Student-Athlete Travel
West Virginia University sponsors an active intercollegiate athletics program that competes at the NCAA Division I level within the Big 12 Conference. Such travel is considered university-sanctioned travel and per the Academic Catalog these absences should be handled accordingly:
University sanctioned absences are absences in which instructors provide opportunities to make up missed substantial class work or activities (e.g., assignments, exams) and will not penalize students for those absences. University sanctioned absences include mandatory military obligation, mandatory court appearances, and participation in university activities at the request of university authorities. Instructors are expected to be flexible in allowing students to make up work missed due to university sanctioned absences. Instructors and students may consult with their Dean’s Office on events that constitute official university sanctioned events.
Travel Letters
For regularly scheduled athletic competitions, it is the student-athlete’s responsibility to give each of their instructors a Travel Letter, which lists the dates they may be missing class due to university-sponsored athletic events as well as the team roster. The purpose of this letter is to make sure that instructors are informed that the student has been selected for the travel team and will be absent from class. This letter will include contact information for their athletics advisor, so if you have any questions please reach out to their individual advisor. Prior to each competition, an additional email will be sent to professors/instructors regarding the upcoming travel and those who will be in attendance.
Travel Letter Acknowledgement
From Prior to their first competition, student-athletes will present their professors with a travel letter acknowledgment form which will indicate the number of class days the student-athlete could miss. The student is responsible for having a conversation with the professor to discuss missed class days and getting the professor’s signature to indicate they have spoken about missed class days. They must return this form to their academic advisor once they have all the required signatures.
Missed Class Time
When scheduling athletic competitions and practices, every effort is made to minimize conflicts between athletics participation and academic schedules, especially during exam periods. NCAA rules prohibit missing classes for practice. For regularly scheduled events, students are to notify instructors during the first week of the semester about sport-related absences. For special events or tournaments, students are to notify their instructors as soon as they learn of the anticipated absence. In both cases, the student-athlete is responsible for notifying their professor of their missed class days, making up any missed work, maintaining satisfactory progress in the class, and is otherwise expected to attend class. If a departure and/or competition date and time changes, the student-athletes will be responsible for notifying you and making arrangements to complete missed classwork and/or assignments and exams.
