Class Attendance

Academics is the priority at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. Attendance is fundamental to engagement, involvement, and community in the Benedictine liberal arts tradition, a hallmark of our institutions. Class attendance is a student obligation and a student is responsible for all the work of all class meetings. A student absent from class for any reason assumes the responsibility for work that has been missed. It is the student's responsibility to notify the instructor in advance, if possible, of an absence. It is also the student’s responsibility to initiate communication with the instructor to determine what, if any, credit can be obtained for missed classes. Absences in class will likely impact a student’s ability to fulfill course requirements and therefore, the student’s final grade.

Each instructor determines the attendance policy for his or her class. Because attendance is integral to course design, these policies may be set by instructors at the departmental or individual level. For example, students may be required to interact with others in the class, to demonstrate the ability to think and argue critically, or to participate in group projects. Instructors also determine whether make-up work is possible and if so, its parameters. Students are entitled to information about course procedures, attendance policy, content, and goals, especially in relation to the grading policy. Students can find this information on their course syllabus.

Attendance policies should reasonably accommodate college-sponsored events, short-term illness, and family emergencies. College-sponsored events include varsity and junior varsity athletics and college sponsored activities led by faculty or staff, not including student organizations. Faculty and staff who organize such events should make all efforts to minimize disruption of course attendance. Directors of college sponsored events will provide notification to students well in advance of each event necessitating absence from class. It is up to the student to communicate and work with their faculty regarding the absence.

Remote Teaching and Learning

Because the mission of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University is based on residential liberal arts education and we understand the value of an in-person learning environment, most of our undergraduate courses will be taught in-person, with the expectation that both faculty and students are in the classroom. Remote learning is offered in courses specifically designated as synchronous hybrid (some students are in the classroom while some learn remotely) or fully online (remote learning and remote teaching) as approved by the Academic Dean and appropriate department chair.

On an individual basis, a student may request remote attendance for a single or limited number of class periods when they cannot attend in-person because of a college-sponsored event, short-term illness, or a family emergency. The opportunity to attend class remotely is at a faculty member’s discretion and will depend upon the course’s learning goals and pedagogical design. There will be instances where remote learning is not an option. Faculty will address their process for remote learning and whether it is possible in the course syllabus. Students may not request permission to learn remotely in order to travel other than for college-sponsored trips.

Remote instruction may be offered only occasionally and at the discretion of the instructor. In the case of a weather-related emergency or other campus shutdown, for example, instructors may move to remote instruction entirely at their discretion. Faculty may request permission from their department chair and/or Academic Affairs to teach remotely for single or limited number of class periods during a semester. For example, a faculty member who needs to attend a conference might find it beneficial to teach a class remotely while at the conference rather than having to cancel classes.

Course Numbers

Courses are organized numerically in three groups:

• 100-299 (lower-division undergraduate courses);
• 300-399 (upper-division undergraduate courses);
• 400 and above (graduate courses).

These numbers distinguish the level of specialization and expertise required at the beginning (100 level), intermediate (200 level), and advanced (300 level) of college study. Courses at the 100 level introduce students to a particular discipline and may involve review of high school material, whereas others require no prior knowledge. These introductory courses are usually prerequisites for coursework at the 200 and 300 level. At the 200 level, students demonstrate intermediate understanding and mastery of concepts, professional standards, methods, and skills. Courses at the 300 level demand independent and critical mastery of methods as well as the ability to integrate theoretical knowledge appropriate to the discipline. These advanced courses may be limited to majors/minors in the program or may be open to others as electives or common curriculum courses.

Final Examinations

The academic calendar concludes each semester with a one-day study and three-day test cycle. Faculty may administer final exams, final projects or presentations for their classes only during the exam period officially scheduled by the Registrar's Office. Cumulative final examinations, projects or presentations, may not be given during the regularly scheduled class days of the semester, except for night classes. If there is to be a cumulative final exam in a course, students must be given the opportunity to review all tested materials by the last scheduled class. The faculty member has the right to retain the tested materials.

Study day is meant to support student preparation for the final exam period. Faculty or departments may offer study sessions to assist students in their preparation. Please do not schedule required activities on this day (no final exams, final projects or presentations).

Instructors of each full-term course are expected to announce at the beginning of the course whether a two-hour final examination, final project or presentation will be given. Such an exam will be administered during the three-day test cycle according to the schedule above. Note that a class is assigned a test time and day in the schedule according to the cycle and time period it meets during the semester. Night classes may use their last regularly scheduled class period for a final exam or request a multi-section common exam time.

One period has been reserved on each of two test days for the administration of a common exam for multiple-section courses who so desire. A list of such courses, and their exam times, will be announced this fall. The legend, MS, in the accompanying chart signifies times set aside for these multi-section common exams.

The schedule for final examinations can be found on the Registrar's website. 

Course Auditing

Students intending to audit a course (earn no credit) are required to complete an Audit Change of Status Form during the first four weeks of class. Auditors are expected to attend all regular classes. Courses audited are not included in determining the total credits earned; however, the credit value of any course audited is calculated in the total tuition cost. A student who enrolls for audit status may change to credit status only during the first week of class.

Substitution

In exceptional circumstances, students may petition for a substitution from specific academic regulations. Forms for requesting a substitution are available from the registrar's homepage. Students should first consult with their academic advisor. Department chairs are the approving officials for substitutions from requirements within majors and minors. Substitutions from academic regulations beyond major and minor fields require the approval of the academic dean or the dean's designee. Requests for these non-departmental substitutions should be directed to the Academic Advising Offices. The guiding principle in considering requests for any substitution is fidelity to the academic standards of the colleges.

Course Evaluations of Faculty

The Division of Student Success administer course evaluations of the faculty for the campuses through an online system for all credit bearing courses each semester.  The Division of Student Success supports faculty by assisting in developing course evaluations questions, educating them on the uses and features of the system, and providing technical support.

Policy on Syllabi

All courses require a syllabus. The syllabus must be available on the first day of class. Course syllabi are required to include the following components:

• CSB/SJU course identification
  • Course prefix and number (ex. ENGL 110 Introduction to Literature); topics courses include a letter (ex. INTG 278A Energy and the Environment)
  • Semester and year the course was offered (ex. Spring 2019)
• Instructor name and contact information
• Catalog description of the course (all sections must adhere to the published academic catalog description)
  • Faculty may include additional, more detailed information about the course.
• Student learning outcomes (all sections must have the same core student learning outcomes); faculty may add additional outcomes as appropriate.
• Assignments and grading procedures
  • Describe how the instructor will compute final grades.
  • Identify required exams and assignments.
  • List required meetings and events that occur outside of regular class times.
  • State S/U policy (see Academic Catalog for the institutions’ Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory policy).
• Required textbooks or course materials.
• Links to institutional policies:
  • Course Attendance policy (see the Academic Catalog for the institutions’ attendance policy)
  • Student Accessibility Services sample Syllabus Statement 
  • Academic Misconduct and Plagiarism policy
  • Sexual Misconduct and Title IX policy
• A permanent copy of the syllabus (for example, as a pdf) must be submitted to the department chair/coordinator

Recording Policy

There are several reasons that faculty might record or allow students to record, all or portions of classes, including:

• The educational needs of students with documented disabilities.
• The educational needs of some students unable to participate synchronously for acceptable reasons.
• If the faculty member wishes to illustrate some particular skill or methodology (e.g., an artistic technique) that would require close proximity to the instructor under conditions of social distancing.

The increased recording or partial recording of class sessions raises two important questions for faculty:

1. Intellectual Property – who owns the recordings?
2. Student and Faculty Privacy – how do we protect the privacy of individual students who might be recorded without their consent as they ask questions and make comments during a typical class?

Intellectual Property Considerations

The material produced by faculty in the regular course of preparing for and teaching classes, including such things as syllabi, worksheets and assignment instructions, examinations and tests, examination review guides, and the like, are regarded as the intellectual property of the instructor who produced them.

Lectures are teaching content that is created by instructors, and thus remain the instructors’ intellectual property. There are some caveats and considerations, however. Faculty may legitimately include another individual’s copyrighted material (illustrations, graphs, videos, etc.) in their presentations under fair use doctrine since they are for educational rather than commercial purposes and are for a limited duration. The presence of these types of copyrighted material in a lecture does become a consideration when universities wish to record and then monetize those recorded class sessions, since material they contain may no longer be considered “fair use.”

There are other important considerations when determining intellectual property rights within a recording of classroom activities. Guest lecturers or student presenters retain copyright of their materials, for example. If a faculty member designs a course using “extraordinary university resources” – as part of a grant, for instance – the terms of the grant might mean that instructional material produced is not the faculty member’s intellectual property.

There are several technologies that faculty can use to record instructional material including, but not limited to, recording a voiceover for PowerPoint slides, recording via Camtasia, using an editing software to record the instructor giving brief lectures, or recording a Zoom class meeting. Zoom is a central component of our hybrid learning model, since it is the means by which students learning remotely will interact with the instructor and students in the classroom. When utilizing some of this software, the faculty member can retain control over the recording, since the file can remain on the instructor’s computer. In other cases, including Zoom, the file is stored first on the CSB|SJU Zoom website and, while it can be downloaded by the instructor, remains on the CSB|SJU Zoom website for 30 days. Because recordings are automatically deleted after 30 days, faculty who wish to save their save this content for their future use should download and save the recordings.

Privacy Considerations

The recording of class sessions that involve student questions and responses, or classes that involve small or large group discussion is also problematic for student privacy. Because we are a small liberal arts college and our pedagogy is focused on active learning, particularly large and small group discussion, students in the class may be recorded expressing opinions or providing personal information. The privacy of students becomes significantly more concerning in a social media environment where comments can be taken out of context and disseminated widely. Faculty are at risk in this environment, too. It is essential that both students and faculty are protected from doxing and other forms of cyber-bullying.

Thus, instructors must consider the potential impact on students and themselves as they record classroom activities. Instructors should be aware that students have the right to privacy within the classroom experience. The instructor may choose not to record a class discussion of a sensitive topic, when recording that discussion will, in the view of the instructor, inhibit the discussion or present a significant privacy problem for students. They should be aware of the recording and the protections available. It is good practice to notify students of the recording of the class before the recording is made.

If the instructor, for reasons of pedagogy, course content, or student privacy, does not wish class sessions to be recorded, they have the authority to restrict such personal recordings. The syllabus should include a clear statement to this effect.

If the instructor is recording full class periods for most of the class periods in a semester (as might be the case in a remote-learning environment) a statement in the syllabus should make this clear.

If recordings are only used intermittently throughout the course, students should be informed of the recording before each class period via email or through the Canvas announcements.

For suggested language for syllabus statements and course announcements, see Academic Catalog: Policy on Syllabi.

Recording for Students with Disabilities

The ADA requires instructors to provide adequate accommodations to students who have a documented disability. For students with certain disabilities, recording of class sessions can be helpful.

In compliance with federal law, therefore, instructors must give permission for students to record classroom activities if doing so qualifies as an appropriate and legitimate academic adjustment. When balancing accessibility needs with the privacy of other students in a discussion-based class, the faculty member, in full consultation with the Student Accessibility Service office, might consider a different accommodation, such as a note-taker rather than recording. Students with permission to record the class are regulated by the same constraints regarding sharing or distribution of course materials as other students.

Students who wish to record a class session using their own devices must be registered with Student Accessibility Services, have an approved accommodation to record the class session, and must request permission from and gain approval of the instructor. The recording must be for personal academic use, may not be shared beyond the course, and must be destroyed at the end of the semester. The student must sign a recording agreement and this form is held by the Student Accessibility Services office for the semester. The instructor has the authority to prohibit the recording, in part or in full, of any class session, provided that an appropriate alternative accommodation is available.

For suggested language for a syllabus statement for students with disabilities, see Academic Catalog: Policy on Syllabi.

The recording agreement is available on the Student Accessibility Services website.