Proposal 35-16

The University Senate of Michigan Technological University

Proposal 35-16
(Voting Units: Academic) 

“Amending Senate Policy 102.1 Policy on Class Attendance” 

PDF version of Proposal 35-16

I. Introduction

Senate Policy 102.1 Policy on Class Attendance https://www.admin.mtu.edu/usenate/policies/p102-1.htm specifies a number of  situations where the Dean of Students handles excused absences. However, students traveling as a part of student organizations, including student chapters of professional organizations, are not handled by the Dean of Students.

Students missing class for student organization travel work with the student activities office, which provides a verification that the student will be missing class for the stated reason. This is not a university excused absence but is a situation where the University would like to be supportive of student travel and thus helps by handling materials related to proof of travel. This proposal updates senate policy to reflect this procedure.

II. Proposal

To reflect this current practice this proposal changes the sentence:

“Instructors retain the discretion to excuse student absences for reasons other than those described in the above paragraphs.”

to:

“Instructors retain the discretion to excuse student absences for reasons other than those described in the above paragraphs. Students participating in activities on behalf of a student organization may obtain a verified absence letter from the Student Leadership and Involvement Office.  This letter is meant to confirm a student's participation in an extracurricular activity and may be presented to the instructor when requesting an absence from class.” 

This change should also be made in Section 3.2.10 of the Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty Handbook https://www.admin.mtu.edu/admin/prov/facbook/ch3/3chap-21.htm)

Introduced to Senate: April 6, 2016
Approved by Senate: April 20, 2016
Approved by Administration: June 23, 2016

Updated: September 27, 2019 Student Affairs changed to Student Leadership and Involvement