Attendance and the First Day of Class
In our focus on student engagement, Palm Beach State seeks to emphasize the importance of first class meeting attendance. Research and our own experience clearly show the connection between teaching and learning that begin in the first class and student success. We earlier proposed a prohibition on adding a class after the first class meeting. However, this registration solution has raised many concerns and prompted further discussion on possible negative impacts on students.
In these discussions, it became clear that a student's presence in class on the first day is not a registration issue but an attendance issue. While attendance is expected for all class sessions and activities, class attendance policies are set by the individual faculty member. Therefore, the policy on adding classes must give the faculty member some flexibility to determine in advance whether to allow or prohibit adding the class after the first class meeting.
The statement in bold below was developed by a subcommittee that studied this issue. The Joint Deans’ Council recommended approval of the policy to the President’s Cabinet, who approved the policy. It is published in the College Catalog and the Student Success Handbook, as follows:
Attendance at the first class meeting of any Palm Beach State course is required. Students who do not attend the first class may be dropped from the course, depending upon the individual faculty member's attendance policy. It is the student's responsibility to read the course schedule notes and/or visit the College website. The College policy of reinstating students for financial aid reasons or for having been dropped due to College error supersedes individual faculty attendance policies.
Enacted July 2006; reviewed June 2010; reviewed July 2019, July 2020