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

“Wayland proudly adheres to high standards of intellectual, moral, ethical, and spiritual values. Convinced that self-discipline is more desirable than outside force and that the truly educated person must pursue what is right under all circumstances, Wayland entrusts each student with the solemn obligation of preserving these standards.” –Wayland Baptist University Student Handbook

In light of Wayland’s strong Christian heritage, students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of academic honesty, ethical behavior, and personal integrity. Therefore, the following–and any related acts of academic dishonesty–are to be avoided at all times:

• Submitting as your own work any assignment completed by another person or an online bot.
• Copying another’s work or assignment and submitting it as your own.
• Allowing or paying another to complete and submit an assignment on your behalf.
• Providing others access to courses or assignments so that they may complete or submit work on your behalf.
• Copying any amount of text directly from a website, book, document, video, or other source without appropriately noting the original source of that information.
• Paraphrasing or rewording unique ideas originally presented by another (whether written, visual, or auditory), either on your own or with paraphrasing tool/software, without appropriately noting the source of the idea or information.
• Purchasing or otherwise downloading a paper from a website and then submitting any portion of it as your own work.
• Using or submitting work from a previous or current course, whether your own work or another student’s work.

Though the above is not comprehensive, it offers examples of academic dishonesty that may result in one or more of the following repercussions:

• the requirement to redo an assignment or submit an additional assignment
• the lowering of a grade on the assignment
• the awarding of a grade of “F” on the assignment
• the awarding of a grade of “F” for the course
• academic suspension from the University
• permanent academic suspension (expulsion) from the University

To avoid plagiarism (taking the written or spoken words of another and presenting them as your own without acknowledging the original):

• Place “quotations marks” around any words or texts that you directly borrow from another.
• Acknowledge the original author or speaker of the words using MLA, Chicago, APA, or other citation style as required by the instructor.
• Offer a clear distinction between your own ideas and those of any outside authors or speakers.
• Speak with a professional librarian in Wayland’s Library/Learning Resources Center for instruction on best research practices.
• Visit Wayland’s Multidisciplinary Tutorial Services for further explanation and free tutoring.

See the Student Handbook or Policy 8.4.1/Academic Integrity for additional information related to the consequences of academic dishonesty at Wayland Baptist University.

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.