Ithaca College

Dear Students,

Welcome to Fall 2020. We hope your first two days of classes have been inspiring and that you are ready to meet the many intellectual challenges and joys your fall coursework will bring.

Over the summer, the faculty of the College revised the College attendance policy to make it more inclusive, and we want to be sure you noticed. You can find it in the College catalog on the page with the Attendance Policy. Of particular note is the following heading to that section in the catalog:

Students at Ithaca College are expected to attend all classes, and they are responsible for work missed during any absence from class.  

The policy then outlines the conditions under which an absence would be considered by the College to be “excused.” Please carefully review your course syllabi to learn more about your professors’ detailed expectations. 

If your course is being delivered as an online synchronous course, this means that you are expected to attend your online class meetings with the same commitment and regularity as you would attend on-campus class meetings. If you are unsure of your course’s modality, you can check Homer Connect. Courses that note “Online: Synchronous” have regularly scheduled, published meeting times when you, faculty, and classmates will join together for learning experiences. Courses identified as “Online: Asynchronous” may be completed on your time without a designated meeting for the entire class.

We know you, like we, are learning to navigate many new norms this fall. Thank you for entrusting us with your learning and for being partners with your campus community.

I send you my best hopes for a fulfilling first week of classes.

Sincerely,
La Jerne Terry Cornish, Ph.D., Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs