Attendance, Illness and Medical Absence

There is no general faculty rule covering attendance at classes, laboratory periods, etc. This matter is left to the individual instructor, who may or may not view irregularities in attendance as serious enough to affect the student’s grade. The responsibility to follow the instructor’s policies is clearly the student’s.

Instructors are urged to inform the Center for Advising Services when, in their view, a given student’s attendance record may affect his or her work adversely. In this way, the College will be alerted to a pattern of serious absence. Instructors are also encouraged to submit a CARE report.

Students are urged to inform the Office of the Dean of Students or the College Center for Advising Services when an illness causes them to return home for a significant length of time, when they are temporarily ill and confined to their residence hall, or when they are hospitalized or called home due to a family emergency or death.  Instructors will be notified when appropriate or at the student’s request. Additionally, students are encouraged, when they are able, to contact their instructors directly to discuss their absence.

The make-up work missed through absence is a matter left to the discretion of an instructor. Whether it will be permitted at all, or what penalty will be assigned, is up to the instructor. Often students find it helpful to consult with an adviser in the College Center for Advising Services when they return to class after an absence. Two points should be made:

1. The University Health Service (UHS) does not provide retroactive excuses for missed classes. Students who are seen at UHS for an illness or injury can ask for documentation that verifies the date of their visit(s) to UHS without mention of the reason for the visit.  If the student’s UHS provider determines the student should curtail activities in the coming days or weeks, the provider will give the student written instructions with specific recommendations. Documentation cannot be provided to students who were not seen at UHS for their illness or injury. Students are encouraged to make every effort to resolve health-related absences and issues by talking with the faculty directly.
2. Students wishing to consider “inactive status” as a result of an extended or severe illness may discuss that request with an adviser in the Center for Advising Services, where a Medical Information Request form may be completed and forwarded to the University Health Service. (See Inactive Status)