Class Participation at EFSC

Regular class participation is required at Eastern Florida State College. Students are expected to attend all classes and actively participate and complete all assigned course work for all courses for which they are registered. In order to obtain credit for a course, a student must demonstrate continued classroom participation as identified by the faculty to meet the competencies of the course.

To be reported as actively participating, students must attend and complete a graded assignment during the first week of class, a critical requirement in what's known as census reporting — a process that students need to be familiar with, so visit the census reporting page for details.

Students who are reported as never attending a course will be withdrawn from the class. Financial Aid and Veterans benefits will be adjusted or rescinded accordingly.

Only registered students may attend class sessions; unregistered persons may not attend class sessions (this includes but is not limited to children/spouses/relatives/friends of registered students attending class sessions with or in place of registered students), except in circumstances where SAIL has approved an accommodation.

Online Class Participation

Online students within the Census Reporting period must complete an academic activity such as submit an assignment, take an assessment or quiz, post to a discussion board, or initiate contact with the instructor to explain circumstances if unable to complete such activities to maintain active classroom participation for census reporting as specified in the instructor’s syllabus. Logging in and out of an online course does not constitute active participation. Students who have not actively participated during the Census Reporting period will be withdrawn for non-participation by the Office of the Registrar. After the Census Reporting date has passed, students will not be withdrawn by instructors outside of the Disruptive Student Behavior or Academic Violations policy. It is the student’s responsibility to withdraw from a course if they no longer want to continue in the course. At the completion of the withdrawal process, students will no longer have access to the Canvas classroom.

Instructor-Specific Attendance Guidelines

Faculty members shall publish and distribute a class syllabus at the beginning of each course, unless state or federal law or rule requires an earlier publication and distribution. The syllabus includes the Satisfactory Academic Participation definition, special circumstances under which students' absences/lack of participation may be excused, and their stipulations for making up work and exams missed during instructor-excused absences/period of lack of participation.

In cases of disruptive students, instructors have the option to request a student be administratively withdrawn through the Disruptive Student Behavior or Academic Violations policy. Students wishing to appeal for reinstatement following an administrative withdrawal must first contact their instructor to discuss the withdrawal. If the issue is not resolved, the student can file a formal student appeal including documentation to support reinstatement to the Collegewide Chair. Students will not be withdrawn by the Office of the Registrar at the request of the instructor outside of Census Reporting or the Disruptive Student Behavior policy. It is the student’s responsibility to withdraw from any course by the published withdrawal deadline on the academic calendar.

Satisfactory Academic Participation

Instructors may elect to fail students who are not academically participating. Satisfactory academic participation is defined as completing coursework, even if a passing overall grade is not maintained, AND completing mandatory College-level Communications & Computational Skills assignments outlined in the syllabus. Face-to-face attendance policies for campus-based courses may vary by instructor but must be outlined in the course syllabus. Additionally, instructors may elect to fail students who do not submit ANY assignments for more than two consecutive weeks in a 16-week distance learning course. Shorter term semesters, such as 12-, 8-, or 6-week terms, may, at the discretion of the instructor, include more stringent participation requirements requiring students to go no more than 1/8 of the term length without submitting ANY assignment. Missed assignments cannot be counted cumulatively but must instead be counted consecutively. If a student has satisfactory academic participation as outlined in this definition, the instructor cannot fail the student based solely on academic participation. This does not preclude instructors failing students who do not achieve an overall passing grade based on submitted course work as outlined in the syllabus at the end of the term.

Clock Hour Class Attendance

No more than 10% of class time may be considered excused absences that are not required to be made up. An instructor may follow a stricter policy in his/her class. If a student needs to make up hours beyond the 10% excused absence policy, make-up clock hours must be completed under instructor supervision by the last published class date for the completion period. Makeup hours must be recorded, signed by the instructor, and submitted to financial aid on the approved form.

Religious Observances

In accordance with federal and state statutes, students enrolled in credit or certificate courses may be granted excused absences from classes that are scheduled during a religious holiday. The student must request from the instructor approval for the absence, in writing, the first week of class. Students are held responsible for material covered during their absence. Absences due to religious holidays are excluded from all absence calculations. In case of such absences, the instructor shall provide equivalent assignments or the opportunity to make-up missed work without penalty. Students excused for religious observances will be expected to meet the class requirements for those days without undue delay.

Nationally recognized religious holidays shall be acknowledged plus any significant day of religious observance as recognized by the highest governing body of that particular religious faith. Students may be required to provide information or proof of the religious holiday if such holiday is not generally known.

Collegiate Representatives

A collegiate representative is defined as a student who represents the college extramurally as a student-athlete, student-performing artist, student government member, or student academic competitor or award winner. These categories are defined in the following manner:

      1. Student-athlete defines an individual who engages in any Eastern Florida State College (EFSC) sponsored intercollegiate sport.
      2. Student-performing artist defines an individual who engages in any EFSC sponsored performing arts events.
      3. Student government member defines an individual who has been elected to the executive board of the campus based, EFSC Student Government Association and reports directly to the staff of the Office of Campus Student Activities.
      4. Student-academic competitor defines an individual who has been invited to present his or her works at a recognized, academically-based conference, is academically competing (e.g. Brain Bowl), or participating in educational training (e.g. OUR workshop, rehearsal, scholarship auditions)
      5. Student-Award winner defines an individual who receives a non-athletic award and the student is approved by EFSC to represent the college.

Students as defined in the section below are expected to attend all scheduled classes unless excused according to one of the criteria outlined below.

      1. Student-athlete who is sponsored by EFSC and is participating in an athletic competition against another institution. Practices are not excused absences.
      2. Student-performing artist who is sponsored by EFSC and is participating in an exhibition or recital, as part of a performing arts event. Practices are generally not considered an excused absence, but in the case of a dress rehearsal or ensemble rehearsal, it would be considered an excused absence.
      3. Student government member who is sponsored by EFSC and is attending a mandatory training conference as part of the requirements for his or her elected position.
      4. Student-academic competitor who is representing EFSC and has been invited to present his or her works at a recognized academically-based conference, is academically competing (e.g. brain bowl) on behalf of EFSC, or participating in EFSC approved educational training (e.g. OUR workshop, rehearsal, scholarship auditions).
      5. Student-Award winner who receives a non-athletic award and is approved by EFSC to represent the college.

A student anticipating the need for an excused absence must notify the instructor in writing with documentation from the appropriate EFSC representative within the first week of the start of the term. A student anticipating a need to be excused from assignments due in an online course must provide documentation from the appropriate EFSC representative that the student's attendance at such college sponsored event prevented the student from performing work online. This documentation should reflect that the student did not have access to a computer and/or an Internet connection for a specified period of time. In the case of a student-academic competitor, award winner, invitation to present at a conference, invitation to perform, or student-athlete invited to participate in a playoff series, the notification to the instructor must be made within three business days from the time of receipt of the invitation. The notification letter must originate from the appropriate EFSC representative, e.g. coach or sponsor, be written on EFSC letterhead, include the student's name, B-number, the student's category, and a list of anticipated absentee dates. The student is expected to complete all missed classroom and homework assignments within the timeframe designated by the instructor.

Special Note: These parameters are not limited to those in specialized programs, but exist for the entire college community. In instances where a student fails to communicate his or her travel plans or extenuating circumstances in regards to this policy in a timely manner, the student will not be allowed to make up any missed work because of the time constraints of the course calendar.

It will be at the instructor's discretion to allow the student the opportunity to make up an assignment that will adversely affect his or her grade.

Military Service

Any College student who is called to or enlisted in active military service shall not incur academic or financial penalties by virtue of performing military service on behalf of our country. Such students shall be given the options of either completing the course(s) at a later date without penalty, or withdrawing from the course(s) with a full refund of fees paid. If the student chooses to withdraw, the student's records shall reflect the non-punitive grade of "W6", indicating that the withdrawal is due to active military service.

Student will provide a copy of military orders to the appropriate Collegewide Chair.

      1. If student chooses to complete the course(s) at a later date, the Collegewide Chair will request the instructor(s) to create an "Incomplete Grade" contract that outlines student's course progress to date and outstanding assignments.
        • Instructor will award a final grade of "I - Incomplete" at the end of the term, and then submit a grade change when the course is finished.
      2. If student chooses to withdraw, student will complete a Course Withdrawal form and submit to the Collegewide Chair.
        • The Collegewide Chair will process the withdrawal and submit a request for tuition refund to Accounting
      3. The Collegewide Chair will document the decision on the student's record and retain all documentation.