General Biology Missed Lab Policies

WEB PAGE: http://www.auburn.edu/genbio

Coordinator for Majors Courses (Biol 1021/1031): Scott Bowling bowlisa@auburn.edu

Coordinator for Nonmajors Courses (Biol 1001/1011): Matt Kearley kearlma@auburn.edu

Office: 210 SCL (near the lab room)

Missed laboratories: Missed laboratory classes will only be excused following the guidelines in the Tiger Cub. Note that you will be responsible for all material on any lab exams (practicals and finals), even if you miss a laboratory with a valid excuse.

Getting a lab absence EXCUSED:

· If you miss a lab and have a valid excuse, that excuse must be dropped off in 210 SCL.

o DO NOT GIVE EXCUSES TO TAs!!!

· The deadlines, which are FIRM, are:

o BEFORE the day of the lab for university activities (athletic trips, etc.) or anything else that you know of ahead of time (including religious holidays)

o ONE SCHOOL WEEK after the missed lab for last-minute issues (illness, funerals, etc.) [spring break and Thanksgiving break do NOT count against your time for this]

· Forms are located in a folder on the window near the door. Fill out a form, attach your excuse to it, and slide it under the door. If you need a photocopy of your excuse you will need to take care of that yourself; excuses will not be returned. You can have copies made (at your expense) at the Scientific Supply Store, down the hall from 210 SCL.

o Excuses without completed forms attached will not be processed.

o For university activities, be sure to provide an official note with your name listed on it; note that social events such as chapter meetings and other Greek events are generally NOT excused.

o Excuses for religious holidays will be honored only if they are turned in BEFORE the day of the missed lab. No extra documentation is required for a religious holiday; you just fill out a missed lab form and, in the space at the bottom of the form, write what religious holiday you are observing. Only recognized religious holidays will be accepted (in other words, if you invent a religious holiday it will not be accepted).

o For illness a doctor’s note is required. It must cover your actual missed lab date.

o For funerals you will need a copy of the funeral bulletin or a note from the funeral home. An obituary will NOT suffice.

o For any other issue provide documentation with contact numbers for others who can verify your story.

· You must email me if you miss a third lab (and any after that) before it will be approved. Excessive lab absences, even for normally legitimate reasons, may not be excused. For example, if you are on an athletic team and signed up for a lab section where you would miss several labs due to scheduled athletic events when you could have signed up for a different section where you would not have missed as many labs, then you may not have all absences excused.

· Your lab coordinator will judge whether documentation provided qualifies for excusing a lab.

o Absences for work or other classes are generally not excused.

o You cannot be forced to miss a lab for another class; if another class has an exam scheduled during your lab time notify the instructor of that other class that you have a lab at that time and must be given an alternative time for the exam. If you are given any hassle, contact your lab coordinator to set them straight.

o Class-related trips and similar University-approved activities will typically be excused if the excuse is turned in before the missed lab as required.

· Excuses are processed usually at least once a week.

o If an excuse is accepted and verified, your score will be changed on the gradefile to EX; that lab will be dropped from grade calculations at the end of the semester (meaning that the other labs will count more).

o If an excuse is not approved it will be marked on the gradefile as “UN”.

Make-up labs: There is no way to make up a missed lab for credit; missed labs are either excused and thus dropped (see below), or unexcused and thus scored as a zero. However, if you miss a lab you may choose to try to attend another lab section to get the experience of the lab exercise (see your online lab syllabus for the list of lab meeting times). This is the ONLY way to have a “make-up” lab. Note that whether or not you attend such a “make-up” lab will not affect your grade, since nothing you do in such a lab will be graded. The procedure for how make-up labs will be handled follows:

· “Make-up” labs are for the experience only, not for a grade. Make-up labs also have no impact on whether or not a missed lab is excused (see below for the policies for getting a missed lab excused).

· A student who has missed or will miss a lab can go to any other lab section in which there is an open seat and participate.

o A student who is attempting to attend a “make-up” lab needs to check in with the TAs right before class; the lead TA will keep a list of all students who are there asking to do a make-up at that lab section. The list will be kept in the order of when students arrive, as seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

o When the TAs are ready to administer the entrance quiz, a head count will be taken. Make-up students will be told if there are any available seats at that time. The maximum seating for the lab will be posted in the lab room, and no more than that number will be seated.

o Make-up students can see quizzes and perform any lab activities, but should not actually turn in any material for grading. TAs WILL NOT ACCEPT OR GRADE MATERIAL turned in by make-up students.