When Students Get Sick

Under university policy, your students are expected to negotiate any adjustments in academic requirements due to illness directly with you, their professor. For short-term illnesses lasting a few days, students should fill out the online Short-Term Illness Notification. This form should be used to keep you and the student's advisors and deans informed when the student misses classes, labs, seminars, quizzes, papers, oral presentations, or take-home exams due to illness. This electronic notification does not excuse an absence or override your class attendance policy. Its purpose is to alert you when a student is ill. Students with contagious illness or flu symptoms are encouraged to stay home and not attend class. Students who are ill for a week are encouraged to contact their Advising Dean.

Health Service will not see students on a walk-in basis and will not provide exam excuse notes. Students will not be able to provide a doctor's note for every missed exam due to illness and Advising Deans will not be able to confirm is a student is too sick to take an exam. We encourage you to give students the benefit of the doubt and apply an appropriate amount of flexibility. Please proactively communicate policies for students who miss exams and/or offer multiple forms of assessment for students to demonstrate their knowledge. You should not request doctor's notes or medical documentation from students. If students do provide you with medical documentation, please direct them to their Advising Dean.

Tufts Health Service, Athletics, and the Associate Deans of Undergraduate Education Advising work as a team to monitor students with concussions and keep faculty informed. If one of your students has been diagnosed with a concussion, you will be notified by the student's Advising Dean, and the Advising Dean will give you guidance about the student's academic needs.

A student who has sustained a concussion should have complete rest for the first 24 to 48 hours and limit activity until symptoms such as headaches, difficulty thinking, forgetfulness, and dizziness subside. This period of rest requires students to avoid reading, writing, watching TV, using computers, concentrating, or exercising while the brain heals. Most students can gradually resume most activities within 10 days, although some students may have more prolonged symptoms. You can read more about concussions on the physical health website.

Academic adjustments after a concussion might include excused absences, postponed exams, extensions on assignments, note-takers, or possibly if the concussion happens late in the term, an Incomplete. The Advising Dean will keep you informed about whether a student has been cleared by Health Service to resume academic activities or requires a longer period of limited activity or academic supports. 

If a concussion symptoms persist for more than three weeks (rare), the student may be eligible for academic accommodations authorized by the StAAR Center. If so, that office will send the you a formal notice of accommodations to be provided for the rest of the semester.

If a student tells you that they have a concussion, requests accommodations from you, or gives you a doctor's note from a non-Tufts professional, contact the student's Advising Dean. When it comes to temporary academic adjustments for a concussion or other illness, we ask that you follow the guidance of the student's Advising Dean or the StAAR Center rather than accept a checklist of accommodations from an off-campus professional.

If a student tries to resume academic work too soon after a concussion and seems to be suffering through headaches, nausea, dizziness, or other symptoms, contact the student's Advising Dean. Tufts athletes are monitored carefully for concussions and are not permitted to resume competitive sports until they are first able to resume normal academic activities and pass a battery of tests administered by Sports Medicine.

Although there is no general university attendance policy, regular attendance is expected. Instructors may require attendance, and each instructor will indicate their attendance expectations in writing, usually on the course syllabus.

When a student is ill, the most effective way to inform their instructors and Advising Dean is to select the Short-term Illness Notification option in Tufts' Student Information System (SIS) under Student Living (WebCenter). This form should be used to keep instructors and the student's advisors and deans informed when the student misses classes, labs, seminars, quizzes, papers, oral presentations, or take-home exams due to illness. This electronic notification does not excuse an absence or override class attendance policy. Its purpose is to alert instructors when a student is ill.

It is very important for students to communicate directly with their instructors about missed work. It is university policy that students are expected to negotiate any adjustments in academic requirements due to illness or other concerns directly with their instructors.

If an illness or injury is serious enough to cause a student to miss more than two weeks of class, they are strongly advised to consider a medical leave. Students should contact both DOSA and their advising dean immediately if an illness or injury may significantly curtail their capacity to attend class, or if it will be difficult for them to reasonably make up the missed work, so that they can explore the options available to them as soon as possible.

If an illness or injury is serious enough to cause a student to miss more than two weeks of class, the student’s dean will usually recommend a medical leave. We cannot force a student to take a medical leave, and professors may not ban a student from class. If a student misses more than two weeks of your class and cannot reasonably make up the missed work, consult with the student's Advising Dean.

Traditionally, Health Service has provided excuse notes for undergraduate students who are too ill to take a midterm or final exam. Due to COVID-19 precautions, Health Service will not see students on a walk-in basis and will not provide exam excuse notes until further notice. Given the circumstances, students will not be able to provide a doctor's note for every missed exam due to illness and Advising Deans will not be able to confirm is a student is too sick to take an exam. You should not request doctor's notes or medical documentation from students.

If students do provide you with medical documentation, please direct them to their Advising Dean. Advising Deans are better equipped to deal with medical documentation and other confidential student matters and can provide guidance on these matters. The Advising Dean may already be aware of the medical reasons behind a student's hospitalization or need for temporary academic adjustments. Please understand if the Advising Dean is legally or ethically obligated not to share details of the student's medical situation with you.

It is a good idea to include a statement on your syllabus or course Canvas site about classroom accommodations for students with disabilities. The StAAR Center has provided the following language for faculty to include on syllabi:

Tufts University values the diversity of our students, staff, and faculty; recognizing the important contribution each student makes to our unique community. Tufts is committed to providing equal access and support to all qualified students through the provision of reasonable accommodations so that each student may fully participate in the Tufts experience. If you have a disability that requires reasonable accommodations, please contact the StAAR Center (formerly Student Accessibility Services) at staarcenter@tufts.edu or 617-627-4539 to make an appointment with an accessibility representative to determine appropriate accommodations. Please be aware that accommodations cannot be enacted retroactively, making timeliness a critical aspect for their provision.

Students should make themselves aware of each professor’s attendance policy. Students who must miss a class because of an illness should submit the online short-term illness form, available through SIS. Students are encouraged to speak with the professor directly about missed work since illness does not automatically excuse this. Students should consult their Advising Dean in Dowling (Liberal Arts BA/BS, Arts and Sciences BFA, or Engineering) if they are missing more than a few classes due to illness. As the academic calendar is constructed, religious holy days are not the sole factor in determining days on which classes are held or suspended. It is the policy of the faculty, however, that students be encouraged to observe their appropriate religious holy days; that instructors strive to facilitate this by allowing absence from classes for such purposes and by trying to ensure that no examinations, written reports, oral reports, or other mandatory class assignments are scheduled for or due on holy days; and that instructors provide ample opportunities for such students to make up work missed on such occasions without penalty.

It is university policy that students are expected to negotiate any adjustments in academic requirements due to illness or other concerns directly with their faculty. CMHS cannot provide documentation for student clients who miss class(es) due to mental health issues/concerns. Students who miss class, exam(s), or assignment(s) due to mental health concerns or crisis are encouraged to consult their syllabus, notify their faculty, and connect with their Advising Dean if they will not be able to attend class. It is at the discretion of the faculty to determine when or if a student will be excused from class, an exam, or an assignment.

Tufts has partnered with Kognito to help faculty, staff, and students build skills around mental health and suicide prevention, and to support academic performance and student retention. You can find the online program and additional resources on trauma-informed pedagogy.

If you must miss class for a religious observance or holy day, please inform your instructor well in advance and negotiate a plan to make up any missed work or assignments for that day. As the academic calendar is constructed, religious holy days are not the sole factor in determining days on which classes are held or suspended. It is the policy of the faculty, however, that students be encouraged to observe their appropriate religious holy days; that instructors strive to facilitate this by allowing absence from classes for such purposes and by trying to ensure that no examinations, written reports, oral reports, or other mandatory class assignments are scheduled for or due on holy days; and that instructors provide ample opportunities for such students to make up work missed on such occasions without penalty.

• Health Service
• Student Accessibility Services
• Associate Deans