Absence from Class Due to Illness

If you will miss class or are unable to complete assignments due to illness, notify your professor promptly by email. This communication should occur prior to missing class, unless you are unable (for example, if you are hospitalized or incapacitated). If you are unable to notify your professor of a missed class or assignment prior to class, notify your professor as soon as possible.

Students who have flu-like symptoms should not attend class and should isolate themselves to the extent possible until they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication.

Student Health and Well-Being (SHWB) Primary Care and Student Outreach & Support (SOS) do not provide documentation for students who miss individual classes.

SHWB Primary Care can provide students with a visit verification letter at the time of an appointment, but it will not provide any medical information and is not intended to be used as an excusal note; it simply states that you had an appointment.

If you are unwell and unable to attend class, it is important that you take responsibility for keeping up with any class content you missed as well as stay in touch with your professor. SHWB Primary Care may seek your permission to communicate with SOS if you have an illness or injury that requires an extended absence from class, so you can receive any needed support while recovering. SOS may also be able to assist you with communication with professors about extended absences.

Additionally, to protect your privacy, the SHWB-PC will never provide diagnoses in a note verifying your visit or at the request of faculty. This is Protected Health Information (PHI) that SHWB-PC is unable to disclose.

SOS cannot verify illnesses to your professors. In addition, SOS discourages students from providing Protected Health Information (PHI) to faculty for any sort of verification of their absence.

Typically, it is your responsibility to notify faculty that you are too ill to attend class or complete an assignment. This is important because direct communication between you and your professor is the only way for you to keep up with class requirements and understand what your professor needs from you in order to accommodate an illness.

If SOS is notified that you are hospitalized or otherwise incapacitated, we will notify your professors. When you are discharged from the hospital or well enough to communicate with your professors, you should still do so as you will need to work out arrangements for missed classes/assignments directly with your professors.

Your professor determines how to accommodate absences or missed assignments due to illness. It is important to understand and follow your professor’s policy related to illness and missed work. This information may be on your professor’s syllabus. If you’re unclear on how to handle absences or missed assignments due to illness for a particular class, please contact that professor.

Notify your professor promptly when you realize you are too ill to attend class or complete a test/assignment on time.

Ask your professor what you should do in terms of a missed class or assignment. You may wish to offer an option when you email your professor; for example, “I will get notes from the class I missed from a classmate. Is it okay if I turn in this assignment on Friday instead of Wednesday since I haven’t been able to work on it while ill?” Please understand that your professor may have limitations on what can be done to accommodate your illness. For example, if the professor must hand back the results of a test to the rest of your class, it may not be possible for you to re-take a missed exam. In that case, you may need to discuss alternatives with your professor.

If you or your professor have questions about resources available to students who are managing the impact of illness on academics, either of you may contact [email protected].

If you experience a prolonged illness that interferes substantially with your academic requirements for the semester, there are options you may consider, including a Leave of Absence. You can speak directly to your Academic Advisor for information about options you may have based on the timing in the semester as well as contact SOS to learn more about case management services.