Mandatory attendance

Mandatory: required, necessary, obligated
Attendance: being present, being there, attending
Therefore: "mandatory attendance" = "required to be there." In other words, go to class!

All journalism courses are covered by the university’s mandatory attendance policy: "Academic departments may require students to attend the first and/or second meetings of designated classes. These classes are identified in the class schedule. Students who do not attend the first two sessions of these classes may be directed by the academic department to drop the course so that the seat may be given to another student. Students are responsible for dropping the class; there is no automatic drop. The university refund schedule applies."

A journalism instructor can choose to invoke this policy if a student does not attend the first day of class and the journalism advisers will enforce this policy rigidly. Students will be notified via email to withdraw from the course. If the student remains on the roster, he/she will earn an F grade at the end of the term.