ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION
Go to class! As a discipline, English is defined by both materials and methods. While students can certainly access the materials—texts of many kinds, defined in many ways—on their own, the methods require participation in a community of scholars, which is the role of the classroom lecture and discussion. Students learn from each other as well as from faculty, and miss a significant portion of the educational experience when they miss class meetings or fail to participate in discussions. The English Department therefore affirms the importance of regular class attendance and supports penalties for non-attendance as indicated on the syllabi of individual faculty members.