Class Excuse Policy

PURPOSE

To establish guidelines for management of students’ requests for medical excuses for classes missed due to illness or injury.

POLICY

Millersville University Health Services does not provide students with medical excuses for short term absences from class, labs, exams, or missed deadlines due to illness, injury, or routine appointments.

This policy aligns with the recommendations from the American College Health Association (ACHA) and our peer institutions. This policy promotes appropriate discussions between students and their professors and allows our office to dedicate our time to providing medical care for our students.

We educate our students on how to practice self-care and how to prevent the spread of common illnesses. Typically, we do not advise students to miss classes unless a contagious illness justifies a recommendation. Some exceptions to our policy include COVID isolation, Influenza, Mononucleosis, head injuries, and hospitalizations.

Health Services will not disclose if a student has been seen at our office. We will only release medical records to the student. We can only release information to a faculty if a student provides consent. This policy aligns with our patients/students’ confidentiality and privacy rights. Each student is provided a discharge summary at the end of their visit; however, this document contains protected health information. It is at the students’ discretion if they choose to share this document with their professor. Per request, the student can be provided with a verification form that confirms an appointment date/time but this is not a class excuse. The decision to excuse an absence is left to the discretion of the individual faculty members.

POLICY RATIONALE

Often students miss class when they are symptomatic from a cold, gastrointestinal illness, or another minor, self-limiting illness. In many cases, the best course of action is to rest and practice self-care at home. When students schedule an appointment at health services solely for a class excuse:

• These visits take away available appointments that could be offered to students who need medical care (increasing wait times)
• Students risk aggravating their illness traveling to the appointment
• Those with a contagious illness risk exposing others

Student Recommendations

We recommend that students who need to miss a class or a deadline follow the instructions on their course syllabus and notify their professor, preferably before the missed class/test/deadline.