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Attendance Requirements

All full-time undergraduate students (including residents and commuters) are required to attend chapel three times a week. No student is automatically excused from chapel for any reason without petitioning through the Office of Chapel Programs. You may choose from any of the following experiences.

Chapel credit is offered for these seven experiences only:

Personal Absences

Personal absences are granted each semester, and students must use these absences to cover any and all unforeseen personal circumstances that would cause them to miss chapel throughout the semester. Brief illnesses, personal travel days, employment or graduate school interviews, studying, tardiness, etc. are all classified as personal absences.

Regular chapel attendees (those who must attend three chapels a week) are allowed 10 personal absences per semester. If you are regularly excused from one chapel per week, you will be allowed seven personal absences per semester. If you are regularly excused from two chapels per week, you will be allowed four personal absences per semester. Once you have reached your limit of personal absences, any further unexcused absences will immediately result in Chapel Probation.

Excusable Absences

Excusable absences may be granted for severe conditions or special situations which temporarily affect chapel attendance. Written verification from Chapel Programs is required for excusal. Examples of absences which may be excused include hospitalization, family funeral, extended illness, or mandatory court appearances. Excusal for other circumstances of a similar nature will be granted at the discretion of Chapel Programs. Class trips or faculty-sponsored activities are excusable absences. It is the student’s responsibility to request a letter from the professor (prior to the event) and notify Chapel Programs. This letter must include the time and date of the event, and the name and ID number of each student attending.

Chapel attendance is the student’s responsibility. Students are expected to keep track of their own absences. As a convenience, students may check their attendance on their home.apu.edu account. Home.apu.edu is updated daily at midnight, so attendance for a specific chapel may not be reflected until 24-36 hours after that chapel. Students have two weeks to provide verification for any excused absence or to address any attendance discrepancies.

Student Heath Center Excusable Absences

An excusable absence may be granted by the Student Health Center only if there is an extended or contagious illness diagnosed. Such an absence begins the day of the student’s visit to the Student Health Center and consultation with the medical doctor or lead nurse practitioner. Only the medical doctor or the lead nurse practitioner may grant excusable absences.

Chapel Programs requires documentation of the illness, which must be submitted within two weeks of the student’s visit to the Student Health Center. The student is responsible for submitting this paperwork on time and must request documentation at the time of his/her visit. Excusable absences are not retroactive.

Questions?

Students must call the Health Center for any health-related questions. Students must call the Office of Chapel Programs for any attendance-related questions.

For more information about chapel attendance, please contact the Office of Chapel Programs at chapel@apu.edu.