Athletics: Academics

Missed Class Policy

1. Student-athletes are required to attend all classes. A student-athlete may only miss class for athletic reasons when representing the University in intercollegiate competition.
2. No student-athlete may miss any regularly scheduled classes for any team practice or other non-competition activities
3. Coaches shall do their best to arrange game and travel schedules that minimize missed class time. For same day, away competitions coaches should plan the travel schedule so that student-athletes miss as little class time as possible, and generally should aim to allow students to attend classes that conclude at least 2 hours prior to the scheduled time of departure. If departure must be earlier it is expected that the coach will document the reason to the Director of Athletics.
4. For competition with overnight travel, no team shall depart more than 48 hours prior to the time of competition. Exceptions to this guideline must be documented and approved by the Director of Athletics.
5. Student-athletes must register for their classes in a way that will minimize missed class time. Therefore it is critical that they meet with their academic advisor and coach well before the initial registration period.
6. The Associate AD/Internal Operations may recommend to the coaching staff that a student-athlete be held back from a trip or competition, to attend classes or finish assignments if a student-athlete’s academic efforts are falling short of good standing.
7. For home competition, student-athletes shall not miss any classes prior to two hours before the scheduled competition time.
8. It is the responsibility of the student-athlete to inform their instructors, at the earliest point possible of any intercollegiate athletic contest that will affect their class attendance. Class Excuse Absence Reminders will be sent via e-mail to faculty prior to a competition in which a student-athlete will miss a class due to that competition.
9. It is expected that student-athletes will be responsible to make up all work missed, for submitting all assignments on time, and that advance arrangements will be initiated by the student-athlete for any exams, quizzes, or other assignments that will be missed.
10. Once advance notice of student absences for intercollegiate competitions are communicated to faculty as stated above, faculty will establish with the student the time and place for making up missed quizzes, exams, and other assignments.
11. No competitions outside the championship segment for each sport will be scheduled during “Study Days” (the two days preceding the start of final exams in each semester). Best efforts will also be given to avoid scheduling competitions on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, where possible.
12. Student-athletes who believe that they have received a lack of reasonable accommodation of the provisions of this missed class policy by a faculty member should bring it to the attention of the Associate AD/Internal Operations and Faculty Athletics Representative.
13. Student-athletes are required to attend all scheduled practices unless there is an unavoidable conflict with a class or an equally important academic event. Student-athletes who expect to miss a practice for this reason will communicate that fact to their coach ahead of time, and may be asked for documentation of the conflict. 
14. It is expected that coaches will not penalize student-athletes for missing practices due to conflicts with regularly scheduled classes for which student-athletes are enrolled.
15. Student-athletes who believe that they have received a lack of reasonable accommodation of the provisions of this missed class policy by a coach may bring this matter to the attention of the Director of Athletics and the Faculty Athletics Representative either informally or through a formal appeal.
16. Faculty members who have questions about the application of this policy may contact the Faculty Athletics Representative or the Associate AD/Internal Operations.

Injuries and Illness (Brain/Medical)

In the event that a student-athlete is unable to attend class due to a concussion, other injury, or medical illness, he/she must notify their respective athletic trainer immediately (if the AT is not already aware). The Athletic training staff will notify the Associate AD/Internal Operations who will notify the Dean of Students. The office of the Dean of Students will notify student-athlete’s faculty of missed class due to injury.

Monitoring Class Attendance

The professor keeps the roll, may record a zero for any work missed due to an unexcused absence, and may drop a student for missing an equivalent of two weeks of classes. One absence in a laboratory will be the equivalent of two 50-minute classes or one 75-minute class. “Two weeks” are computed as follows:

Fall and Spring Semesters

• Six unexcused absences in a 50 minute class period (M-W-F)
• Four unexcused absences in a 75 minute class period (M-W, T-R)
• Two unexcused absences in a 165 minute class period (Evening)

Absences for reasons other than University-sanctioned events (which must be approved by Deans or the Academic Vice President) will be determined to be “excused” or “not excused” by the professor.

An excessive number of absences, even if they are excused, can severely compromise the quality of the students’ learning experience. Therefore, if the professor judges that the student has missed excessive material due to absences (excused, unexcused or a combination of the two), that professor may initiate action for withdrawal from the class. Whenever possible, the professor shall notify a student one class prior to initiating action for a student’s withdrawal. The student will be charged a $10 fee for the add/drop slip (after the 100% refund period) regardless of whether the student or the professor submits the add/drop slip.

Class Absence Reminder Email

Coaches must send their schedule for the entire season/semester, which includes departure and return times to Associate AD/Internal Operations.  In addition, coaches must send follow-up Travel Party form with the roster of student-athletes before each competition where classes may be missed to Associate AD/Internal Operations. Student-athletes must also remind professors of upcoming excuses and communicate with their professors regarding any classes they may miss due to competition.  Associate AD/Internal Operations will send a reminder e-mail to the professors of the student-athletes missing classes. The Associate AD/Internal Operations is required to update professors to any change that is made to the class excuses provided at the beginning of the year (e.g. a game is re-scheduled and student-athletes are no longer required to miss class).

Priority Registration

Each undergraduate student-athlete has the opportunity to register prior to the general student body. Since student-athletes contend with practice and travel conflicts, it is the Department of Athletics’ goal to limit the amount of classes each student-athlete misses per semester. Priority registration offers student-athletes the opportunity to plan ahead and schedule their classes around impending conflicts. All student-athletes are coded in banner for early registration.

Book Scholarship

A student-athlete who is on a book scholarship can only purchase required text books and course materials. In partnership with Barnes & Noble, student-athletes must rent text books directly from Barnes & Noble, when possible. Rentals must be completed utilizing the student-athlete’s own personal credit card. Under no circumstances should University credit cards be used for renting student-athlete text books.