Student Absences: Please see the CLAS policies and procedures on student absences that can be found on the following pages:

• Absences: Illness, Religious Holy Day Obligations, Military Service Obligations, and Unavoidable Circumstances
• Shorter illness
• Longer illness
• Information on incompletes

Instructor absences: As you know, instructors ordinarily arrange for coverage of teaching and office hours obligations during a brief illness or when a short absence from the classroom occurs.

• Please keep in mind that the DEO should always be informed of any absence affecting teaching as soon as possible.
• In the case of travel, instructors should be reminded to submit the related travel form for approval before the travel is arranged: https://clas.uiowa.edu/sites/default/files/faculty/travel-approval.pdf.
• Additionally, before a semester begins, DEOs should encourage faculty to designate a colleague who is willing to assume their teaching responsibilities in an emergency or absence.
• While the pandemic taught us there are new ways to cover a course when the instructor needs to be away (i.e., using Zoom), an instructional modality change from in-person to remote/online for more than one or two class periods is not permitted.

More information on this topic may be found on this page and in the UI Operations Manual, 22.3.

We are always happy to consult on matters related to student and instructor absences; we know such situations can be stressful, and we hope our support provides reassurance.