ATTENDANCE POLICY for B207 and B208

Attendance in lecture is EXPECTED and will be noted - this could influence me if  grades are borderline.  Announcements will be made, or activities started, at the beginning of class, so promptness is important. If a student misses a lecture, notes must be obtained from another student. I do NOT make notes available to students. However, Power Point notes can be accessed from the syllabus. Please note that they are not all-inclusive. I will supplement them through lecturing in class.

If a student misses a quiz or exam, credit will not be received. Exceptions are the following:
          1. Documented illness (notification on the same day; documentation within one week)
          2. Documented personal tragedy
          3. Religious holiday recognized by university
          4. Documented official University business

If a student misses an individual exam or quiz  for one of the above reasons, then a make-up exam will be given. Students who know they will miss an exam for an excusable reason must inform me before or on the day of the exam (and as close to the time of the exam as possible) through phone or e-mail; otherwise, absence will be considered unexcused and a zero will be given.          

Attendance in laboratory is MANDATORY. We place high importance on the laboratory experience. Therefore unexcused laboratory absences could result in a grade reduction for the whole course - three unexcused absences will result in a failure of BISC207 (208 in spring). The first and second unexcused absence will result in loss of credit for any graded work pertaining to that lab. Excused absences fall into the categories listed above and can be made up by attending a lab at another time during the same week (however lab attendance is limited to 18 students). Responsibility for arranging this lies with the student. The student should first inform me about the reasons for the excused absence, in order to get permission to make up the lab.  Make up during a later week cannot be accomodated. Please note that this means that even if a student has an excused absence from a lab, he/she is still responsible for making up that lab; this includes turning in reports due in that lab (on time), taking a quiz or handing in a flow chart, and writing a report from that lab. Having an excused absence from a  particular lab time does not excuse the student from taking that week's lab (prolonged illness will be considered on a case by case basis). This can be coordinated with your lab TA after consultation with me. Additional laboratory policies will be explained in lab by your laboratory instructor, and they should also be read in your lab manual..

There are certain rules that apply to group work done by the Honors class, Honors BISC 207 or 208, and they are the following:
1. Anyone who misses group problem work with an excused absence will be allowed to do the work on their own, provided it is turned in to me before the group's work is returned in class (this typically means the individual would have to turn it in before the beginning of the next class period - i.e. by 9:05 on Friday for the Honors section). The individual is responsible for getting the assignment from me in my office. Long-term absences will be dealt with on an individual basis.
    2. Anyone who has an unexcused absence from a group quiz or exam is not allowed to make it up. Documentation must be provided to show that absence from a quiz or exam was excusable.
    3. At my discretion, if extenuating circumstances caused a student to be absent for reasons other than those listed as excused (i.e. student had an unexcused absence), he/she may be allowed to make up group work, but with a penalty of 30% deducted from the grade. If the individual's grade is higher than the group's grade, the lower of the two will be used before the deduction is taken. These situations will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
  4. Remember that in both 207 and 208, you will be doing peer evaluations. Your attendance and promptness will be noted by your peers and will factor into their evaluation of you. In BISC 100, poor attendance for group work could greatly impact your grade.