Regular class attendance is required of all students. Promptness and dependability are qualities that are very important in all occupations. Students should begin to develop these qualities the day they begin their training.
Attendance is taken daily in class by the instructor and turned over to the Registrar before the end of the class day. Early departures, tardies, and class cuts will be recorded in quarter-hour increments. A period of less than 15 minutes will be counted as a quarter-hour of absence. Attendance records are maintained by the Registrar as part of the student’s permanent academic record.
Students with chronic absenteeism in excess of 20% of the scheduled hours for a course may receive a failing or reduced grade for the course.
A student attending the Institute will be withdrawn from any course he or she does not attend within a 14-day calendar period (excluding school holidays and breaks). The student will be withdrawn from his or her program immediately if he or she does not attend any course(s) within a 14-calendar day period (excluding school holidays and breaks). All students must complete 100% of the scheduled clinical or externship hours within the assigned grading period.
Students are responsible for make-up assignments and work missed as a result of absence at the discretion of the instructor. The instructor may assign additional outside make-up work to be completed for each absence.
Attendance is reviewed by instructors, program directors, and the Director of Education on a weekly basis with a focus on those who have been absent for 15% of the scheduled course. Students will be notified by phone, e-mail, or online in the student portal if their attendance is in danger of violating attendance requirements.
Students may appeal the Institute actions related to the attendance policy if the absence was due to extenuating or mitigating circumstances, for example, illness, military duty, death of a family member, court appearance, or jury duty. Appeals should follow the standard grievances/appeals escalation process. That is, the student should first discuss the issue with his or her instructor.
Additional Massage Therapy Program Attendance Policy:
Massage Therapy students must have a minimum attendance rate of 100% at the halfway point of the program (360 clock hours). Students who fail to meet this requirement will be ineligible to receive further funding through the Federal funding programs and will be required to fund the remaining cost of training through other means. There may be circumstances where this can be addressed to afford the student the ability to complete training with federal funding. All such exceptions must be approved by the Campus President.
Attendance Probation
If a student’s attendance overall percentage is below 80% at the end of any module they will meet with the Director of Education or Program Chair and will be placed on attendance probation. At the conclusion of the next module their attendance is recalculated. If at that point they have achieved a minimum overall attendance percentage of 80% they will be removed from attendance probation. If the student has not met the 80% minimum requirement, they will remain on attendance probation for the next module. If at any point of attendance calculation, it is determined that the student will not be able to achieve the minimum graduation requirement of 80% by the conclusion of the program the student will be withdrawn from the program. The 80% attendance requirement for graduation is a regulation by the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC).