Faculty reminder on H1N1 and class absences

Faculty reminder on H1N1 and class absences

As a reminder to all faculty, during this flu season, ill students are not required to provide a physician’s excuse for missing class. Penn State Academic and Administrative Policy E-11 requires all instructors, including teaching assistants, to provide reasonable opportunities for students to make up missed assignments and exams. Ordinarily, instructors should not rely on the weighting of a semester's work in place of allowing students to make up missed work.

Students with flu-like symptoms are being strongly advised to avoid public areas, such as work, classrooms, labs, libraries and social gatherings. This is based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Students are being instructed to begin their recovery process by sending an e-mail to their instructor informing them of their illness and their inability to attend class. They are also asked to give an indication of how much class time they expect to miss and to make every effort to make up missed work.

Illness, of course, should not be used as an excuse to avoid coursework. False claims of legitimate or unavoidable absence may be considered academic integrity violations under Senate Policy 49-20, AAPP G-9.

In addition, faculty members who may be sick, also are asked to limit the spread of H1N1 by staying away from the classroom and laboratories, and avoiding contact with others, until you recover. For information on employee absences, you should consult http://live.psu.edu/fullimg/userpics/10047/employee_H1N1.pdf online.