Faculty determine course attendance policies, due dates, how you learn subject matter in a course. Because these areas may be integral to the pedagogy, these policies are set by faculty at the college, departmental, or individual level. Students should contact faculty as soon as possible if they are unable to attend and offer a plan to make up any missed work. It is up to the faculty to approve that plan.

What Services can Disability Services Provide:

This policy lets faculty know that a student has a disability on file that may affect attendance, due dates, and ways that you meet the essential components of a course. That decision is made by Disability Services and is supported by medical and/or psychological documentation that the student must submit. This verification should be utilized by students and faculty to initiate discussions of attendance policies and make-up procedures. Faculty can use this information to make limited adjustments.

Faculty are not required to lower or substantially modify the essential functions that need to be learned to be successful for accommodation purposes. The United States Department of Education Offices of Civil Rights, which enforces disability law in higher education, uses the following heuristic to determine if class attendance is fundamental to course participation:

  • Is there classroom interaction between the instructor and students, and among students?
  • Do student contributions constitute a significant component of the learning process?
  • Does the fundamental nature of the course rely upon student pariticipation as an essential method for learning?
  • To what degree does a student's failure to attend constitute a significant loss to the educational experience of other students in the class?
  • What does the course description and syllabus say?
  • What is the method by which the final course grade is calculated?
  • What are the classroom practices and policies regarding attendance?

Faculty can contact Disability Services to consult on making appropriate decisions about flexibility in these areas.