After many years of teaching thousands of students, we know that one of the most important parts of our classes is the structure we provide. When working online from home, this structure is just as important as in-person, maybe even more so! That's why while you are a remote student at Epicodus, you are expected to pair remotely, spend your day coding, take part in all standups, and participate in communication on the Discord server for your class as needed.

Your attendance is based on the following:

• Did you log into your Epicenter account and use the attendance feature to sign in for the day by 8:15am PST (Pacific Standard Time)?
• Did you go back to your Epicenter account to sign-out for the day between 4:45 pm and 5:30 pm PST?
• Did you pair remotely? Were you present all day and did you participate in coding with your pair?
• Were you available in standup and did you communicate with other students throughout the day as needed?

Here's how Epicodus will evaluate your attendance:

• Between 7:30 am - 8:15 am PST, students need to log in to their Epicenter account and complete the daily attendance sign in procedure.
• Between 4:45 pm and 5:30 pm PST, students need to log in to their Epicenter account and complete the attendance sign out with pair feedback for the day.
• Epicodus instructors will check in with students, read pair feedback, and do spot checks on Discord to ensure that all students are pairing. If you are not pair programming on Discord, you may be marked absent even if you correctly signed in and out at the right times for Epicenter attendance. If for some reason you are not able to pair on Discord, please check in with your instructor.
• Students will occasionally be expected to take part in student-led standups - or respond to questions or announcements on Discord. Not taking part may result in your attendance being adjusted.

As long you sign in and out on time, pair program, and participate in class, attendance will not be an issue. Your teacher may adjust your attendance at their discretion. Based on sign in and sign out time, your pair feedback at the end of the day, and other expectations, you may be marked On Time, Absent, Tardy, or Left Early. A quick reminder: an absence counts as a full missed day while a tardy or left early counts as half of a day. Your goal is to be On Time every day - though please note that Epicodus provides a generous and flexible attendance policy.

Pair Feedback

At the end of every class day (Monday through Thursday), you will fill out a pair feedback form for the other student(s) you paired with that day. Information on how to leave pair feedback and the attendance procedure is in the next section.

Only Epicodus staff will see your feedback. Epicodus staff will never directly share this feedback with other students.

If (and only if) a student's pairs consistently share challenges working with that person, we will share the aggregate, common themes of the feedback with the student. There will never be any specific individual feedback or anything that could be tied to the person giving the feedback.

Epicenter Attendance Process

The primary way your attendance is evaluated is through the Epicenter attendance system. Each morning before standup you will need to login to your epicenter account and follow these sign-in steps:

• Locate the Attendance today section and click Sign in.

• This will lead you to the screen to select your partner for the day. You are encouraged to reach out to members of your weekly group to find your pair(s) before standup but you can select solo if you haven't found a partner yet or if have emailed your teacher about working alone for the day. This must be done between 7:30 am and 8:15 am to be marked on time.

• If you sign in as Solo: Once you have found your pair for the day, go to Epicenter and update your attendance immediately to add your pair. Instructions on updating your pair are listed below. Your teachers will be notified if you still haven't selected a pair on Epicenter by 10 AM PST.

• Seeing the above screen means your attendance sign in is complete. You may log out of Epicenter but do not sign out of your attendance until the end of the day.

• If you need to add your pair later in the day or update them for any reason, simply click the change pair link as shown in the image above.

• From here, you can update your pair information. Your pair feedback form at the end of the day is based on your selected pair so make sure this is accurate.

• At the end of the school day, use the Sign out button in your attendance section to begin the end of day feedback. This must be done between 4:45 pm and 5:30 pm to be marked on time.

• At sign out, you will be presented with a pair feedback form for anyone you paired with for the day. If you paired with two students, you will see two forms to fill out. Please give accurate and honest feedback. Since we are all working remotely, this is an important way for staff to make sure everyone is communicating.

• Once you submit your pair feedback, you should see a banner message that says goodbye along with your sign in and sign out times which means you have successfully completed the attendance procedure for the day.

For independent projects, you will not use the Epicenter attendance feature. Instead, your attendance will be based on your project's commit history, which you will learn more about in the first week of class. General information on independent projects can be found here.

Attending Standup

It is also required to attend all standups. Crucial information is often shared during standup and we don't want you to miss any of it! However, we are aware that some students may have issues with their technology that make it more difficult to take part in video standup. In order to take part in video standup each day, we recommend the following:

• Best option: Your computer has a working camera and access to consistent internet. If your internet is inconsistent, try using a wired ethernet connection or move your computer closer to the router.

• Backup option: If you are having issues with connectivity or don't have a camera, you can use your phone instead. Download the Google Hangouts application on your phone and connect to video standups via the application.

• If neither of the above work: Please contact your instructor as soon as possible.

Attendance Corrections

Students are responsible for making sure they are marked on time for the day. However, we are aware that extenuating circumstances can come up. Each student can request teachers to fix a late sign in or a late/early sign-out twice through their Epicodus program. This means teachers will update attendance twice in the entire 20 weeks, not twice per language section.

If you fail to see the sign in and sign out confirmations for attendance, let your teacher know immediately. You are responsible for your attendance. Letting a teacher know there was an error an hour after the fact will still require you to use one of your two free attendance corrections.

We care about your well being and do not want you to worry about attendance if you are at risk. If there is a fire, natural disaster, or any reason you need to leave your location to protect yourself, please do so immediately. Your attendance will not be affected! Once you are in a safe place, contact your teachers to let them know about your situation. All staff can be emailed using their first name followed by @epicodus.com.

Absences & Communication

Epicodus has a very generous attendance policy. Students are generally allowed ten absences throughout the program. If you are on a deferred payment program, you will have a different agreement with the school. If you are unsure of which payment program or agreement you have with Epicodus, please reach out to your teacher and advisor.

If you need to miss class for a planned or unplanned reason, please reach out to your teachers as soon as possible. You can find information here on the ways to contact your teachers remotely. Once again, all staff can be emailed using their first name followed by @epicodus.com.