To : LST Faculty and Students

From : Vice President for Academic Affairs

Date : 2 February 2023
RE : Class Attendance Policy

This is to clarify LST’s class attendance policy and procedures to follow in this regard.

The student handbook has the following indication on class attendance:

3.15 Class Attendance

As a general policy, the student is required to attend classes in order to pass the course. If the student’s
absences exceed 25% of the total number of class hours allotted for the course, the professor may drop the
student from the course and give a W mark or Withdrawal Without Permission.

A semester usually has 16 wks of classes at 3 hours per week for 3-unit courses. This is a total of
48 hours of classes. Thus 25% is equivalent to 12 hours (4 meetings for classes that meet once a
week and 8 meetings for classes that meet twice a week).

The following are considered excused absences and are not counted against student:
1. Illnesses which prevent the student from attending classes and submitting requirements
due for certain classes. However, if the student’s illness or medical condition
necessitates for one to be absent for more than 12 hours, the student is advised to file a
load revision to withdraw from his/her class. A doctor’s certificate or the superior’s
letter must be submitted as student’s documentation of his/her illness.
2. Accidents requiring hospitalization or curtailing the student’s mobility.
3. Calamities (typhoon, flood, earthquake, fire, etc.) that may occur and affect a student’s
place of residence.
4. Deaths of immediate family members only, i.e. parents or siblings.
All other reasons for absence are considered unexcused and are counted towards the 25%
stated above.
1. Congregational activities (Chapters, Retreats, Feasts, Ordinations and the like)
2. Attending out of town conferences, seminars, and the like which are not school
sanctioned.

Students who enroll as ONLINE students are responsible for securing stable internet
connections that can support video conferences. An online student is considered absent when
he/she is not among those visible on the monitor during an online synchronous session or in a
hybrid setup. An online student must also have his/her video on at all times throughout the
class session.

Students are responsible in informing their professors when they will be absent from class.
1. When a student does not inform the professor of an absence, the professor marks the
student with an unexcused absence.
2. In cases where a face-to-face student may have symptoms of/or is positive with
COVID19 but is able to do classwork, he/she may request to join the class online or if not
possible, the professor can have his/her session recorded and later shared with the
 student. This also applies to other illnesses that may prevent the student from coming to
class but still allow him/her to participate online.

Faculty members are responsible for enforcing the attendance policy in their class.
1. At the beginning of term, professors must make it clear to their class if they will enforce
the policy on attendance. They may however choose not to enforce it.
2. They determine the validity of the reason for absence and extends to the student what
they consider as possible allowances as regards to deadlines for submission of
requirements, make-up quizzes/tests that fall on/or is affected by the student’s absence.
3. In extraordinary situations where they cannot make a decision, they may refer this to
the VPAA for resolution.

Fr. Rogel Anecito L. Abais, S.J.