Student Health Center Policy on Providing Medical Excuses

For many years the Student Health Center has had a policy to not provide “medical excuses” for missed classes, exams, etc. There are several reasons for this policy. These include our finite resources (which are better devoted to providing health care), our lack of direct knowledge about illnesses or injuries effectively managed by self-care, and our commitment to student privacy. This policy resembles those of many other major universities and is consistent with the recommendations of the American College Health Association. The UW-L Office of Student Life supports the policy.

The staff at the Student Health Center encourages students to make direct contact with faculty members in the event of absence from class due to illness or injury. If the Student Health Center staff knows that a student will be unable to attend class for an extended period of time (usually a week or more), we will notify the Office of Student Life. The Student Life Office will then send out a Notification of Medical Illness (via e-mail) to all of the student's professors. The individual student is still responsible for arranging for make-up work directly with faculty. In the event of a Medical Withdrawal from the University, the Office of Student Life and the Student Health Center work together to determine the necessity of the withdrawal and send notification to all appropriate departments.

While the staff of the Student Health Center does occasionally give a student a verification of their visit at the Student Health Center, this should not be something that faculty routinely requires or that students routinely request. This form is primarily intended for work requirements or special circumstances. We encourage students to be proactive in contacting faculty and working out classroom expectations with their professor when illnesses or injuries arise.