3.4 - Attendance

University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry D.D.S. 

Attendance Policy and Absences 

Overview and Philosophy 

The University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry students pursuing the Doctor of Dental Surgery and Dental Hygiene degree are aspiring to a profession in which full participation in the learning environment is an essential component of lifelong learning and aligns with accreditation and licensing standards. Professional development dictates that students are expected to make their education program their highest priority. Attendance and participation are expected in all educational activities, and any other additional sessions specified by the College of Dentistry.  Attendance and participation will be assessed and documented through the COD Absence Request Form.  

Attendance and Punctuality Expectations 

The University of Oklahoma Dentistry students must arrive on time, participate, and attend all required activities.  This applies to didactic and clinical activities, to include dressing professionally and arriving early or on time.  

An absence is any instance when a student is not present at an activity. Students should not assume they are allowed any absences at their discretion or for their personal convenience. All requests for excused absences must be made through the COD Absence Request Form. All anticipated absences must be requested 30 days in advance. A limited number of reasons will justify excused absences. These include, but are not limited to: 

1.    An illness, personal emergency or family tragedy     

2.    Personal Emergency 

3.    Access to health services and counseling. Students may be excused to attend necessary health care and counseling appointments. Students should make all such appointments during independent study time. 

4.    Religious Holiday      

5.    Residency Interviews. Students are strongly encouraged to schedule interviews during vacation periods to avoid conflict with scheduled activities 

6.    Jury Duty with appropriate documentation 

7.    Presentation or representation in a leadership capacity at regional or national professional meetings 

Other reasons for an excused absence will be considered on a case-by-case basis. 

Any request by a student for either an anticipated or unanticipated absence from required sessions must (in advance when anticipated and as soon as possible when unanticipated) fill out the COD Absence Request Form.  https://forms.office.com/r/ZUj0S1AjYL 

Once you have completed your absence request, you will receive notification if the absence is considered excused or unexcused.   

Consequences of Absences 

Excessive absences are a matter between the OU College of Dentistry student and the OU College of Dentistry Student Affairs in collaboration with the assigned Course Director.  In all cases, the student is responsible for the material missed while absent. At the discretion of Student Affairs, the student may be required to provide documentation of the reason for the absence and may be required to complete supplementary assignments to make up for missed activities, but the Course Director is not required to provide repeat or make-up opportunities for missed assignments for excused absences.  

An unexcused absence or failure to report an absence as described above is considered unprofessional behavior and may result in a Professionalism Concerns Report (PCR). 

Student unexcused absences considered excessive will trigger an automatic review by the OU College of Dentistry Academic Affairs and the OU College of Dentistry Performance Academic Committee (PAC). 

Special Circumstances 

Examinations: Because of the difficulty in rescheduling examinations, permission to be excused from high-stakes (e.g. mid-term, final, clinical skills) examinations must be obtained in writing in advance from the OU College of Dentistry Course Director and the OU College of Dentistry Student Affairs and is limited to reasons of health or personal tragedy. Although requests for exceptions will be considered individually, residency interviews, family events, or personal travel are not considered reasons for missing an examination. 

Faculty may not impose a point limitation or grade penalty on a high-stakes examination for which a student has obtained an excused absence. However, faculty may employ a revised examination format. 

A student with an unapproved absence from any examination will receive zero credit for the examination and will not be able to make-up the exam.  

Policy Date: 06.01.2024 

Dental Hygiene Student Procedure for Reporting Absences

Didactic Absences

1. Attendance is mandatory for didactic courses unless specifically advised otherwise by the Course Director. Each unexcused absence for didactic courses will result in a 2-point deduction from the final course grade.

Clinic Tardiness/Absences

ATTENDANCE IN ALL CLINIC AND ROTATION SESSIONS ARE MANDATORY.

1. Students are required to arrive on time for all clinic activites. Late clinic arrival (<10 minutes) will result in an N in Professionalism-Puntual on the Clinic Evaluation Form according to the DH I and DH II Clincal Evaluation Rubric. Mandatory clinic arrival times are located in the Dental Hygiene Reference Documents. Students will be counted as absent (unexcused) if they are more than 10 minutes late for the clinic or rotation.

2.  If a student leaves without permission s/he will be counted as absent (unexcused).

3. Failure to attend a clinic or rotation session without notifying the proper faculty will result in an unexcused absence.

*In the event of an unexcused absence the student will receive a 10 point grade deduction from their overall clinic grade.  

Reporting Absences:

Requests for excused absences that are anticipated must be made in writing to:

• The Course / Clinic Director for the courses and/or clinics to be missed
• The Dental Hygiene Program Director 
• Site Coordinator

Unanticipated absences (i.e. illness, injury, etc...) are to be reported prior to the scheduled class or clinic session on the date the absence occurs. Unanticipated absences are to be reported to:

• The individual Course / Clinic Director
• The Dental Hygiene Program Director 
• Site Coordinator
• If patient care is to be delivered that day, then it is your responsibility to notify the patient if that is your specific site’s policy.

For all absences related to illness, students must provide a doctor’s note that includes date and time of service (that matches date of absence) and diagnosis. 

It is the policy of the University to excuse student absences that result from religious observances unless such an accommodation would cause undue hardship to the educational and/or university process. In accordance with the procedures stipulated by each college to accommodate varying clinical and educational differences, students must make requests for accommodation of religious holidays in writing within the first week of the term in which the course/clinical experience is offered. Approved accommodations will be provided without penalty for rescheduling of examinations and/ or required clinical, lab, or class work that may fall on religious holidays. 

The College of Dentistry recognizes the need to develop its students as active and engaged members of the profession. Organizations such as ASDA and ADEA are instrumental in developing attitudes regarding the nature of our profession in society. As such, students are encouraged to participate in the several formal local, state, and national organizations.

However, students must also recognize that their primary focus while enrolled is their own professional development. Participation in extracurricular organizations, especially at officer level, is often time consuming and inherently competes with the time available for their own basic professional education. The College cannot allow extracurricular involvement to compromise the integrity of the student's professional growth and their inherent role in direct patient care.

Students holding leadership positions in recognized student professional organizations must be deemed to be making satisfactory academic and clinical progress in all areas of their scholastic and clinical activities. Those who do not show satisfactory progression will not be allowed to attend conferences at the expense of the College, nor will they be allowed excused absences to attend. In general, students enrolled in coursework involving preclinical activity must have the permission of the course director as well as the Deans Office in writing prior to making any plans to attend conferences.

It must be understood that the educational programs here at the college are graduate professional programs and the emphasis of learning and attending all courses both clinical and pre-clinical programs are of the highest priority for entering into the profession of dentistry. This priority will always be considered as paramount for consideration of any student to attend such events.

The following policy became effective June 1, 2017 for any and all students requesting to attend any elective external events/conferences. This policy is specific for any student requesting absence from any lecture, classroom, didactic, pre-clinical, or clinical session where attendance is required for the dental or hygiene educational program at the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry.

Any student that is requesting to attend such events:

1) Be currently and maintain rank in the top 75% of their current class.
2) Currently have at least a 3.00 GPA grade average.
3) Must have written approval from all specific course directors
4) Must have all clinical requirements at minimum level projected for on-time graduation and/or direct approval from clinical course director.
5) Must not have any Professional Concerns Reports or Skills Development Reports on record for the current or preceding semester at the time of the days requested for absence; further any student receiving a Professional Concerns Report or Skills Development Reports will be ineligible for any such request during the current academic year.

All of these items will be monitored by the administration up to the point of the specific days requested to be absent and any student that does not meet any of the five criteria listed above, will have this privilege revoked immediately. Any student with this request revoked due to violation of the criteria of the policy may apply for a subsequent event(s) after approval from the Dean of Student Affairs. Please fill out travel form below:

Student Travel Form

Volunteering for Dental Events

1. All events at which students are invited to provide clinical service must be approved by the Administration of the College of Dentistry.

2. Students are not permitted to provide any form of direct care to patients, at any event or location, except under the direct supervision of approved College faculty.

3. Failure to comply with this policy will be ground for disciplinary action, including the possibility of dismissal from the College of Dentistry.