A liberal arts education requires full and consistent classroom engagement. Courses are conducted in person, and faculty expect students to attend all scheduled course meetings, to be present promptly at the start of the course meeting, and to be prepared to participate fully. On occasion, students may have a compelling reason to miss a course meeting; for example, to observe a religious holiday, to participate in a required varsity athletic competition, or because of a student's illness or the illness of a dependent child. Personal travel, job interviews, or extracurricular commitments, including team practices or events, are not compelling reasons to miss class.

Instructors may set their own attendance policy for their courses. But more than two weeks of cumulative absences, regardless of the reason a student misses a class, may represent grounds for a failing grade in a course. 

Faculty are urged to make their expectations regarding attendance clear in course syllabi and other communications with students at the start of the term. See the University’s official policy on undergraduate course attendance as well as sample language for inclusion on course syllabi.

If you have concerns about a student’s attendance in your course, please contact the student’s residential college dean or assistant dean right away.

For advice about supporting students with an ongoing illness or disability that could inhibit course attendance, please consult the Dean's 2023 memo on students in distress.

As outlined in this memo, Princeton University has long been committed to maintaining a competitive varsity athletics program as part of its broad conception of undergraduate education. In keeping with that commitment, Princeton reserves the 4:30-7:30 p.m. time slot for student participation in athletics and many other extracurricular activities. Our athletics department makes every effort to schedule competitions at times that do not conflict with our students’ academic commitments. Some conflicts are sometimes unavoidable, however, because of factors beyond our control.

Students who need to miss class for varsity athletic competitions are expected to notify their instructors in advance and to discuss with them how they plan to make up the assigned material. They might, for example, review other students’ class notes (if permitted); meet with their professors in office hours to discuss the material missed; or write a short essay on the assigned reading. The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning has additional resources that might be helpful to accommodate student needs, including recording lectures and capturing class content.

If you have any questions or concerns about the amount of class time that a student is missing due to varsity athletic competition, please contact the residential college deans and assistant deans of studies, who will consult as needed with Dean Colagiuri, Princeton’s Faculty Athletics Representative to the NCAA, and with other colleagues in the athletics department.

Attendance in undergraduate classes is normally limited to enrolled students.  Other classroom guests may accompany a student only with the instructor’s prior approval.  

The presence of infants and children in the classroom may disrupt the learning environment, and certain educational contexts (for example, laboratory classes) may be dangerous for the minor.  Thus, minor children should not accompany undergraduate students in classrooms and other academic settings.  As with any absence, if an undergraduate student must miss class because of a child’s illness or other childcare issue, the student must notify the professor promptly and arrange to make up any missed work according to course policy.

Class trips and other University-sponsored outings may not be scheduled during the 12-week teaching semester in a manner that creates class conflicts for students; students may not miss another class to participate in a class trip. Class trips and outings may be scheduled during fall or spring break but cannot be scheduled outside of the official semester (intersession, summer). If a class trip or outing is required, it should be listed in the official course description in Course Offerings and on the class syllabus. The cost of class trips must be covered for all students, and it is expected that those costs will be covered by department funds. Consistent with this policy, students shall not incur a financial penalty if they are unable to complete the trip as planned – for instance, due to illness or emergency, or dropping the class. For these reasons, faculty are encouraged to make clear the academic and logistical expectations of required course travel on an application prior to student enrollment.

Departments seeking additional funds to support class trips and outings, particularly in new or redesigned courses, may submit proposals to the David A. Gardner ’69 Magic Project or the 250th Anniversary Fund for Innovation in Undergraduate Education.

If you are planning a domestic or international class trip as part of your course, consult the travel website for important information on the policies, procedures, and guidelines that govern University-sponsored travel. Please note that all University-sponsored undergraduate student overnight travel, with the exception of metropolitan New York City and Philadelphia, must be registered in the travel database.

The University recognizes that, under appropriate circumstances, it can be beneficial for undergraduate students to assist faculty members with the grading of certain types of course work. Undergraduate Course Assistants (UCAs) can derive significant benefits from having this additional opportunity to work with faculty members, while the assistance of UCAs can allow faculty members to devote more time to their advising and teaching responsibilities and otherwise manage their courses more effectively. Before engaging an undergraduate course assistant, please review the University's policy and then contact [email protected] for the standard terms and conditions.

Faculty and other individuals in instructional roles (preceptors, lab AIs, or undergraduate course assistants) are expected to avoid conflicts of interest in the classroom, as well as the appearance of conflicts of interest, in a manner that is consistent with the University policy on nepotism. Additional guidance about intimate relationships between individuals of different University status can be found in the Dean of Faculty’s rules and procedures for faculty as well as in section 1.3.4 of Rights, Rules, Responsibilities. Both students and faculty should actively avoid situations in which a student enrolls in a course that is taught or graded by a family member (those related by blood or marriage or in the same household) or an individual with whom there is a close personal relationship.

If a course is required and no alternative exists, then all grading and assessment of a student who is related to or has a close personal relationship with the faculty member should be carried out by a different instructor, who is not the instructor’s co-author or research collaborator or in any supervisory relationship with the faculty member. Graduate students should not be assigned as assistants in instruction for a course in which a family member (or individual with whom they have a close personal relationship) is enrolled unless no alternative exists; in that case, grading of the AI’s family member should be carried out by the faculty member or another AI. Undergraduate course assistants may not be assigned as graders for a course in which a family member (or individual with whom they have a close personal relationship) is enrolled.

It is up to the course instructor to set clear expectations regarding collaboration on any materials that will be graded in an undergraduate course (e.g. take-home projects, papers, homework, problems sets, or laboratory reports.) The standard for permissible collaboration varies from course to course. Some faculty members permit students to do problem sets together and even to turn in an assignment together; others allow students to discuss the problems but require them to write up their own answers; still others prohibit any collaboration at all on homework.

Given the proliferation of technologies that enable students to share information quickly and easily, it is especially important that instructors set forth their expectations in writing as to what constitutes permissible collaboration on academic work in a particular course. For sample guidelines, see these course syllabus statements as well as resources from the Princeton Writing Program on Teaching with Writing. For the specific University policies, consult Academic Integrity, the Undergraduate Announcement and Rights, Rules, Responsibilities

Each faculty member may set the policy for the use of laptops in their classroom; this includes the option to prohibit students from using laptops or other electronic devices during class. The McGraw Center has outlined a number of resources for faculty to consider when teaching with technology.