You must notify your instructor(s) in advance of any absences using the Student Absence Notification tool. Misrepresenting the reason for or failing to appropriately report an absence could rise to the level of a violation of >HBS Community Values and the HBS Honor Code and may result in disciplinary sanctions.

If you report an excused absence for Personal Illness and plan to attend class remotely, you should indicate your plan to attend remotely via a note in the Additional Comments section when reporting your absence.

Report Absence

In case of an emergency absence where it is not possible to report the absence in advance of the class, you should contact attendance@hbs.edu and proceed with entering the absence in the system as soon as possible.

You are expected to report an absence using the option in Student Absence Notification tool that is most consistent with the reason why you are missing class on that particular day.

You may be excused from class and class activities for:

• Birth or adoption of a student's child.
• Court summons or jury duty that cannot be postponed.
• Death or serious illness in the immediate family.
• Illness or medical needs of a child for whom the student is a primary caretaker.
• Observance of high religious days or due to religious beliefs.
• Personal illness, including quarantine or isolation due to COVID, mild symptoms causing a student to stay home in order to keep others healthy, emergencies, mental health, and appointments with Health Care providers that could not be scheduled at another time.
• Required military service.
• Wedding day of student or immediate family member.

Excused Recruiting Absences

You are eligible to miss up to 3 class sessions for excused recruiting in Term 1 of the RC year. Thereafter, in terms 2, 3, and 4 you will be permitted to take up to 6 excused recruiting absences per term when there is a recruiting need that cannot be accommodated on Job Search Days. For an excused recruiting absence, you must:

• Report the absence and include the name of the organization with which you are recruiting, the industry, the interview stage you are in, the date of the interview, and the reason the interview could not occur on a Job Search Day.

Important Notes for Students

• You may take no more than 1 excused recruiting absence in any one Term 1 RC course and in Data Science for Managers, if you are enrolled.
• You may take no more than 2 excused recruiting absences in any one required Term 2 RC course, EC long course, or EC IFC.
• You may take no more than 1 excused recruiting absence in joint degree seminars, SIPs, EC short courses, or EC intensive courses that meet once a week.
• Excused absences do not carry over term to term.
• Individual Faculty may opt to require an absence write-up in their course.
• Excused recruiting absences are not permitted for midterm and final exam sessions.
• Excused recruiting absences are not permitted for the following sessions due to their unique format: RC Strategy Simulation and EC Kickoff and Bridges.
• Excused recruiting absences are valid for most recruiting activities related to securing a job offer including informational interviews, formal interviews and sell days, or fundraising for your startup.

You are expected to report an absence using the option in the Student Absence Notification tool that is most consistent with the reason you are missing class on that particular day. Absences for reasons other than those listed above are considered unexcused. These may include, but are not limited to:

• Attending a board of directors meeting.
• Attending a friend's wedding.
• Participation in on- or off-campus conferences.
• Travel, when travel is the only reason for missing class that day.
• Absences for personal or professional reasons, including recruiting activities, job interviews in excess of the allotted number of excused recruiting absences per term, and fieldwork for report writing.

Two or more consecutive days of excused or unexcused absences requires special action.

• If you must take multiple absences due to an emergency, medical condition, or a disability, you should meet with MBA Student & Academic Services as soon as possible to best balance your circumstances with the School's academic requirements.
• For two or more absences unrelated to an emergency, medical condition, or a disability, please contact attendance@hbs.edu.
• These absences should still be reported via the Student Absence Notification tool.
• You may be asked for documentation in support of your need to miss class.
• A pattern of absences with consistent failure to give proper notice and explanation can result in an involuntary withdrawal.

As a rule, all MBA classes take place as scheduled even if other parts of the University are closed. MBA students are expected to attend class as usual. If you are notified of a modified attendance policy, you must still report the absence as indicated below or otherwise stated when notified about the emergency or school closing.

Types of Emergencies that Could Disrupt Class

HBS is a largely residential campus, and MBA classes usually take place as scheduled, regardless of adverse conditions. Examples of emergencies that could disrupt classes include (but are not limited to):

• Severe weather conditions in which the Governor of Massachusetts declares a state of emergency (hurricane, tornado, severe snowstorm).
• Loss of power (electricity, heat, etc.) in classroom buildings.
• Disruption in the use of classroom facilities due to fire, bomb threat, or other emergency situations.

If such an event disrupts classes for a given day or time period, the MBA Program may announce a modified attendance policy, a modified schedule, or both.

Modified Attendance Policy

• Students who live off-campus are advised to use their judgment about whether it is safe to travel to campus.
• Absence is excused for students who live off-campus only, providing they properly use the absence notification tool.
• Off-campus students who may be tardy should communicate directly with the faculty member.

Modified Schedule

Modified schedule is announced (e.g., delayed start of classes, moving a class or classes to the next day, early end of classes, etc.).

Students will be notified through one or a combination of the following:

• Email from the MBA Program.
• "Alert" on myHBS (which will appear above "Notifications").
• HBS Alert, a mass notification system for the HBS community that will contact you via phone, email, and text message in times of serious emergency or crisis on campus, and/or incidents affecting campus operations. If you have an HBS email address, you are already enrolled in HBS Alert. Be sure to Update your Classcard to include any phone numbers and email addresses at which you wish to be notified.

Absences may affect a student's grade and/or academic standing. This may include:

• A lower course grade.
• A designation of No Credit for a course.
• Review by the Academic Performance Committee.
• Ineligibility for academic honors, the Dean's Award, some fellowships, and other privileges and forms of recognition and support at HBS.

Students who fail to satisfactorily complete course requirements due to unexcused absences or prolonged excused absences may receive an "Incomplete" or "No Credit.” Students receiving either designation must pursue a program of work, determined by the instructor(s), to convert the "Incomplete" into a final course grade, or the "No Credit" into the appropriate credits.

RC students who fail to receive credit for a required course must make up that credit before continuing into their second year. EC students who fail to get credit for a course may have insufficient credits for the award of the MBA degree.