Guidelines
Regular class attendance is an important part of the educational experience and is often essential to achieving the learning objectives of a course. Attendance policies are established by faculty, departments, and the university based on the academic requirements of each course.
For some courses, attendance, participation, labs, clinical experiences, presentations, or other activities are essential components that cannot be replicated outside of class. In other courses, a limited amount of flexibility may be reasonable without changing the essential requirements of the course.
Students whose disabilities involve unpredictable or episodic conditions may be approved for the Flexibility with Attendance accommodation. This accommodation provides for reasonable flexibility when disability-related symptoms temporarily interfere with class attendance. It does not excuse unlimited absences and does not eliminate the student's responsibility to meet the academic standards and learning objectives of the course.
Because course requirements vary significantly, the amount of flexibility available is determined individually for each course through the Flex Plan Agreement.
- Students must be approved for the Flexibility with Attendance accommodation through OEA. Appropriate disability documentation must be on file before the accommodation can be approved.
- Accommodations are not retroactive.
- The accommodation does not waive attendance requirements or excuse absences unrelated to the student's disability.
- Students remain responsible for completing all essential course requirements and meeting the same academic standards as all other students.
- Frequent disability-related absences may limit a student's ability to remain engaged in the course, complete required coursework, and make reasonable academic progress. While reasonable flexibility may be provided, students should carefully consider the impact repeated absences may have on their ability to successfully complete the course.
- Faculty are not required to modify essential course requirements or fundamentally alter academic standards.
- The agreed-upon flexibility may differ from one course to another depending on the structure, sequencing, and learning objectives of the course.
Procedure
- Students are responsible for scheduling a meeting with each instructor to review and finalize the Flex Plan Agreement. Students should schedule this meeting as early in the semester as possible, preferably during the first week of classes after providing the instructor with their accommodation letter.
- At the beginning of the semester, students meet with their instructors to complete the Flex Plan Agreement. The agreement identifies the reasonable boundaries of flexibility based on the course design, learning objectives, and essential requirements.
- The agreement addresses if the class can be missed at any time, any specific course components that cannot be missed, the time line and procedure for make-up exams, presentations, labs, clinical experiences, and other activities specific to the course. Additionally, the instructor will determine the percentage of the class that can be missed without it negatively affecting the student’s grade.
- Students must notify their instructor as soon as reasonably possible, consistent with the timelines established in the Flex Plan Agreement, when disability-related symptoms prevent them from attending class.
- Students are expected to remain engaged in the course and follow the procedures established in the Flex Plan Agreement.
- If disability-related circumstances exceed the flexibility established in the agreement, the student or instructor should contact OEA to discuss whether additional review is appropriate.
- The Flex Plan Agreement may be reviewed or revised if course circumstances or disability-related needs significantly change during the semester.
- Faculty should contact OEA at oea@odu.edu if questions arise regarding implementation of the agreement or if disability-related circumstances extend beyond the parameters established in the Flex Plan.