 class absences during the semester.
• If you reach 6 or more class absences, you will receive an F for the course.
• Attending tutoring, completing homework, or completing other course assignments does not replace a missed class meeting.

Important: This rule is based on your total number of absences for the entire semester.

Rule 2: Attendance Required to Take Each In-Class Exam

To be eligible to take an in-class exam, you must attend at least 70% of the class meetings leading up to that exam.

The attendance period is determined as follows:

• Exam 1: All class meetings from the beginning of the semester through the class meeting immediately before Exam 1.
• Exam 2: All class meetings after Exam 1 through the class meeting immediately before Exam 2.
• Exam 3: All class meetings after Exam 2 through the class meeting immediately before Exam 3.
• Exam 4: All class meetings after Exam 3 through the class meeting immediately before Exam 4.

The exam day itself is not included when calculating the 70% attendance requirement.

If your attendance during the class meetings leading up to an exam is below 70%, you will not be permitted to take that exam and will receive a zero on the exam.

How the 70% Requirement Is Calculated

When 70% of the class meetings is not a whole number, the minimum number of meetings you must attend is rounded up to the next whole number.

For example, if there are 7 class meetings leading up to an exam:

In this example, you must attend at least 5 of the 7 class meetings leading up to the exam.

How the Two Attendance Rules Work Together

The two attendance rules are separate requirements.

Meeting one attendance requirement does not automatically mean that you have satisfied the other.

Example 1: Exam Eligibility

Suppose you have only 3 total absences for the semester.

You are still below the overall limit of 6 absences. However, if those absences occurred during a short period leading up to an exam and caused your attendance for that period to fall below 70%, you would not be eligible to take that exam.

You would receive a zero on that exam, even though you had not yet reached 6 total absences.

Example 2: Overall Attendance

Suppose you maintain at least 70% attendance before each individual exam and are therefore eligible to take all four exams.

If you later accumulate 6 or more total class absences during the semester, you will still receive an F for the course under the overall attendance rule.

You Are Responsible for Tracking Both Requirements

Throughout the semester, you are responsible for keeping track of:

1. your total number of class absences; and
2. your attendance during the class meetings leading up to each in-class exam.

Remember: You must satisfy both attendance requirements. Staying below 6 total absences does not guarantee eligibility for every exam, and being eligible for each exam does not override the overall 6-absence limit.