Attendance and Absences
(Religious Holidays • Approved Absences)

A Hopkins education is based on the exchange of ideas with distinguished faculty in the classroom and elsewhere. Although there are no university regulations concerning attendance, students are expected to attend all courses regularly. Students should consult with their instructors and/or teaching assistants when they have missed classes to explain the reasons for their absence and to stay on track in the course. Instructors are encouraged to establish their own policies regarding attendance, and it is the student’s responsibility to know those policies.

In certain courses regular attendance is given special importance. These include foreign language courses and the introductory courses in the Writing Seminars and Expository Writing. Instructors in these courses will lower a student’s grade for unexcused absences.

Absence From Class Due to Illness
If a student is absent from classes over a period of several days without explanation, the instructor should inform the advising office of his/her school. Instructors may recommend that a student withdraw from the course because of poor attendance. However, the student must withdraw before the end of the eighth week of the semester.

If a student experiences a serious or extended illness that causes the student to miss a significant number of classes or major academic assignments, including mid-term examinations, the student can provide a physician’s documentation of the illness to the Dean of Student Life who will notify the student’s instructors.

The Health and Wellness Center will not provide documentation for students who miss individual classes. In these cases, students should communicate directly with their instructors.

Students who have significant illnesses that interfere with their ability to meet their academic obligations are encouraged to seek treatment at the Student Health Center and to confer with the appropriate academic advising office, which can assist students facing serious health problems. Students should also notify faculty when they are nor able to complete work due to illness. Faculty who see a pattern of absences or late work are encouraged to confer with the student’s advising office.

Falsely reporting an illness or injury is a violation of the code of student conduct and is subject to disciplinary action.

Absence for Religious Holidays [Top]
Religious holidays are valid reasons to be excused from class. Students who must miss a class or an examination because of a religious holiday must inform the instructor as early in the semester as possible in order to be excused from class or to make up any work that is missed.

Approved Absences [Top]
The university encourages students to participate in varsity athletics and other significant extracurricular activities. Students who must miss a class or an examination because of participation in a scheduled varsity athletic event must notify the course instructor as early in the semester as possible. Approved absences are granted at the discretion of the course instructor. When students must miss a scheduled examination, several solutions have been found by instructors. Students have been permitted to take an examination before leaving for the event, or coaches have served as proctors for examinations taken during the athletic event at approximately the same time as the other students in the course. Students have also been allowed to take the examination, or an alternative examination, upon their return from the athletic event.