Attendance Policy

Class attendance and active participation are essential to your education at PUC. You are expected to maintain regular attendance and participation at all class sessions of each course in which you are enrolled. Excessive class absences and non-participation interfere with your learning experience as well as diminish the quality of group interaction in class. However, the college recognizes that there may be times when you are unable to attend class due to illness or other good reason. Therefore the following general class attendance policy has been established:

• Attendance in courses is expected to begin on the first day of the quarter. If you miss the first session of a course without providing notification to your instructor, even if you are pre-registered, your spot in that course may be given away to another student.
• You are expected to inform your instructor in advance if you are going to be absent from a class session. Regardless of the reason for your absence, you are responsible for all material and assignments presented in class and for meeting assignment deadlines. Opportunities to make up course work are provided at the instructor’s discretion, and you may not place any undue burden on the instructor. Please note that the instructor is not under any obligation to provide opportunities to make up course work due to either late registration or unexcused absences.
• Absences that result from short-term suspensions due to violations of the principles outlined in the Student Life Agreement will be treated as unexcused absences, and significant academic penalties may apply as a result of such unexcused absences.
• Each instructor has the right to establish a specific attendance policy best suited to a given course and to publish it in the syllabus. You are responsible for reviewing, understanding, and adhering to the published attendance policies for all your courses.
• If you are absent for more than 20% of a course, your instructor may give you a failing grade for the course or may request that you withdraw from the course if the course, if the syllabus contains such a policy. This may apply regardless of the reason for your absences. Depending on the nature of the course, some instructors may necessarily have a more strict policy with regards to attendance. Some instructors may use academically-related activities (such as assignments, group work, quizzes, and examinations) to determine attendance. Your instructor may consider you to be absent from the course if you do not participate in these required activities according to the established course schedule.
• The college reserves the right to deal at any time with individual cases of excessive non-attendance.

Credit-Hour Policy

One quarter credit at Pacific Union College generally represents a minimum of 30 hours of work on the part of the student. The student work includes both classroom instruction and out-of-class work, and is typically spread out over the standard quarter (ten weeks of standard instruction and one week of final examinations). A course may be offered in a term of a different length, but it must contain the same contact time and out-of-class student work expectations as the same course offered during a standard academic quarter.

Courses that are listed for variable credits will specify how credit value is assigned, and requirements will be clearly delineated for each credit value offered.

Credit Hours by Instructional Methods

Credit hours for a course should be assigned according to the guidelines for the instructional method of the course. A course may combine multiple methods of instruction to compose the credit total. For example, many courses at Pacific Union College combine lecture and laboratory components.

Standard Courses

• Lecture, seminar, discussion, examination Valued at one credit for 50 minutes of classroom instruction per week, with a normal minimum expectation of two hours of out-of-class student work per week per credit. An additional two hours of instruction and/or testing occurs for each course during final examination week.

Activities Supervised as a Group

• Laboratory, clinical, group practicum, exercise science activity, music ensemble, group art studio, dramatic performance, workshop.
• Valued at one credit for 150 minutes of supervised activity per week. When the activity involves substantial out-of-class student work, the meeting time may be reduced to 100 minutes of supervised activity per week.

Individualized Courses

• Directed study, independent study, project, research, thesis, fieldwork, internship, externship, individual practicum, flight training, music lesson, private art studio.
• Valued at one credit for a minimum of three hours of student work per week as assigned and evaluated by the instructor.

Colloquia

• Distinguished speaker series, colloquium, certain seminars
• Valued in increments of 0.1, with one-tenth of a credit representing a minimum of three hours of student work per quarter.*
• *A note on colloquia and tenths of credits: At Pacific Union College, a colloquium is defined as a course designed to build community and enhance student learning through activities such as guest speakers, research presentations, discussions of current interest topics, and assessment exercises. Colloquium are typically attendance based and are typically graded Satisfactory/Fail. Various titles are used for these types of courses, including Colloquium, Distinguished Speaker Series, and Seminar. The Colloquy Speaker Series and the Assessment Seminar are campus-wide colloquia. Other colloquia are discipline-based.
• Pacific Union College values these types of learning formats, but recognizes that it isn’t always practical to incorporate sufficient hours within one quarter to justify a full quarter credit. For this reason, credit may be calculated in increments of 0.1 for these types of courses only.

Hybrid and Online Courses

• Hybrid course: Any course in which more than 20% but less than 50% of the scheduled class sessions are replaced by web-based activities for which the students and instructor are not in the same physical location.
• Online course: Any course in which 50% or more of the scheduled class sessions are replaced by web-based activities for which the students and instructor are not in the same physical location.
• Valued at one credit for 30 hours of student work total as assigned and evaluated by the instructor. The following items must be clearly outlined in the syllabus for any hybrid or online course:
  • The online activities that will replace the scheduled class sessions
  • The online instructional methods that will be used to promote student learning
  • The online assessment methods that will be used for assessment of the student learning outcomes

Even though the instructional methods will differ between traditional courses, hybrid courses and online courses, all course sections with the same title are expected to be consistent with regards to purpose, scope, quality and student learning outcomes.

Credit Hour Policy Compliance

Compliance with classroom instruction time is monitored by the Registrar during the development of each term’s course schedule. Additionally, the Curriculum and Efficiency Committee monitors credit hour policy compliance as follows:

New courses or adjusted courses

New Course Approval Form or Course Change Approval Form Departments demonstrate compliance with the credit hour policy during the course approval process.

Existing courses Syllabus Review Check Sheet

Each department is reviewed for compliance with the credit hour policy during the Program Review process every five years. Supplementary syllabus reviews may be conducted at any time at the discretion of the committee.

Exam Change Request

Exam Time Changes

Changes to final exam schedules can only be authorized by the academic dean. You must fill in the "Special Examination Request" form and turn it in to the Academic Administration office located on the Garden Level of Chan Shun Hall. The form must be turned in to Academic Administration 10 days before the beginning of test week. The only reasons for changing an exam time that are guaranteed to be accepted are as follows:

• A death in the immediate family;
• A documented medical emergency demanding immediate attention;
• An examination schedule with four final exams on one day;
• An examination schedule with three final exams in a row on one day.

Changes to final exam times for any reason other than those listed above are not guaranteed to be approved. If they are approved, you could be charged up to $100 per exam. All travel, work, medical appointments, and other plans must be arranged around the final exam schedule to avoid conflict.

For questions regarding the exam change policy and/or procedures, contact Academic Administration at (707) 965-6234 or email academicadministration@puc.edu.