Verification of student illness and medical conditions – Legitimate Absences

A variety of legitimate circumstances cause students to miss coursework.  Accommodations for makeup work can often be made. This policy applies to all course requirements, including final examinations.

At Morris, verification of student illness and medical conditions is provided through Health Service.

Contact person:
Kathy Eystad
Office Manager—Health Service
hlthserv@morris.umn.edu

Students are instructed to notify their professors, before class or as soon as possible, if they will be absent due to illness. Health Service documentation will be given for VERIFIABLE ILLNESSES ONLY. When missing a quiz/test due to illness, contact the professor directly and notify Health Service.

Requests for verification of illness/medical condition should be made same day and each day of illness. Illnesses may be verified in the following ways:

• See Health Service personnel the day you are ill.
• See a physician at another medical facility.
• If illness prevents you from traveling to campus, call or email Health Service the day of the illness to discuss and verify the illness and treatment.  *This option is used rarely and is not available for multiple requests or extended illness without additional documentation.

Students need to pick up a written Health Service verification the day of or day following their illness to provide to their faculty members.  Students should present verification to professors in a timely fashion.

Note: Instructors are not obligated to accommodate students missing so much of the critical components of a course, even for legitimate reasons, that arrangements for makeup work would not be reasonable.

See Makeup Work for Legitimate Absences for notification/verification, make-up work, appeals, & FAQs.