Modified Attendance: Pregnant & Parenting Students

The University of New Haven recognizes Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 specifically prohibits discrimination against a student based on pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, or recovery from any of these conditions. (*34 C.F.R. § 106.40(b)(1). References to pregnancy include all of the related conditions covered by the regulation.)

Students seeking reasonable accommodations for their pregnancy, related conditions, or parenting may contact the Accessibility Resources Center at (203) 932.7332 to schedule an appointment. Examples of reasonable accommodations include but are not limited to, rescheduling tests or exams, excusing absences, submitting work after a deadline, providing alternatives to make up missed work, or retaking a semester. The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging department may facilitate communications with the student’s professors or assist with other University resources; contact the Vice President of Institutional Equity and Diversity; Chief Diversity Officer; and Title IX Coordinator, Barbara J. Lawrence, at blawrence@newhaven.edu or (203) 932-7269.

Students are expected to attend regularly and promptly all their classes, appointments, and exercises. Per the University’s Attendance Regulations, attendance is defined as a number of forms of student participation in a variety of modalities, to include on-ground classes, digital classrooms, academic assignments, exams, study groups, online instructional resources, and academic discussions, and course-related academic discussions with faculty members.

Attendance is an essential component in being a student who is seeking mastery of knowledge and acquiring skills that are taught in specific courses. Pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions (as outlined above) may cause periodic and unavoidable absences, and therefore merit a modification of the established course attendance policy, which supersede any established course attendance policy.

For those who require modified attendance, the student is required to meet all academic course requirements as outlined in the course syllabus. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain the material and notes from missed classes. The student will be graded according to the criteria stated in the class syllabus.

Absences due to pregnancy, or related conditions, must be excused for as long as is deemed medically necessary by the student’s doctor. Documentation of medical necessity should be provided to the Accessibility Resources Center. An absence is “excused” in that the student may not be penalized for taking medically necessary leave for pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination, related conditions, or recovery therefrom; they must be able to return from their absence in the same status held before taking time off. Per Title IX, schools must let students make up work missed because of pregnancy or related conditions, including recovery from childbirth.

It is the student’s responsibility to communicate the expected timeframe for missing classes due to childbirth. If the student has complications during pregnancy or childbirth that warrant the need for additional accommodations, the student must contact the Accessibility Resources Center.

If a professor awards “points” or other advantages based on class attendance, students must have an opportunity to earn back credit from classes missed because of pregnancy. A professor cannot reduce a pregnant student’s grade because of attendance or participation points that the student missed during excused absences due to pregnancy-related conditions. The professor must give the student a reasonable opportunity and time to earn back the credit missed due to pregnancy. This is true regardless of the professor’s typical makeup assignment policy. Depending on the nature of the course, making up the exact missed assignment might not be feasible. The makeup work does not have to be exactly the same as the missed work but needs to be reasonably equivalent.