Attendance Policies and Deadlines

As a professional school, the Newmark J-School has the same expectations for professional behavior as a news organization. Reporters are expected to show up every day ready to work and Newmark J-School students are expected to attend every one of their classes. Reporters who don’t show up don’t have a story – and pretty quickly, they don’t have a job.

If you cannot attend one of your classes, you are expected to notify the professor with the reason and get an excused absence. A medical or family emergency is generally sufficient reason for an excused absence from the Newmark J-School, just as it is from a job. An unexplained or unexcused absence is never okay and will lead to a lowering of your grade. It is within the professor’s discretion to determine what qualifies as an excused absence. Similarly, arriving late for class on a regular basis also will lead to a grade reduction for unprofessional behavior.

In the news world, deadlines are sacrosanct. For every day that an assignment is handed in late, the grade on that piece will be lowered by at least a letter grade step, e.g. from an A to an A-. An assignment handed in even 15 minutes after it is due will count as the first day of a missed deadline; the day after it is due counts as the second day, and so forth. Individual faculty members have the authority to impose even more stringent penalties for late work in their courses. Students should be sure to check the syllabi of all their courses to be clear about attendance and deadline expectations of their faculty members.