A Brief History
The article covers Dr. Zar’s attendance policy for students attending in-person or face-to-face classes taught by Dr. Zar.
Digging Deeper
Students enrolled in a synchronous course that is taught in a physical classroom are expected to regularly attend class. Therefore, Dr. Zar will regularly pass around an attendance sheet on each class day that students are expected to sign.
While there is not a specific attendance grade for our course, students can fail the course if they stop attending.
Being physically present does not automatically equal attending the class. To be credited as having attended, a student must be engaged with our class while present. That can mean taking notes, participating in class discussion, volunteering to read, and watching the lecture. If Dr. Zar notices a student in his class doing work for another class, reading a newspaper, or using an electronic device to do anything not related to our class during our class’s time, that student may not be counted as having attended for that day.
Students are expected to arrive to class on time. As such, it would not be fair to students who are present for the entire class time to consider any students who show up consistently late as having truly attended class. Nor would it be fair to consider any students who consistently leave early as having truly attended class.
Valid excuses for missing a class or part of a class include the following scenarios that can all be documented: a doctor’s appointment, a funeral for a close family member or friend, a medical emergency (including for immediate family or a pet), a positive Covid (or other communicable disease) test result, an automobile accident, an official school related concert or theatrical performance in which the student is participating, an official school related sporting event for a team on which the student is a member, jury duty, or military service. In such instances, the student should provide Dr. Zar with evidence, such as a coach or doctor’s note, indicating the excuse. The student will also be expected to make up the missed class time by watching a video version of the missed class lecture and writing a response to it demonstrating that the student did indeed watch the lecture video.
Invalid excuses for missing a class or part of a class include the following scenarios: attending a party, completing an exam or presentation for another class, going on a trip or vacation with family and/or friends, leaving early for a holiday break, or scheduling work when class is scheduled to meet. Students are aware of their class schedules and the academic calendars prior to the start of the semester and so should plan any kind of trips, work, travel, or vacations in advance in such a way that does not conflict with our class’s schedule.
For any scenarios not listed in the above two paragraphs, please check with Dr. Zar as to whether it would be a valid or invalid excuse for missing classes.
In the event that class is cancelled due to severe weather or some official university closure, we can watch the video version of that day’s planned lecture to avoid falling behind.
In some instances, it is possible that Dr. Zar, who lives in Ashland County, may out of safety concerns for himself and his students cancel an in-person face-to-face class meeting due to dangerous weather conditions even if the university does not officially do so. To make such a decision, Dr. Zar will consider any of the following factors as possible justification for cancelling a face-to-face class meeting in favor of instead watching the video version for that day’s planned lecture:
- The county in which he lives and/or the county in which our campus is located is/are under a snow emergency.
- The county in which he lives and/or the county in which our campus is located is/are under a tornado warning.
- The county in which he lives and/or the county in which our campus is located is/are under a winter storm warning.
- The county in which he lives and/or the county in which our campus is located is/are under a winter weather advisory.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Markham, J. David and Matthew Zarzeczny. Simply Napoleon (Great Lives). Simply Charly, 2017.
Zarzeczny, Matthew D. Meteors That Enlighten the Earth: Napoleon and the Cult of Great Men. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.
The featured image in this article is a photograph of Dr. Matthew Zarzeczny taken by his mother.
