- Religious Accommodations
The university’s Discrimination policy (https://policies.uoregon.edu/discrimination-0) in Section GG states “Any student who, because of religious beliefs, is unable to attend classes on a particular day shall be excused from attendance requirements and from any examination or other assignment on that day. The student shall make up the examination or other assignment missed because of the absence.”
This policy is operationalized through the “Student Religious Accommodation Request” process found on the University Registrar website (https://registrar.uoregon.edu/calendars/religious-observances). The Office of the Provost website provides a syllabus statement on this subject here: https://provost.uoregon.edu/syllabus-guidelines.
- “Mandatory” Attendance
The only university-level policy on mandatory attendance is the “Mandatory First Class Attendance Policy” which states:
“Academic departments may designate courses (not individual sections) as “Mandatory First Class Attendance”, which requires enrolled students to attend the first official meeting, as indicated in the UO Class Schedule, of designated courses. Attendance will be taken at the first official meeting of all courses with this designation. These courses are identified in the Class Schedule.
Enrolled students who do not attend the first official meeting of these courses will be dropped from the course.” (See the following for more: https://registrar.uoregon.edu/current-students/registering-for-classes#mandatory-first-class-attendance-policy)
- Absences Related to University-Sponsored Athletic Events
Despite a common misconception, instructors are not required to “excuse” all student-athlete absences and/or provide special accommodations for them.
The governing rule here pertains to “Academic Extra Benefits” which, under NCAA rules, is “substantial assistance or the granting of an exception that is not generally available to an institution’s students, which results in the certification of a student-athlete’s eligibility to participate in intercollegiate athletics or receive financial aid.” In lay terms, the Office of the Provost has communicated the following “bright line”, “Student-athletes may not be given special treatment simply because they are student-athletes. Student-athletes can only receive accommodations that are the same or similar as accommodations offered to other students.
In addition, under “Student-athlete travel and class attendance/participation” it states that “faculty are strongly encouraged to make pedagogically sound and justifiable accommodations that will enable student-athletes to be successful in the classroom” and that “In classes with substantial class participation, project or lab work, appropriate accommodations may not be possible. In those instances, the student- athlete should be informed that the course is not a good fit in a term with significant travel. Under no circumstances should the instructor offer an accommodation that is pedagogically unsound or that would be unavailable to other students.” (See https://provost.uoregon.edu/academic-misconduct-and-academic-extra-benefits-involving-faculty-student-athletes-3)
Finally, in terms of post-season contests, the communication from the Office of the Provost states that these are “university-sponsored events” and as such, provide a legitimate excuse for student participants to be absent from regularly scheduled final exams.” It also provides some options that “faculty are authorized to use” to accommodate make-up exams. The use of the term “legitimate excuse” here pertains only to final exams. (See https://provost.uoregon.edu/post-season-contests)
In addition, students who are not student-athletes also participate in these events. They should provide the same documentation for expected absences at university-sponsored events and be afforded similar consideration from faculty.
- Dean of Students “Emergency Academic Notification”
The Dean of Students “Emergency Academic Notification” process is intended for limited circumstances in which a student is incapacitated (e.g., hospitalized or otherwise unable to communicate directly), or when the university must implement supportive measures under Title IX. In these situations, the Office of the Dean of Students may contact instructors to provide notification of the student’s circumstances and to facilitate time-sensitive support.
Outside of these circumstances, students are encouraged to communicate directly with their instructors regarding absences and academic needs. Faculty should not refer students to the Dean of Students Office for the purpose of verifying or validating a student’s request for flexibility.
Faculty are encouraged to inform students of campus support resources (e.g., Dean of Students Office, University Health Services, Accessible Education Center) when students experience crisis, serious illness, or injury, and to work directly with students to address course-related flexibility needs. Information on signs of student crisis and ways faculty can help are located here https://dos.uoregon.edu/assisting-students-concern.
Faculty who become aware that a student may be incapacitated, or who receive disclosures related to prohibited discrimination or harassment, are encouraged to notify the appropriate offices (e.g., Dean of Students Office or Office of Equal Opportunity and Access) so that the university can coordinate appropriate support.
More information on “Emergency Academic Notification” can be found here: https://dos.uoregon.edu/dos-faq.
- Accessible Education Center (AEC) Accommodations
In some cases, students can be approved through AEC for flexibility in attendance and/or assignment deadlines. The AEC website states:
“Students with disabilities are approved for flexibility in attendance and/or assignment deadlines when strong medical documentation warrants the accommodation(s). These accommodations provide students opportunities to demonstrate mastery of course knowledge, even when disability limits their ability to attend class and/or meet deadlines. Accommodations are not intended to sacrifice essential course goals or to place an undue burden on instructors. Rather, these accommodations ask instructors to:
-
- understand when grade penalties for class absences and/or missed assignment deadlines may be inappropriate for students with disabilities
- consider alternative assignment formats to allow all students to demonstrate course knowledge”
See https://aec.uoregon.edu/guidance-flexibility-attendance-and-assignment-deadlines for more information.
- Students on Active Military Service
The Office of the Provost offers guidance for accommodating students on active duty military service (see https://provost.uoregon.edu/military-and-federal-agency-deployment-accommodation-rights-policy).
This is in alignment with the Military Duty Refund Policy which states:
“Any student service member or National Guard member with orders to report for active military duty may withdraw at any time during the term and receive a full refund. If sufficient course work has been accomplished and the instructor feels justified, the instructor may either grant credit for the course work completed and assign a grade or arrange for the student to take an incomplete. In either of these cases, no refund will be given. The student may use a combination of these options.” See more here: https://registrar.uoregon.edu/current-students/veterans/called-active-duty