Wilmington College defines an online course week as one which commences at 6:00 A.M. each Monday and ends at 11:59 P.M. the following Sunday. All students enrolled in Online (asynchronous) courses must log in to the course(s) on Blackboard and complete any assignment(s) or other academic related activities, to be determined by the instructor.
Attendance is required for all class weeks. In the case of online courses, “absences” shall be defined as “non-participation.” Non-participation may be defined as but is not limited to:
- Not following the instructor’s participation guidelines as stated in the syllabus.
- Not submitting required assignments.
- Not contributing meaningful discussion in required chat rooms, discussion boards, or other online forums.
- Not participating in scheduled activities; or
- Failure to communicate with the instructor on academic related matters as required. Failure to attend as defined above constitutes an absence.
It should be noted that simply logging into the course does not constitute participation. Students must demonstrate that they are actively participating in the course by submitting required assignments, contributing to discussion forums, etc. as outlined above.
Note: In addition to including the attendance policy statement above in the online
(asynchronous) syllabus template and in the Start Here section in Blackboard, faculty will
specify what role, if any, class attendance plays in grading and the specific penalties for
excessive absences as the professor defines in the online syllabus. In order to meet USDOE
requirements with respect to weekly participation in academic related activities, substantive
and regular interaction, and determining students’ last date of attendance, faculty will need to
record student participation or non-participation each week in Blackboard and be able to
provide supporting documentation if required. These records in Blackboard will be archived
for federal regulatory purposes.