Valid Excuses - Department of Economics (2024)

During the course many possible situations may arise that would result in your inability to attend class, attend exams, or perform at a minimally acceptable level during an examination. Illness or injury, family emergencies, certain University-approved curricular and extra-curricular activities, and religious holidays can be legitimate reasons to miss class or to be excused from a scheduled examination.

With regard to family emergencies, you must provide verifiable documentation of the emergency. Given the vast array of family emergencies the instructor will provide precise guidance as to what constitutes adequate documentation. Unless the emergency is critical you should notify the instructor in advance of your absence from the scheduled course event. In cases of critical emergencies, you must notify the instructor within one week of your absence.

For University-approved curricular and extra-curricular activities, verifiable documentation is also required. The student should obtain from the unit or department sponsoring the activity a letter (or class absence form) indicating the anticipated absence(s). The letter must be presented to the instructor at least one week prior to the first absence.

In the case of religious holidays, the student should notify the instructor by the third week of the course of any potential conflicts.

An important note for final exams: Early flights home, bus tickets to leave town, and family vacations are NOT valid excuses to miss or reschedule a final exam. Students should make plans to leave campus AFTER all their scheduled exams are completed. It is best not to book flights that leave during finals week. Instructors are required to give the final exams according to the University schedule, and cannot give makeups or reschedules for non-valid or non-approved excuses.

If a student misses a class during which an evaluative event (e.g., a quiz or an exam) takes place, and the student has a valid excuse, it is the policy of the Economics Department that the missed event may be made up in one of two ways that are to be decided by the instructor:

1. (preferred) The student will take a timely make-up version for the missed evaluative event.
2. If a timely makeup exam is not feasible, the student will be excused from the missed event, and the weight of that event in the overall course grade will be reassigned to either the course final exam or to a subset of the subsequent evaluative events in the course.