Attendance

University Policy

School of Law Policy

Excerpt from Article VI of Academic Regulations

1. Attendance. Regular attendance is expected in all courses and seminars for which a student is registered. Students must notify the School of Law Registrar’s Office, in advance if possible, of extended absences. A student who misses a seminar’s first meeting without the instructor’s permission may be administratively dropped from that seminar. A student who, without permission from the Dean or the Dean’s designate, has not attended any of their classes in a four-week period will be administratively dropped from the school.

2. Preparation and classroom participation. Preparation of class assignments and informed participation in class discussion are expected of every student.

3. Effect on final grades.

a. Exclusion from further participation. A student who has been warned by an instructor of excessive absences, and whose absences continue, may be excluded from the final examination or any other further participation in the course, seminar, or clinical program. Such a student will receive a failing grade. A warning under this paragraph may be communicated orally or in writing. A written warning will be deemed adequate if either (1) mailed to the student’s street address on file in the School of Law Registrar’s Office or (2) emailed to the student’s Boston University email account. Any petition to the Academic Standards Committee for readmission to the course, seminar, or clinical program will face a heavy presumption against readmission.
b. Lowering final grades. An instructor shall announce any policy, apart from the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section, of lowering a student’s grade on account of classroom attendance, preparation, or participation. Such a policy does not preclude enforcement of paragraph (a).
c. Raising final grades. An instructor, without advance notice, may raise final grades by one increment (e.g., from B to B+) to reflect a student’s preparation or classroom participation.
d. Special case of courses without a final examination. With advance notice, an instructor who requires a paper or papers in lieu of an examination may adopt and apply a policy of assigning a specified weight to classroom preparation or participation. The weight given to preparation or participation may be specified either as a percentage of the final grade or in terms of grade increments.