Dear Students,
Welcome to the first full week of classes, it has been great to have you back on campus! We hope you’re enjoying being together again, meeting new people and settling into your classes.
At some point during your time here at JMU, you may find yourself sick and needing support. Typically, during this time of year, many begin to experience respiratory and other illnesses. We want to provide you with some resources and guidance for how you can take care of yourself and balance academic obligations in the coming months.
Self-Care
Many illnesses do not require a visit to the doctor. In fact, you can probably take care of yourself by using the self-care resources from the University Health Center (UHC). We recommend if you have symptoms of spreadable diseases, please stay home to help limit spread to others, practice good self-care and get healthy.
Attendance and Excused Absence Policy
If you do not feel well and cannot attend class, please review the Attendance and Excused Absence Policy.
There are four categories of excused absences:
| • | Excused absences required by applicable laws. |
| • | Excused absences for official university functions. |
| • | Excused absences for university recognized academic functions. |
| • | Excused absences for medical need. |
Within each of the four categories, the policy notes the individual or office that can assist you in confirming the excused absence.
If you feel as if you have been academically penalized for an excused absence, you may be able to make an appeal.
It is your responsibility as a student to:
| • | Review and understand the Attendance and Excused Absences policy and communicate with your faculty in a timely manner when you need an excused absence. |
| • | Provide the necessary written documentation for all potential excused absences and requests for excused absences. |
| • | Discuss foreseen multiple absences with your instructor at the beginning of the semester so that you can understand the impact of multiple absences prior to the add/drop deadline for the semester. |
Notifying Instructors
You may provide your faculty with a Self-Care Note that explains the medical reason for any absence from class. The University Health Center and Dean of Students Office do not provide excuses for short-term absences from class, labs, studios, exams or deadlines due to illness, injury or other health center appointments. If you do need to be seen in the University Health Center, the appointment note will only indicate that you were seen in the UHC but because of confidentiality laws will not explain why you were seen.
Thank you for taking care of yourself and your fellow Dukes!
Be well,
