Classroom Information

Class Attendance - Plainview Campus

The university expects students to make class attendance a priority. Faculty members provide students a copy of attendance requirements. These are provided on the first day of class.

The dean of the school must approve part-time and adjunct faculty class attendance requirements prior to syllabi distribution.

Class Attendance - External Campuses

Students enrolled at one of the university’s external campuses should make every effort to attend all class meetings. All absences must be explained to the instructor, who will then determine whether the omitted work may be made up. When a student reaches that number of absences considered by the instructor to be excessive, the instructor will so advise the student and file an unsatisfactory progress report with the external campus executive director/dean. Any student who misses 25 percent or more of the regularly scheduled class meetings may receive a grade of F in the course. Additional attendance policies for each course, as defined by the instructor in the course syllabus, are considered a part of the university’s attendance policy. A student may petition the Academic Council for exceptions to the above stated policies by filing a written request for an appeal to the vice president of academic affairs.

Class Attendance - Online

Students are expected to participate in all required instructional activities in their courses. Online courses are no different in this regard; however, participation must be defined in a different manner. Student “attendance” in an online course is defined as active participation in the course as described in the course syllabus. Instructors in online courses are responsible for providing students with clear instructions for how they are required to participate in the course. Additionally, instructors are responsible for incorporating specific instructional activities within their course and will, at a minimum, have weekly mechanisms for documenting student participation. These mechanisms may include, but are not limited to, participating in a weekly discussion board, submitting/completing assignments in Blackboard, or communicating with the instructor. Students aware of necessary absences must inform the professor with as much advance notice as possible in order to make appropriate arrangements. Any student absent 25 percent or more of the online course, i.e., non-participatory during 2 or more weeks of an 8-week session, may receive an F for that course. Instructors may also file a Report of Unsatisfactory Progress for students with excessive non-participation. Any student who has not actively participated in an online class prior to the census date for any given session is considered a “no-show” and will be administratively withdrawn from the class without record. To be counted as actively participating, it is not sufficient to log in and view the course. The student must be submitting work as described in the course syllabus. Additional attendance and participation policies for each course, as defined by the instructor in the course syllabus, are considered a part of the university’s attendance policy.

Academic Integrity

As stated in Wayland Baptist University’s Statement on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty, students are expected to conduct themselves according to the highest standards of academic honesty and personal integrity. Students are subject to penalty for misconduct for all forms of cheating, such as illicit possession of examinations or examination materials, forgery, falsification of records or plagiarism (the presentation of the work of another as one’s own work).

The university reserves the right, through proper procedures, to place any student on probation or suspension who violates academic integrity and regulations by providing misleading or incomplete information to the university, by falsification of university records, by plagiarizing, by exhibiting improper classroom demeanor, or by engaging in any other form of academic dishonesty.

The faculty member assigned to the course is responsible for disciplinary action for academic misconduct. The faculty member is charged with assessing the gravity of any case of academic dishonesty and with giving sanctions to any student involved.

The official written reprimand to the student will include one or more of the following penalties as applicable to the individual instance of or case of academic dishonesty.

• Requirement to redo work in question.
• Requirement to submit additional work.
• Lowering of grade on work in question.
• Assigning the grade of “F” to work in question.
• Assigning the grade of “F” for course.

In extreme instances such as group cheating, the faculty member assigned to the course also may recommend expulsion of involved students. This option would occur only after the vice president of academic affairs’ review and approval.

The student’s first instance of academic dishonesty will result in an official reprimand from the faculty member detailing the faculty member’s sanction. A second case of academic dishonesty will result in automatic suspension from the university. In this case, the student may reapply after the suspension is served. Subsequent offenses, or the decision of the vice president of academic affairs, may result in permanent expulsion from the university.

Any student who has been penalized for academic integrity–academic dishonesty, improper classroom demeanor, or providing false or misleading information–has the right to appeal the judgment or the penalty assessed. The appeals procedure will be the same as that specified for Student Grade Appeals (Policy 8.2.1).

As suggested by Policy 8.4.1, Full-time faculty members, adjunct faculty members, or proctors must report all violations of academic integrity as described following. The faculty member or proctor should file a record of the offense electronically. The record of the offense should include:

• Student’s full name
• PCID number
• Instructor’s full name
• Term, course, section, and campus affiliation
• Date, time and description of infraction and names of witnesses
• Description of faculty member’s imposed sanction and rationale, including a copy of the written reprimand
• Letter of Acknowledgement from school dean or external campus executive director sent via email to student’s Wayland email address, signed by student, faculty member, and school dean/external campus executive director

Any faculty member or proctor will follow these procedures for filing records of the offense:

• Plainview Campus: Faculty member files a record of the offense with the school dean (based on course prefix), school dean reports to vice president of academic affairs; and if the instance or case involves a graduate student, the school dean will provide a courtesy copy (cc) of the electronic record of the offense to the vice president of academic affairs
• Virtual Campus: Faculty member files a record of the offense with the school dean (based on course prefix), school dean reports to the vice president of academic affairs with courtesy copy (cc) to appropriate external campus executive director. If the offense involves a graduate student, the school dean will provide a courtesy copy (cc) of the electronic record of the offense to the vice president of academic affairs
• External Campus: Faculty member files a record of the offense with the external campus executive director; external campus executive director reports to the vice president of academic affairs, and appropriate school dean (as determined by course prefix)

The vice president of academic affairs is responsible for monitoring cases of academic dishonesty. In the event of a second offense, the vice president of academic affairs will notify the student, appropriate school dean, external campus executive director, and the university registrar, financial aid, business office, and graduate studies (if applicable).

Classroom Disruption

Students who disrupt a class will be directed to leave immediately and report to the external campus executive director/dean or dean of students, who will discuss with the student the cause of the disruption. The student will return to the class only with permission of the executive director/campus dean or dean of students and faculty member involved.