Missed Class Time Policy

UH Hilo Faculty Congress approved the Missed Class Policy on April 21, 2017 by a vote of 18-0-0. Motion 3, 2016-2017, Administration Approval (PDF )

The mission of the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo (UH Hilo) is to promote learning and scholarship, and to further the educational development of each of its students. Some students will elect to enrich their classroom experience through their participation in a variety of extracurricular and/or co-curricular university-sponsored or –sanctioned events and activities, including intercollegiate athletics.

UH Hilo recognizes that a student may have to miss class(es) because of participation in official university events such as university-sponsored or –sanctioned events and activities, including, but not limited to, intercollegiate athletics, mandatory religious obligations, conferences, field trips, jury duty or military service. Students should not be penalized for participating in these activities.

This policy does not include absences required by, or covered under, existing federal or state laws, or internal university policies.

Missed Class Policy

1. Students are expected to attend all regularly scheduled classes for the courses in which they are enrolled. There are exceptions that may involve students receiving services under the Title IX Office, and/or the Disability and Access Services Office. Each exception is provided to the relevant faculty member via formal written notice. Faculty should have discussions with the Directors of those offices, if problems or concerns arise with specific students receiving such legal protections.
2. Individual instructors or course supervisors determine class attendance policy. This policy should be clearly stated in the class syllabus; students should read this policy carefully and should plan on complying with it. If an issue arises, UH Hilo first uses the stated policy within the syllabus to help adjudicate a problem.
3. When a student intends to miss a class because of participation in a university sanctioned event, it is the student's responsibility to present, at the earliest possible date, documentation of the required absence to each instructor whose class is to be missed. Documentation may include a memo from the instructor, coach, or person in authority requiring the absence.
4. Students are responsible for material covered in class during the absence. Instructors will make an effort to work with the student to determine what adjustments can be made, and what the adjustments will be, to fulfill academic obligations and learning goals. Faculty members, and departments/programs, retain the authority and right to determine whether appropriate and responsible adjustments can be made for missed classes, activities, and examinations¹.

Due Process Procedures

Students who are dissatisfied with the adjustments proposed by the instructor may follow the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Student Academic Complaint Policy (Policy 4-2005). View the Academic Complaint Policy

The steps in filing an academic complaint are as follows:

1. The student should first discuss the matter directly with the instructor.
2. If the matter cannot be resolved with the instructor, the student can choose to meet with the faculty member’s supervisor – usually the chair/director of the department or program.
3. If satisfactory resolution cannot be obtained with the chair/director, the student may file a written complaint with the Dean of the faculty member's college. The student must provide, as a part of the written complaint, the facts as the student knows them, the resolution sought, and the faculty member and department chair’s responses to initial consultations. Since this documentation is crucial to the decision to be rendered, it must be as accurate and complete as possible.
4. Upon receipt of a written complaint, the Dean shall consult with the Department Chair/Director. After consultation, the Dean may refer the complaint back to the Department Chair for reconsideration, or take action himself/herself to resolve it. The Dean shall report his/her decision to the student in writing.
5. Failing to achieve satisfactory resolution with the Dean, the student may file a written academic grievance with the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (VCAA). The student's written grievance should contain all information previously provided to the Dean, as well as a copy of the Dean’s written decision. The student may wish to utilize the assistance of his/her faculty advisor, or in the case of student-athletes, their Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR), when meeting with the VCAA.
6. Upon receipt of an academic grievance, the Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs will follow the procedures specified in Section III of the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Student Academic Complaint Policy.