Responsible Office: Academic Affairs
Policy Administrator: Chief Academic Officer
Scope: |Faculty |Staff |Student

Approved By: Office of the President

Approved Date: 1/1/2019

Effective Date: 1/1/2019

Category: Academics

Description/Purpose:

The Saint Francis University Student-Athlete Missed Class Due to Athletics Participation policy establishes guidelines to deal with class attendance and class absence(s) associated with student-athletes' participation in intercollegiate athletics.  

Details:

In concert with the guidelines below, the following expectations exist:

1. Faculty members will not penalize a student-athlete for missing a class due to a conflict with a regularly scheduled athletic contest or any related travel.

2. Student-athletes will not miss any classes beyond those required by athletic contests or related travel and will be subject to class attendance policies set by the professor for non-athletic related absence(s).

3. Student-athletes will turn in all assignments on time and make arrangements in advance for any tests that are missed.

4. Student-athletes and faculty members will adhere to the same standards of academic performance as for students who are not athletes.

Student-athletes who experience a lack of reasonable accommodation by a faculty member in the implementation of this policy should immediately follow this appeal process: 1) faculty member, 2) department chairperson, 3) Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) and 4) Chief Academic Officer, who will serve as the final arbiter.This policy also encompasses athletics support personnel (e.g., student athletic trainers, team managers, cheerleaders, and dance team members).

Practice

1. Student-athletes will not miss any regularly scheduled class for any practice activity. Deviations related to practice activities immediately prior to departure for away, overnight competitions will be considered in cases where a competition has been rescheduled due to inclement weather or there are other unforeseen circumstances.
2. Faculty who schedule exams outside of regular class times must provide student-athletes with a reasonable alternative.
3. Faculty who schedule mandatory events outside of regular class times must provide student-athletes with an alternative.
4. Student-athletes must attend one of the available Writing Competency Exams (WCE) given during the semester. Scheduled competion is the only reason for rescheduling.

Competition

1. For HOME events or competition, student-athletes will not miss any classes prior to two hours before game time.
2. For AWAY events or competition with same-day travel, student-athletes will not miss any class prior to 30 minutes before the scheduled time of departure.
3. For AWAY events or competition with overnight travel, teams will not depart more than 30 hours prior to the time of competition. Any requests for exceptions to this policy due to especially long trips or other special circumstances, such as practice facility availability at the site of the competition, will be considered in addition to situations where there are unforeseen circumstances.
4. The Director of Athletics will present a schedule of competition for each team including a listing of destination, time and date of competition, travel time, and time of departure to the FAR and the Athletics Advisory Board for their review (and approval) to ensure that missed class-time is minimized. Similar information in the form of Missed Class Letters will be provided by student-athletes to all their professors at the beginning of each semester or season. The Office of Student-Athlete Development and Academic Services will be responsible for reminder notifications which will be provided to professors prior to each competition that requires missed class.

Study Day and Final Exams

No competition will be scheduled during study days or during any day on which final exams are scheduled without prior approval of the Director of Athletics and FAR. Exceptions to the final exam policy may be due to Northeast Conference, Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, Collegiate Water Polo Association, the Penn Relays and/or NCAA championship competition scheduling. If such exceptions present themselves, the Assoicate Director of Athletics for Student-Athlete and Leadership Development and the FAR will jointly work toward arranging for exams to be taken at alternative times or other means of equitable resolution.

Exceptions

Any exceptions to the above policies for special tournaments and/or special competitions must be approved by the FAR and Chief Academic Officer (e.g., Conference Tournament, NCAA Tournament).

Approval:

Faculty Senate 02/19/2019
University President 02/21/2019