Policy Author:
Responsible Office – Department:
Effective Date of Policy:
Daemen University faculty are willing to provide, when possible, reasonable accommodation to any student who, when acting in good faith and in a timely fashion, provides faculty with written notification of conflict(s) between the student’s academic and athletic schedules and requests such accommodation.
This statement is premised on the assumption that, no matter how clever and diligent we are at planning both academic and athletic schedules, there will always be some number of conflicts. It is also premised on the understanding of the fact that these conflicts are generated by institutional decisions that are beyond the control of the student, i.e., they are the result of the actions of academic and athletics administration.
Such a policy is especially important given the large number of adjunct faculty who teach at the University. The key terms in the statement are reasonable accommodation, good faith, and timely fashion. Below are some suggestions about how we might understand these terms.
Reasonable accommodation: In many instances of a scheduling conflict, it may be possible for an instructor to offer alternative arrangements for the student to fulfill course requirements. In these cases, it is up to the instructor to determine what constitutes a reasonable alternative. In some cases, it may simply be impossible for an instructor to offer alternative arrangements. In these cases, the question of reasonable accommodation is simply not triggered since no accommodation is possible.
Good faith: It is incumbent upon the student to identify scheduling conflicts and diligently inform both their coach and the relevant professors, providing clear and accurate documentation to substantiate the claim that a conflict exists. Any missed class time due to travel/competition for each sport will be indicated in a letter from Daemen Athletics to all faculty/staff prior the start of the academic year.
Timely fashion: Almost without exception, a student ought to be able to determine at the beginning of a semester, what scheduling conflicts they face. When exceptional circumstances present a conflict that occurs only later and, therefore, could not have been anticipated, it is still incumbent upon the student to act in good faith and as early as possible to inform their coach and their instructors of the conflict.
Missed Class Time Procedures
- It is the Head Coach’s responsibility to ensure that practice is scheduled at times that will not conflict with student-athletes’ schedule.
- If practice time conflicts with a student-athletes class schedule, the student-athlete must attend the scheduled academic class, not the athletic practice.
- It is the Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance & Director of Student-Athlete Success’s responsibility to ensure that student-athletes know NCAA regulations regarding missed class time for practice and non-championship segment competition.
- It is the Head Coach’s responsibility to ensure that the scheduling of athletic events is minimally disruptive to academic pursuits.
- One month before the start of sport’s season, head coaches provide schedules to the student- athletes that indicate the time(s) the student-athlete must report for a home competition and/or the time of departure for an away from home contest.
Student-Athlete Missed Class Time Policy
In compliance with NCAA Bylaw 17.1.6, the following is Daemen Athletics Missed Class Time Policy.
- Student-athletes will not be required to attend any practice/activities that result in a missed scheduled class or final Activities considered practice include:
a) Preparation and conditioning time (e.g., weight training, running, etc.)
b) Athletic Training Room time (e.g., rehab, taping, treatment, etc.)
c) Meetings (including viewing of game or practice film)
d) On-field practice
e) Banquets or other celebratory events - Recruiting and media requests (including internal Athletics Communication Office) will not interfere with class or exam schedules.
- For home competitions, student-athletes shall not miss any class time before two hours of scheduled competition.
- For weekday away competitions with same day travel, scheduled departure time shall not be more than drive time to destination plus 90 minutes. For example, if the Daemen team or squad has a contest at Roberts Wesleyan at 6 pm, departure time may not be earlier than 3:30 pm.
- For away competition with overnight travel, no team shall depart more than 30 hours before scheduled competition.
- Before the start of classes or the start of the competition, whichever is earlier, the Director of Student-Athlete Success prepares Missed Class Time Letters per sport, for each student-athlete to provide to his/her instructor. These Letters note the dates and time of each competition, the date and time students are to report for competition or departure to the competition, and the expected dates and time of his/her return to camps.
- Upon receipt of these Letters, student-athletes present to his/her instructor(s) a receipt log, provided by the Director of Student-Athlete Success, and the student-athlete is required to receive a signature from each instructor that is receiving the Letters.
- Student-athletes are responsible for submitting all assignments on-time or in advance of missed class and will make any arrangements for missed If student- athlete is missing an in-class graded assignment or test, he or she will contact the class instructor ahead of the missed class to discuss alternative timeline or arrangements, which may include completing assignment early or working with FAR or Director of Student-Athlete Success to complete on the road.
- Coaches will not schedule away from home competitions that require missed class time during the first week of classes, final exam period or weekend before final exam period unless it is dictated by the conference schedule. Student- athletes will confirm the date of final exams at least one month before the last day of classes and notify FAR and/or Director of Student-Athlete Success of any conflicts.
Exceptions to the above will only be approved by the FAR in consultation with the Director of Athletics and Provost. The FAR will report any exceptions to faculty via email and include it in FAR’s annual report to the President and/or Faculty Senate.