The Art Institutes maintain an institutional attendance policy to support the academic achievement of its students. Students are expected to attend all scheduled class, laboratory, or examination periods each week. Students, whether present or absent from class, are responsible for knowing all that is announced, discussed, and/or lectured upon in class or laboratory, as well as mastering all assigned reading. In addition, students are responsible for submitting on time all assignments and examinations as required in class. Although some absences are unavoidable because of illness or emergency, due to the nature of the program, there are no excused absences.
Students will not be penalized for pregnancy or related conditions, including recovery from
childbirth. Students who are absent due to pregnancy or related conditions may receive an exception to the attendance policy and/or be permitted to make up missed work for as long as the student’s absence is medically necessary. To avoid being administratively withdrawn, students must contact their
class. In other words, if a student submits an appeal and it is approved, the next absence will initiate a non-appealable withdrawal from the course. The Attendance Appeal Request Form may be found in the registrar office.
Appeal Process – Withdrawn from Course (Ground)
Students who are administratively withdrawn from a single course for violating the attendance policy may submit a one-time appeal per course per term to the Dean of Academic Affairs for reinstatement into their course(s) in the active term. Students who appeal must do so in writing prior to the next class meeting for each course being requested for reinstatement. The instructor must determine that the student still has the potential of successfully completing the course(s) to earn a successful appeal. A copy of this appeal must be put into the student’s file.
Consecutive Days Absence Grading Policy (Ground)
Students who are not marked present in any of their scheduled classes for fourteen (14) consecutive calendar days before the end of the ninth week of the 11 week term (week 4 of a 5.5 week Mid quarter ground term), will be withdrawn from the Institute and will receive W’s (withdrawals, with no grade penalty), or if the withdrawal occurs after the end of the ninth week of an 11 week term (after week 4 of a 5.5 week Mid quarter ground term) students will be withdrawn from the Institute and will receive WF’s (Failures due to late withdrawal). Calendar days include days that the student does not have any scheduled class. All calendar days that the school is not in session (e.g., school closings and holidays) do not count in the fourteen (14) calendar days as well during the active term. Students who have been withdrawn due to violation of the consecutive absence policy, but are still in good academic standing, if otherwise eligible, will be able to return the following term through the normal readmissions process. Students who have been withdrawn and the withdrawal results in a violation of the satisfactory academic progress policy (SAPP) must follow the procedure for appealing the academic dismissal. Appeal Process – Consecutive Days Absent (Ground)
Students who are administratively withdrawn from school for violating the consecutive days absence attendance policy may submit an appeal to the Dean of Academic Affairs for reinstatement into their course(s) in the active term based on mitigating circumstances. Students, who appeal, must do so in writing and must include documentation of mitigating circumstances.
Mitigating circumstances may include one of the following reasons: on the day of the recorded absence. The following is a comprehensive list of events that may indicate a mitigating circumstance:
1. Death of an immediate family member
2. Student illness requiring hospitalization (this includes mental health issues) 3. Illness of an immediate family member where the student is the primary caretaker 4. Illness of an immediate family member where the family member is the primary financial
support
5. Abusive relationships 6. Divorce proceedings
7. Previously undocumented disability 8. Natural disaster
9. Family emergency
10. Financial hardship such as foreclosure or eviction 11. Documentation from a Professional Counselor
12. A doctor documented illness of the student for a significant period of time 13. Military deployment
14. Military Permanent Change of Station (PCS) 15. Special Circumstances
New students at on-ground campuses who attend the first week of a course and fail to attend the second week of classes will be cancelled for the term start.
Continuing students at on-ground campuses who do not attend any of their classes through close of business Wednesday of the second week of classes may be withdrawn from the Institute. They must contact the campus registrar to indicate their intent to return. Additionally, the cumulative week policy (above) will still apply to any classes not attended in week 1 and beyond.
*Reports will be available in SIS for this information; please see Course Attendance Process.
**Students in Mid quarter ground courses that meet for 5.5 weeks who miss two cumulative weeks will be withdrawn from the course and will receive a Withdrawal (W) grade before week 4 or
Withdrawal/Fail (W/F) grade after week 4.
**There may be additional conditions placed on veterans for pursuing their education. VA students should see their VA Student Certification Officer (VASCO).
Attendance Verification
Students may verify their attendance at any time during the term by speaking with their instructor. In addition, they may go to the campus academic advisors. Students who need information regarding their attendance will need to request it in person. Any discrepancies should be discussed with the individual instructors.
Qualifying Military Service, Disasters, National Emergencies
To assist individuals who are performing qualifying military service and individuals who are affected by disaster, war or other military operation or national emergency, an attendance exception may be granted. A student is declared as military deployed upon receipt of official activation orders
documentation by the school. Similarly, appropriate documentation for students residing in an area declared as a disaster area must be submitted to the school. The school’s registrar office will record the student’s actual last date of attendance and then provide an attendance exception. If the
documentation shows that the student knew she/he was going to be deployed prior to the term or course start date and still decided to start, the school will not provide this military attendance exception. For these reasons, it is required that the school personnel request deployment
paperwork/orders to verify deployment status or to document evidence of a disaster area declaration prior to applying the attendance exception. The school must record the student’s actual last date of attendance regardless of the exception granted.
2. Examples of acceptable evidence of academic attendance and attendance at an academically- related activity in a distance education program include:
a. Student submission of an academic assignment b. Student submission of an exam
c. Documented student participation in an interactive tutorial or computer assisted instruction.
d. A posting by the student showing the students participation in an online study group that is assigned by the institution.
e. Posting by the student in a discussion forum showing the students participation in an online discussion about academic matters, and
f. An email from the student or other documentation showing that the student initiated contact with a faculty member to ask a faculty member about the subject studied in the course.
Online students are required to meet the first week’s attendance in order to be confirmed as an active student. Failure to do this could negatively impact a student’s financial aid.
During the last half week of a 5.5 week class, students taking online classes must submit at least one academically-related posting in the classroom on at least one day. For online classes that end on a Wednesday, the half week is defined as beginning on Monday at 12:00 a.m. Mountain Standard Time (MST) to 11:59 p.m. MST the following Wednesday. For online classes that end on a Saturday, the half week is defined as beginning on Thursday at 12:00 a.m. Mountain Standard Time (MST) to 11:59 p.m. MST the following Saturday.
Students who fail to meet the attendance requirements for a week will be given an absence for that attendance week. AiPOD students who fail to meet the attendance requirements for two consecutive attendance weeks (cumulative for PLUS students) during a course will be administratively withdrawn from the course. If the student is administratively withdrawn from all current courses, the student will be withdrawn from the institution.
If the student is administratively withdrawn due to attendance on or before the last day of week 4 in a 5.5 week course (week 9 in an 11 week course), the student will receive a W grade for the course. If the student is administratively withdrawn due to attendance after the last day of week 4 in a 5.5 week course (week 9 in an 11 week course), the student will receive a grade of WF for the course. The last date of attendance will be the last day where the student met the attendance requirements.
In the specific case where a student has a current course grade of F and fails to meet positive
attendance in the last week of the course, the final course grade of F will be considered an unearned F as it pertains to Title IV financial aid purposes.