Procedures and Guidelines

Attendance Regulations (lectures, labs, tutorials)

Categories: MOT MPT MSLP Occupational Therapy Speech-Language Pathology absence attendance illness time-off Physical Therapy

Updated on:

Purpose:

To describe the policy and procedures on Absenteeism (lectures, labs, tutorials) at the School of Rehabilitation Science.

Note: Please see the following policies for attendance at midterm and final examinations and Clinical Education courses, respectively. Examination Regulations Special Requests for Absence from a Clinical Placement

Background

The School of Rehabilitation Science emphasizes the development of high standards of professional conduct and attitudes, in conjunction with a program of study in basic, applied and clinical sciences, to ensure that graduates are capable of working safely and effectively.

The school recognizes the importance of good clinical decision-making where health professional students do not put their colleagues at risk of illness due to spread of disease by attending when ill, but do respect the importance of punctuality and attendance. There are several negative impacts on learning associated with absenteeism such as:

  1. It is disruptive to classmates and the instructor to be asked questions in class relating to information that has been covered and understood by everyone else.
  2. Some laboratories are set up for equal numbers to allow students to work in partners. Having to work in threes may reduce the effectiveness of the learning experience.
  3. Missed lectures often result in insufficient preparation for related laboratory sessions and may inhibit your partner’s learning experience as well as your own.
  4. Missed laboratory sessions are difficult to remediate from a book or other student’s notes as they are mostly “hands on”.
  5. It places undue pressure on classmates.
  6. Attendance in courses is used for credentialing purposes.

Policy and Procedure Summary:

Policy on Attendance and Punctuality

Full and punctual attendance at all lectures, laboratories, seminars and other scheduled components of the academic program is a requirement unless absence or punctuality is unavoidably caused by illness, compassionate reasons or has received prior permission from the course coordinator and respective Program Chair (i.e. attendance at a professional conference, medical appointment or significant event that cannot be altered). It is recognized that a student may be unavoidably delayed on occasion (i.e. once or twice), however arriving late is disruptive and will not be tolerated as a regular occurrence.

Procedure for Requesting or Reporting Absences

If a student cannot attend a class due to illness or compassionate reasons, they should notify the course coordinator of the missed class/classes and the School of Rehabilitation Science general office by email (srs@usask.ca). If the reason for missing class extends to, or is likely to extend to a second day, the student must also include the Program Chair of their respective program in the communication.

Planned absences must be approved by the respective Program Chair; a student should reach out to request permission as soon as they are aware of a conflict. If a student misses more than 10% of a course or an academic module, they may be required to provide written documentation justifying the absence. If the student misses more than 20% of a course or an academic module, Academic Affairs will review the case and decide if action is required (e.g. remediation, leave of absence, discontinuation of module/program).

When an instructor, coordinator, or Program Chair observes consistently poor punctuality or lack of attendance this would be considered unprofessional behaviour and they would initiate a minor incident form as per the standard operating procedure for concerns with Rehabilitation Student Professional Behaviour.