IV. Academic Information

C. Regulations Governing Classes

1. First Class Meeting and Statement of Course Requirements On the first day of the term instructors usually distribute course syllabi and reading lists to their classes and make any necessary corrections to their class lists (corrections which are necessary because of dropping and/or adding of the course by students).

Each faculty member is reminded to use the first class meeting (or another appropriate time early in the drop/add period) to state clearly his or her requirements for the course, including policy on class attendance. There is no University-wide policy concerning class attendance. Faculty members, however, are requested to report to the administrative adviser any student whose continued absence from class, usually three consecutive absences, might give cause for concern for the student's welfare. (See the Catalogue regarding resolution of scheduling conflicts and health-related absences.) The instructor's statement of requirements of a course should also include such matters as reading assignments and the number and nature of all written and oral examinations, term papers, quizzes, projects, and any other work that will be required of the student. Grading procedures should also be announced and explained at this time.

Faculty members should state these requirements orally to their classes, and also put the requirements in writing, perhaps in the course syllabus, so that there will be no subsequent misunderstandings of requirements or policies.

2. Official Class Lists Class lists are prepared by the Registrar and distributed to department chairs at the beginning of the registration and drop/add process. Departments and instructors usually record drops and adds on the class list for each course. As soon as possible in a term, usually shortly after the drop/add period, the Registrar sends each instructor an updated class list which reflects information in the Registrar's records. Each instructor is required to check this list carefully, adding any names not included and indicating which students are no longer in the course. The corrected class list should be returned promptly to the Registrar, and students who are the subject of any necessary corrections should be asked by the instructor to check with the Registrar to insure that they are accurately recorded in the official records for the course. Corrected lists will be used by the Registrar to send official final class lists for the recording of final grades at the end of the term.

3. Auditing a Course Auditing a course is an informal matter between the student and the instructor. No record of an audit should be made on the official class lists, and no record of an audit will be made by the Registrar on student transcripts. Permission to audit a course is at the discretion of the individual instructor.

4. Absence of the Instructor From Class Faculty members are expected to meet their classes promptly at the scheduled times. In case of illness or other emergency which requires that a class be canceled, the department chair should be informed and the department secretary asked to post a notice of the cancellation in the classroom and to notify WRCU radio, which will announce the cancellation to its listeners. In the event of a necessary absence from the campus on professional business, or because of an emergency or prolonged illness which requires that a faculty member be absent from campus for an extended period, the department chair should be notified as soon as possible and arrangements made for the classes to be conducted by a colleague or for make-up classes to be arranged by the instructor.

5. Observance of Religious Holidays In order that no student at Colgate suffer academic penalty because of his or her conscientious observance of a major religious holiday, it is important that faculty members follow a uniform policy regarding such observance.

It is reasonable to consider major religious holidays for the Colgate student body to be the following: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, Good Friday, and Easter. Quizzes or exams should not be scheduled, and papers should not become due, on any of these holidays, or on the next class session falling after any of these holidays. In addition, every effort will be made not to schedule major college events on these days.

Students whose conscientious religious observance requires that they observe religious holidays in addition to those named above can make use of the following procedure: Prior to the holiday, they may obtain a letter from the appropriate religious adviser affirming their intention to observe the holiday. If such notification is delivered to the course instructor before the holiday, the student's absence on the holiday will be regarded as an authorized one, and the student will be excused from quizzes and exams both for that day and for the next class session (at which his or her attendance may again be expected). Under these circumstances the student will be permitted to take a make-up exam without penalty. A similar option exists with respect to papers: If proper notification is delivered to the course instructor before the holiday, the student will be excused from submitting a paper due on that holiday, and from submitting it at the next class session after the holiday (at which his or her attendance may again be expected).

Uniform observance of these policies by faculty members will be appreciated and will help prevent possible confusion regarding observance of religious holidays by students.