Missed Class Letters
How Do We Handle Missed Class Time With Our Student-Athletes?
Athletics Academic Services utilizes a "Missed Class Letter" for notifying instructors of competition and travel dates. Student-athletes should submit this letter to each course faculty during the first week of school that their sport is in season. The "Missed Class Letter" includes a sports schedule and dates of classes the student-athlete will miss for away-travel. Student-athletes are responsible for reviewing the syllabus for each course right away to determine what, if any, classes will be missed due to competition-related travel. At this time, student-athletes must discuss conflicts with each course faculty to determine plans for making up missed class time, assignments and/or exams. If there are potential problems, it is imperative that student-athletes speak with their Athletics Academic Counselor, as soon as possible, as students cannot drop and add classes after the second week of class.
Student-athletes are expected to attend every class meeting unless competition, serious injury, or serious illness prevents such attendance. Students who must miss class to represent the University or to participate in a University-sponsored activity must remind the class instructor in writing a minimum of two weeks in advance of the absence. Given prior notice, instructors are encouraged to allow students to make up class work, complete class work in advance of the class absence, or complete an alternative assignment without penalty. In case of a disagreement about whether an activity constitutes a University-sponsored activity, the appropriate administrator will make the determination.
Student-athletes are expected to be on time for every class. If unforeseen circumstances cause a student-athlete to be late or miss the class, he/she should meet the instructor after class or make an appointment to apologize and explain the circumstances.
In order to minimize interference with student-athletes' academic programs, coaches will limit organized practice activities, the length of their playing seasons, the number of regular-season contests/ dates of competition, and participation in non-collegiate-sponsored athletics activities. All schedules are reviewed and approved by an appropriate Athletics administrator. No schedules may be created or contests scheduled without the approval of the appropriate sports supervisor. An important purpose of the review is to minimize missed class time. Any excessive class time missed by a team must be approved in advance by the Athletics Advisory Council.
No class time shall be missed for practice activities except when a team is traveling to an away contest and the practice is in conjunction with the contest.
No intercollegiate events may be scheduled during finals week, with the exception of NCAA or Big West Conference post-season competition, which occasionally coincides with finals. Any exception to this policy must have prior approval of the Athletics Advisory Council.
Missed Class Letter Instructions To Student-Athletes
Professors often request documentation of a student-athlete’s participation in an athletic contest. You are required to present a letter to each of your professors so that they do not think you are skipping class when you are, in fact, traveling to or participating in a competition.
Missed Class Time Letter Instructions:
- At the beginning of each semester, official competition schedules and “Missed Class Time Letter” will be provided each professor with one official competition schedule. This may be provided via electronically.
- Before presenting the letter to the professor, each athlete will check the course syllabus to determine (a) how many classes you will be missing and (b) what assignment, quizzes or exams you will be missing.
- When the letter is presented to each professor, it is important to have a discussion about (a) when you will be missing class and (b) how the professor would like for you to deal with missed assignments, quizzes, exams, and/or class participation. Whenever possible, it is best to have this discussion during office hours.
- If the professor feels that the number of classes you will be missing will adversely affect your performance in the class, we will consider taking another section or taking the course another semester.