Verified vs. unverified absences

The NJIT attendance policy expects that students will attend all lecture classes, laboratories and recitations. Absences are unverified until documentation has been submitted to, and approved by, the Office of the Dean of Students (ODoS), which should be done in a timely manner. The ODoS will then notify the instructor. Do not submit any documentation directly to your instructor.

1. There will be no make-ups or other accommodations for unverified absences.

For verified absences, the ODoS says this: “Please note that our office only verifies documentation, and it is at the discretion of your professor(s) or their department's policy to provide any accommodation.”

Short quizzes and other graded in-lecture activities

2. There will be no make-up assignments for activities such as short quizzes and active learning assignments that take place during lectures, whether or not the absence is verified.

Mid-term and final exams

3. If a student has a verified absence from an exam, the instructor may, at their discretion, either a) administer a make-up exam, or b) provide an alternative as described in the course syllabus.

Labs

4. For logistical reasons (space, equipment), missed labs cannot be made up in the same semester.
5. Some labs require a safety briefing or other important instruction at the beginning of the lab time, such that it is not admissible to allow students to join late. For this reason, instructors may, at their discretion, refuse to admit a student who arrives late (as defined in the syllabus) for a given lab. In that case, late arrivals to the lab will be counted as an unverified absence, unless the ODoS approves documentation explaining the reason for lateness. Consult your syllabus for any lateness policy.
6. Students who miss labs for unverified reasons are at risk of receiving an F for the course. Consult your course syllabus for the policy on unverified absences.
7. For students who miss up to three labs with verified absences, the instructor may choose to assign alternative graded activities, calculate the final grade based on just the labs that were attended, or some combination of the above. Consult your syllabus for details.
8. A student missing more than three labs, even if all are verified, cannot pass the course in that semester. There are then two options to avoid an F grade:
   1. If appropriate, an Instructor may offer an Incomplete grade on the condition that, if the course is offered at NJIT in the following semester or summer, the student will, without needing to register, retake only the missed, verified labs and complete any assignments. Their grade will then be recalculated and the Incomplete resolved. The decision to take an Incomplete must be made before the end of the semester in which the labs were missed, and the labs must be made up by the end of the following full semester, as per NJIT’s policy. (Labs with unverified absences cannot be made up.)
   2. If the above option is not possible, the student can withdraw (if the deadline has not yet passed). If the lab is required for their program, they will need to register for it in a future semester.

Policy on Absences

Golowasch lab

The goal of the Golowasch lab research is to understand the mechanisms that allow the nervous system to be simultaneously plastic, and thus responsive to environmental and internal changes, and stable.

His work is based on the assumption that simultaneous stability and plasticity can only come about when neurons globally adjust their properties as they locally make adaptive changes to specific conditions and perturbations. What are the rules that are required for these two properties to be expressed simultaneously? What are the biological mechanisms (cellular, molecular) that make this possible? Neuronal activity itself, the neuromodulatory environment, and circadian activity and perhaps sleep seem to be crucial factors.

In my work I apply experimental (electrophysiology, cell and molecular biology) and theoretical (analytical and computational) approaches and methods.

The main experimental animal we use is the local crab, Cancer borealis, cell lines, and acutely dissociated cells in culture, and we are starting to use mouse brain slices.

Golowasch lab contact

Severi lab

we like fish in this lab

Bucher lab

We like crabs in this lab

Rotstein lab

We don't like any kinds of animals in this lab

I invite you to join our new Discord server NJIT Biology. Here we share insights into courses, science in the news, research at NJIT, Med and Grad schools and so much more. Email Soares@njit.edu for invite if you didn’t get one.

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New this year we will open a tutoring center! Monday to Thursday 1-4 pm in front of Bio office in CKB. Or remotely by appointment. Stay tuned for details!

I have on open door day every month, where you can come and discuss with me anything you want. This semester I’ll be hanging out in the Biology office of CKB on:

• Jan 27 online 1pm,
• Feb 24 1pm,
• March 17 1pm,
• April 21 1pm