No person is allowed to attend a class unless officially enrolled on a credit or non-credit basis with the appropriate fees paid. Students who attend, participate, and strive to complete course requirements without formal enrollment will not receive credit for their work.
There is no university-wide regulation requiring class attendance. However, attendance is an essential and intrinsic element of the educational process. In any course in which attendance is necessary to the achievement of a clearly defined set of course objectives, it may be a valid consideration in determining the student's grade. It is the responsibility of the instructor to define the policy for attendance at the beginning of the course.
REPORTING NON-ATTENDANCE. In compliance with federal regulations governing financial aid and veterans education benefits, instructors are required to report students who stop attending or who have never attended class. After the first week of classes, through the middle of the term of instruction, instructors who identify a non-attending student should notify their departmental office. Upon receiving a report of non-attendance, departmental representatives are encouraged to initiate an administrative drop.
Attendance is defined as physical attendance or participation in an academically-related activity, including but not limited to the submission of an assignment, an examination, participation in a study group or an online discussion. Instructors who do not take attendance may utilize key assessment points (e.g., projects, papers, mid-term exams, and discussions) as benchmarks for participation.
DROP FOR NON-ATTENDANCE. Students may be dropped from a course for non-attendance by a departmental administrative drop after the fourth class period, or the fifth class day of the term of instruction, whichever occurs first.
CLASS NOTES AND UNIVERSITY SUPPLIED MATERIALS. As a condition of continued course enrollment and allowed class attendance, a student will refrain from commercializing notes of class lectures and university-supplied materials, by direct sale or by contract with a third party or otherwise, without the express written permission of the instructor. Students may be removed from a class only after a hearing in the department or school, as described in the Student Rights and Responsibilities at Michigan State University.
FIELD TRIPS. Field trips involving absence from classes must be authorized in advance by the dean of the college in which the course is given. The cost of field trips that are part of organized courses of instruction must be borne by the participating students and are additional to the usual course fees.