Attendance
Students are expected to attend all classes, clinical sessions, take all exams, and complete all other required coursework.
Faculty members are required to take attendance at each class. Because of the hands-on nature of the program, regular attendance in classes is an essential component of Oriental medicine education. Students can fail a course based on insufficient attendance.
Allowed Absences
| For classes that meet (X) hours a term, a student can miss (Y) hours | |
| X | Y |
| 30 hours/2.0 credits | 4 hours |
| 37.5 hours/2.5 credits | 5 hours |
| 45 hours/3.0 credits | 6 hours |
| 60 hours/4.0 credits | 8 hours |
| All-Day Classes | No absence permitted |
| Clinical Internships | Must complete total hour requirement |
| *Missed Practical/Clinical Courses must be made up (See Clinical Make Up Policy) | |
A student who misses more than the allowable number of classes must make an arrangement with the course faculty to make-up missed work. If the student has not contacted the course faculty and made up missed work, a failing grade may be given for the course. The student will be responsible for the cost of any tutorials, make-up exams or other special arrangements that are required to make up missed work or to complete a course. Please see the section on Incompletes for further information.
If, due to a family emergency, bereavement, severe health problems, or some other compelling reason, a student's absence is prolonged or frequent, the student must notify all of his/her course faculty and the Academic Dean. The Academic Dean will work together with the course faculty to determine if it is possible for the student to make up the work missed from the prolonged absence. As needed, the Academic Dean will assist the student in making arrangements with faculty to provide tutoring or other assistance necessary to make up missed work.
Students who miss three consecutive classes may be administratively withdrawn from the course.
Habitual Lateness
Habitual Lateness (more than 15 minutes late, twice in one term) will be counted as an absence from class. Leaving a class early without the permission of the course faculty will also be counted as an absence.
Clinical Course Make-Up Policy
A primary component of NESA's educational program requires students to apply the concepts, theory, terminology, and clinical skills taught in the practical sessions of the various clinical courses throughout the curriculum. These clinical courses are designed to provide students with an opportunity to apply the theory and to practice the techniques on other students under faculty supervision. Because students must demonstrate their competency in these courses, students are required to make up any missed practical time for clinical courses. The course faculty will determine if students who arrive late for class may attend the practical session.
Although students are allowed absences from classes, students are required to make up missed hours of practical sessions before receiving a final grade for a clinical course.
When making up missed clinical course time, the student is responsible for hiring a teaching assistant (or faculty member), approved by the course faculty, to make up the missed material. The student is responsible for bringing a partner to the make-up session in order to demonstrate the practical techniques covered in the course.
It is the student's responsibility to provide the TA with a Documentation for Completion of Missed Clinical Class Session form for the TA to submit to the course faculty. If a student has a documented absence and this form is not attached to the attendance sheet by the course faculty, the student will receive a grade of "I" (Incomplete) on his/her transcript.
Students should schedule their make-up sessions with other students who missed the same material. NESA recommends the rate for make-up sessions to be $40.00 per hour total, regardless of the number of students in the make-up group. For each TA there may not be more than three to four teams (6-8 students), depending upon the material, per make-up session. The student(s) is responsible for paying the TA at the time of the make-up session; a final grade will not be reported to the Registrar until all fees are paid to the TA.
Please see the Documentation for Completion of Missed Clinical Class Session form, available in the kiosk outside of the Front Desk, for a list of courses subject to this make-up policy.