Faculty Guidance

Guidelines for Instructors Managing Student Absences

Students miss classes for many reasons, which can cause extra work for instructors, TAs, and graders who are managing large numbers of students with specific needs. To help manage the increase in labor related to student absences, late work, and exceptions for assignments and exams, the Division of Undergraduate Education, in collaboration with Undergraduate Council and the Dean of Students Office, has created the following guidelines for instructors to consider as they manage these requests.

• First and foremost, determine your own policies regarding these requests and apply them equitably to all students.
• Clearly communicate expectations around attendance in the syllabus. Include a reasonableness clause in your syllabus: reasonable requests made in a reasonable way will be handled reasonably by reasonable people.
• Research (e.g., Crede, Roch& Kieszczynka, 2010; Valentin, Kassarnig, Dreyer, & Lassen, 2017) indicates that class attendance and participation are correlated with academic performance. Consider adding a statement to your syllabus indicating the role of classroom attendance and participation in students’ success in the course.
• Ask students who know they have a recurring issue to let you know at the beginning of the semester so you can work in advance to meet their needs. This also offers an opportunity to counsel the student to consider not taking the class if their issues will harm their ability to successfully complete the course. Consider referring these students to Student Accessibility Services for additional support.
• Encourage students to communicate with you if something comes up that does not fit into the general policy. Remind them that if they can’t communicate with you before they miss a class or lab, they can still do so after.
• Remind students that absence will impact their grades, particularly if they miss graded in-class or group work.
  
  • Many instructors set a number of absences that result in an impact on the grade (i.e., if a student misses 20% of the class or lab sessions, they will earn a failing grade, or 3 or more absences will impact their participation grade in the course).
• Inform students that they do not need to include personal information in their excuses for missing class or lab.
• Do not require students to get a doctor’s note for illness. This is an inequitable practice that harms students who do not have ready access to health care providers. Also, do not ask what is wrong with the student or challenge their definition of illness.
• The Dean of Students Office is a partner for you and students. They can advocate for students and will encourage students to communicate directly with their instructors. Also, if you have students of concern you’d like the DOS to check on, let them know by completing this form.
• If a student has missed a number of class or lab sessions, reach out to them and encourage them to come in and talk with you.
• Consider creating a form students can complete regarding their absence. This allows you to excuse absences in bulk when you have time and provides a record of the number of times students miss class. The form should be created using Microsoft forms to protect students’ information. Google forms are not secure. An example of such a form is below:

Attendance Form                     

1. Provide your full name.
2. Which class are you enrolled in?

Check all that apply.

 [Course Number]

 [Course Number]

 [Course Number]

3. Provide the date of class that you were/will be absent.

Example: January 7, 2019

4. Is your absence university-approved? AND do you have documented proof of the excuse? (i.e., a doctor's visit, death in the family, athletic event)

Mark only one .

Yes: Skip to question 5

No: Skip to section 3 (Unexcused Absence)

Unsure: Skip to question 7