Students at Ithaca College are expected to attend all classes, and they are responsible for work missed during any absence from class. At the beginning of each semester, instructors must provide the students in their courses with written guidelines regarding possible grading penalties for failure to attend class. Students should notify their instructors as soon as possible of any anticipated absences. Written documentation that indicates the reason for being absent may be required. These guidelines may vary from course to course but are subject to the following restrictions:

  1. In accordance with New York State law, students who miss class due to their religious beliefs shall be excused from class or examinations on that day. The faculty member is responsible for providing the student with an equivalent opportunity to make up any examination, study, or work requirement that the student may have missed. It is suggested that students notify their course instructors at least one week before any anticipated absence so that proper arrangements may be made to make up any missed work or examination. Any such work is to be completed within a reasonable time frame, as determined by the faculty member.
  2. Any student who misses class due to a verifiable family or individual health emergency, or to a required appearance in a court of law, shall be excused. Students should communicate directly with the faculty member when they need to miss a class for health of family emergencies, for court appearances, ect. Faculty members who require documentation of student absences should communicate directly with their students. On-campus residents who will be away from campus for an extended period of time should notify the Office of Residential Life of their absence from campus by e-mailing housing@ithaca.edu and including their building and room number in that message. Students may need to consider a leave of absence, medical leave of absence, selected course withdrawals, and so on, if they have missed a significant portion of class work.

A student may be excused for participation in College-authorized cocurricular and extracurricular activities, if, in the instructor's judgment, this does not impair the specific student's or the other students' ability to succeed in the course.

For all absences except those due to religious beliefs, the course instructor has the right to determine if the number of absences has been excessive in view of the nature of the class that was missed and the stated attendance policy. Depending on the individual situation, this can result in the student’s being removed from or failing the course.