The Flexible Absence Agreement serves as an agreement between you and your student in the event that an absence is needed due to a flare-up of their qualifying medical condition, under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Completing the agreement will help you to define the meaning of “reasonable accessibility measures (accommodations)” in your classroom and provide your student with clear guidelines for managing absences. In every course, the instructor identifies, defines, and measures the essential course requirements. A discussion between you and your student is needed to determine how the student can meet the essential requirements of the course given their diagnosed condition.
The Office of Civil Rights suggests using the questions below to guide your discussion of what reasonable accessibility measures will look like in your class:
- Is there classroom interaction between the instructor and students and among students?
- Do student contributions constitute a significant component of the learning process?
- Does the fundamental nature of the course rely upon student participation as an essential method for learning?
- To what degree does a student’s failure to attend constitute a significant loss to the educational experience of other students in the class?
- What does the course description and syllabus say?
- What is the method by which the final course grade is calculated?
- What are classroom practices and policies regarding attendance.
Some additional considerations for filling out the agreement are:
- Indiana University does NOT endorse unlimited classroom absence.
- Students are encouraged to work ahead on assignments. You will find discussion points regarding this topic on the Flexible Absence Agreement form. Please contact the student's access coordinator if you have questions or concerns about managing this accessibility measure.
- Medical documentation is NOT required for flare-ups related to the qualifying medical condition. AES is responsible for maintaining student documentation. Thus, a doctor’s note will not be provided for each absence or extension.
Complete the Flexible Absence Agreement on this page. Once submitted, the agreement is reviewed by the student’s access coordinator, and an approved copy of the agreement is sent to you and the student.
If you have any questions about the agreement, contact the AES access coordinator listed on the student's Accessibility Memorandum ('Memo'), or if needed call Accessible Educational Services (AES) at 812-855-7578.