Academic Flexibility
Generally, the Office of Disability and Accommodation Services encourages students to attend all classes, not as a matter of policy, but to promote academic success and contribute to their educational experiences as students at ΢ÃÜÆƽâ. However, some students have chronic, unpredictable conditions in which acute episodes substantially comprise the student’s ability to participate effectively in classroom activities on a given day.
- Reasonable accommodations preserve both the course's integrity and the student’s right to participate in classroom activities. Accommodations may not fundamentally alter the essential elements of the course or lower standards. Whether flexibility of academic policy with regard to attendance, deadlines, and assessments is reasonable must be individually determined based on course content, objectives, and structure.
- The Office of Disability and Accommodation Services encourages students with academic flexibility to discuss this accommodation with their faculty proactively. Specifically, the student should consult with the faculty about the nature of the course and the utilization of flexibility when they experience acute health impairments. The Office of Disability and Accommodation Services encourages the professor and student to use the Academic Flexibility Worksheet to discuss how academic flexibility will work in the student's class. The Office of Disability and Accommodation Services is available to assist with these discussions upon request.
- In instances where the professor cannot extend flexibility to the student, the faculty should address the concerns with the Office of Disability and Accommodation Services and the student in an effort to consider reasonable alternatives.
- In all instances when students experience an exacerbation of their condition that impacts their ability to attend class, they must maintain ongoing, timely communication with their instructors and fulfill all objectives associated with their courses. The Office of Disability and Accommodation Services encourages faculty to contact our office and the student when they believe that absences are nearing the threshold of excessive or when deadline extensions are no longer feasible.
- If attendance or inability to meet deadlines prohibit the student from fulfilling essential requirements of the course, the Office of Disability and Accommodation Services encourages faculty to advise students of decreased academic standing. It may be appropriate to discuss options such as a withdrawal from the class or the possibility of issuing an Incomplete for the semester when appropriate. When giving an Incomplete, faculty should set clear expectations, identify outstanding work, set deadlines, and explain the resulting consequences for failure to submit work.
For questions or concerns, contact the Office of Disability and Accommodation Services by emailing oda@moravian.edu or calling 610-861-1401.