Attendance
Trevecca PA Program
Clinical Hours/Attendance Policy:
Students are required to work a minimum of 175 hours each rotation. If this minimum hour requirement is not met, student will meet with the Promotions, Retention, and Disciplinary Committee to discuss the corrective course of action. Students should expect that many clinical shifts will be 10-12 hours in length and occur on any day of the week including holidays. If the student works or is scheduled for over 330 hours during the rotation, they are to contact the Clinical Team in writing for further evaluation of the rotation site and preceptor. Students are expected to work every assigned day of the clinical rotation as directed by the preceptor.
The student is allocated up to 5 absences for the duration of the clinical portion of the program. These absences can include incidents such as acute illnesses, doctor’s appointments, job interviews, sick children, etc. This does not include EOR sessions as these are mandatory. Students will not be allowed to utilize these absences if the total amount of scheduled hours on the rotation would drop below the program requirement of 175 hours/rotation due to that absence. Absentee days exceeding the 5 days allocated, or causing the student to drop below the 175 hours/rotation, will result in a meeting with the Promotions, Retention, and Disciplinary Committee for an evaluation of the absences and contributing circumstances. If the Promotions, Retention, and Disciplinary Committee determines that a student has accumulated an excessive amount of absences, the committee will determine a corrective course of action which could include, but is not limited to, possible dismissal from the PA Program.
In the case of a death in the student’s immediate family, e.g. first and second degree (spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent), with prior approval from the Clinical Director, the student will be allowed a maximum of three consecutive absentee days that will not be counted toward the 5 standard absences.
The student is required to notify the program of any absence no later than 8:00 a.m. on the day of the absence by sending an email or a phone call to a member of the Clinical Team. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in a meeting with the Promotions, Retention, and Disciplinary Committee to discuss the student’s behavior and to determine a corrective course of action. The student will complete and submit an Absentee Form to the Clinical Coordinator within 24 hours of the absence. Students absent from their clinical rotation without proper authorization from the PA Program will be subject to disciplinary action. Any absence must be reported to a member of the Clinical Team BEFORE speaking with the preceptor.
Prolonged absences may require a leave of absence from the clinical education experience. In the event of a leave of absence, the student will work with the clinical staff and his/her advisor to specify the terms and conditions of the leave as well as conditions under which the student may resume their clinical education experience. The final determination of whether a student will be required to take a leave of absence or drop a rotation and repeat it following the clinical year will be determined by the Promotions, Retention, and Disciplinary Committee. This may occur at any time during the rotation.
Tardy Policy/Early Departure Policy
Students are required to be present at the time and location designated by their preceptor for each rotation. Arrival at the designated location after the designated start time will be counted as being tardy. Leaving prior to completion of any learning experience will be considered as an early departure. Missing 50% or more of a clinical day will be an absence for the day. The student is to complete and submit an Absentee Form within 24 hours to the Clinical Coordinator indicating the late arrival or early departure.
Chronic tardiness/early departure is detrimental to the student’s educational progress and inconsistent with an acceptable level of professionalism. Chronic tardiness/early departure is more than 3 tardy/early departure episodes within a semester (or more than a total of 6 while in the clinical phase of the program). If a student is determined to have chronic tardiness/early departure, they will be required to meet with the Promotions, Retention, and Disciplinary Committee to discuss their behavior and determine a corrective course of action which could include, but is not limited to, possible dismissal from the PA Program.
Please note that all students must arrive on time and stay for the duration of every EOR session, unless approval has been granted by the Clinical Director. Violation of this policy will require a meeting with Promotions, Retention, and Disciplinary Committee to discuss the student’s behavior and determine a corrective course of action which could include, but is not limited to, possible dismissal from the PA Program.
TNU PA Program Class of 2025 Didactic Handbook Attendance Policy
Attendance Policy
Student attendance is required for all educational experiences, except in the case of a true emergency. The determination of what constitutes a true emergency will be made by the Promotions, Retention, and Disciplinary Committee. All educational experiences have been designed to foster the PA student’s development therefore, attendance is imperative to the professional development process.
Students will attend class either in person (classroom attendance) or remotely via Blackboard and live stream video (where applicable).
A student will be marked absent for a class session if he or she does not attend the class in person (physically in the classroom) as scheduled, does not participate in the live-streamed class session (if applicable), AND does not participate in non-live (asynchronous) Blackboard classroom activities or recordings (when applicable) prior to the next time the class meets physically.
Students are to attend, and participate in, the live-in classroom or live-streamed class experience at the regularly scheduled class time (if provided).
Absenteeism
Missing 50% or more of the instructional day will be an absence for the day. The student is allocated up to 3 unexcused absentee days (or any part of an instructional day) for the didactic phase of the program. Unexcused absentee days exceeding the 3 allocated for the didactic phase, or if there are 3 in one semester, will result in a meeting with the Promotions, Retention, and Disciplinary Committee for an evaluation of the absences and contributing circumstance(s) to determine if they will be considered excused or unexcused absentee days. If the Promotions, Retention, and Disciplinary Committee determines that a student has accumulated an excessive amount of absences, the committee will determine a corrective course of action which could include, but is not limited to, possible dismissal from the PA Program.
The student is required to notify the program of their absence no later than 8:00 am the day of the absence by sending an email to the course instructor and the Academic Coordinator, kulmet@trevecca.edu, or by calling 615-248-1770. This must be completed for every day that the student is absent. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in a meeting with the Promotions, Retention, and Disciplinary Committee to discuss the student’s behavior and to determine a corrective course of action. The student will complete and submit an Absentee Form to the Academic Coordinator upon their return to the program.
An excused absence may only be granted in cases of family emergency, personal illness/injury with a note from a medical practitioner, bereavement, or at the discretion of the Promotions, Retention, and Disciplinary Committee. The medical practitioner (MD, DO, PA or NP) who provides the documentation may not be a family member of the student. The medical documentation should state that the student is to be excused from class due to illness/injury, with inclusion of the date(s) of the excused absence(s). Any absence due to acute illness/injury that occurs on the day of a student evaluation activity, exam or quiz, OR that results in 2 or more days of class absences will require documentation from a medical practitioner. In case of a death in the student’s immediate family, e.g., first and second degree (spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent), with prior approval the student will be allowed a maximum of three excused absentee days.
If a student evaluation activity, examination, or quiz occurs during these days, please refer to the Exam and Assessment Policy.
Late Arrival/Early Departure
Students are required to be seated and ready to start class at the time and location which is designated on the schedule and remain through the completion of any learning experience.
• Arrival at the designated location after the designated class start time will be counted as a Late Arrival.
• Leaving prior to completion of any class day or learning experience will be considered an Early Departure.
Missing 50% or more of the instructional day will be an absence for the day. Students should contact the instructor and Academic Administrative Coordinator when they are arriving late or have to leave early. The student is to complete and submit a Late Arrival/Early Departure Form to the Academic Coordinator.
Chronic late arrival/early departure is disruptive to the class, detrimental to the student’s educational progress and inconsistent with an acceptable level of professionalism. Chronic late arrival/early departure is more than 3 late arrival/early departure episodes within a semester (or more than a total of 6 while in the didactic phase of the program). If a student is determined to have chronic late arrival/early departure, they will be required to meet with the Promotions, Retention, and Disciplinary Committee to discuss their behavior and determine a corrective course of action which could include, but is not limited to, possible dismissal from the PA Program.
If a student evaluation activity, examination, or quiz occurs on days when a student has a late arrival, please refer to the
Exam and Assessment Policy.