Attendance Flexibility Accommodation: Expectations and Guidance

Flexible Attendance Expectations:

This accommodation is designed to address and support a student who may have occasional absences during a semester due to exacerbation or flaring symptoms for a documented and accommodated disability, as registered with DSS.

While each student situation is unique, a student with this accommodation might conceivably miss up to 25% of class periods without penalty, due to exacerbation of symptoms, though they would still be responsible for communicating with the instructor and completing all assigned work, including any work (in-class assignments, labs, etc.) missed while absent.

However, this accommodation is not designed to comprehensively address and fully support a student who misses or is unable to participate in more than one week’s worth of classes in succession or who misses a substantial number of classes during the semester.

• In such situations, students and professors will often need to discuss if it is possible to adequately address missed work and to maintain course pace.
• DSS can be involved in these discussions as needed, per student or professor request.

If a student has a significant number of or ongoing absences (lasting longer than a week in succession), reasonable adjustments may not be possible, and the student’s final grade may be impacted should the student choose to stay in the course. The student may also need to consider a course withdrawal.

Guidance:

Review and discuss your accommodation letter with your professor as soon as the semester begins and/or as soon as you register with DSS and receive your letter. Discuss any anticipated needs and/or barriers with your professors during the letter review meeting.

Important: do not wait until after you miss coursework or class sessions to discuss barriers or needs with your professors.

Communicating with Professors about Absences:

If you experience a flare of symptoms, email your professor prior to the missed class to inform them you will not be able to attend. If you are experiencing urgent symptoms and cannot email the professor prior to class, email them and DSS as soon as possible after the missed class, so that arrangements can be made.

For flaring/exacerbated symptoms that require you to seek medical services or attention, always be sure to obtain a doctor’s note. While your professor cannot request documentation from you, they can ask DSS to substantiate your absence and reported information. In such cases, medical documentation/doctor’s note can be provided to DSS for review, after which confirmation will be sent to the professor.