Some disabilities impact a student’s ability to follow our current attendance policies. These diagnoses often include symptoms that are sporadic, episodic and unpredictable in nature. Those symptoms may make a person unable to leave their bed, home or force a person to seek medical care. In these situations, our office may approve an accommodation of “Flexible Attendance” or “Modification of Attendance Policy”.
An appropriate modification of current attendance policy will include a thorough consideration of the course to determine at what point absences will impact essential course elements (including participation, group work and discussion). Flexible Attendance or Modified Attendance Policies should have a reasonable limit that reflects the nature of the course. That limit should be determined through a conversation with our office and the student with accommodations.
“Flexible Attendance or Modified Attendance Policies should have a reasonable limit that reflects the nature of the course.”
Our office will connect with faculty in the beginning of the semester to schedule a time to discuss this accommodation and what modification is reasonable considering the course’s assignments, discussion, modality…etc. For more information about this accommodation, please see our hand out which includes input from the Office of Civil Rights on how to best address this need:
