Qualifying absences
Serious health situations that prevent a student from attending or participating in class.
Examples:
- Significant illness or injury
- Hospitalization (ER admission, IV treatment, procedures, inpatient stay)
Required documentation:
- Medical providers note that includes:
- Dates the student was unable to attend class/ return-to-class date
Urgent family situations requiring the student’s presence.
Examples:
- Death of an immediate family member
- Funeral or memorial service attendance
- Emergency caregiving for a family member
Required documentation:
- Obituary, funeral program, or memorial card
- Brief explanation of the relationship to the deceased
- For caregiving: medical note verifying dates and need of care required
Official UW obligations that conflict with class attendance.
Examples:
- ROTC activities
- Intercollegiate athletics
- Academic competitions, conferences, field trips, field work
Required documentation:
- Itinerary or travel schedule
- Submission by a UW-affiliated sponsor (faculty or staff member supervising the activity)
Important: Requests for UW-affiliated events must be submitted by a UW faculty or staff sponsor. Student-submitted requests for these events will be automatically denied.
Mandatory military obligations.
Examples:
- Active duty orders
- Required training exercises
Required documentation:
- Official military or service orders
Observance of a religious or spiritual practice significant to the student’s tradition.
Examples:
- Religious holy days or holidays
- Required ceremonies or observances
Required documentation:
- Brief written explanation of the observance and dates
- Reference to a religious calendar or organization
Absences related to pregnancy, childbirth, or parenting needs.
Examples:
- Pregnancy-related medical needs
- Childbirth recovery
- Parenting-related short-term needs
Required documentation:
- Medical documentation, when appropriate
- Coordination with DOS and Title IX/Disability Support Services
What Does Not Qualify?
PLEASE NOTE: The Dean of Students, in conjunction with Academic Affairs, DOES NOT issue excused absences for:
- Cold, flu, or other typical type of illness/medical condition that affects student attendance for 1-2 days.
- Doctor or dentist routine appointments
- Jail time for any reason
- Appearing in court if the violation was incurred because of the person’s own behavior
- Vacations, trips, weddings, graduations, or non-UW activities
What else should I know?
- Students are responsible for communicating absences to their instructors. If approved, the student receives a PDF of the excused absence that they need to share with relevant instructors directly.
- For situations that are planned ahead (e.g. University travel), students should work with faculty on plans to make-up the missed coursework as soon as possible. We recommend students engage in collaborative discussion regarding absences early and often with their instructors.
- When an absence is excused, the instructor will give the student a reasonable amount of time following the absence to make up the material or activities covered in the absence, regardless of location or modality of the course. Specific discussions on making up coursework and any relevant deadline is between the student and their instructor.
- Students are encouraged to work with a DOS Care and Outreach Coordinator if they need wellbeing support related to their absence, or to explore alternative options available to them.