Facing long wait times and denied absence requests at the Office of Student Advocacy, some students feel pressured to attend class while sick, even as flu and stomach bug cases rise on campus.
The Office of Student Advocacy works to assist students and provide an excuse for absences during periods of high illness rates. However, some students said they are experiencing longer wait times from the Office of Student Advocacy when submitting documents to excuse sick days and other approved absences from school.
The office has received a high volume of requests from students affected by the flu and stomach bug that are currently spreading around campus, according to Hannah Peak, the advocacy support manager for the Office of Student Advocacy. Peak said it currently takes four to five business days to respond due to a staffing shortage and that the number of cases received per day has increased from 50 to 100 to up to 250.
First-year operations and supply chain business student Samuel Harrington missed four days of class because he was ill. Harrington said that after sending in the documentation from his doctor's appointment, he had to wait a week for the advocacy office to respond, only to have the incorrect days excused.
"I ended up having to take some absences out for a day that I claimed with the medical leave," Harrington said. "But because of that, I had trouble with the class because you only get so many absences."
First-year marketing student Ella Willits had to contact her professor in order to retake an exam that she had missed because of a stomach bug. Willits was able to get her initial absence excused after waiting a week for the advocacy office to respond, but she had to make a second request that did not get accepted.
“I feel like their criteria is so straight, like you have to really be in it or nothing is excused,” Willits said. “On Friday, I missed my class because I was still super sick and not feeling well, but my doctor's note said that I should come back to class on Thursday- so I sent another form and they didn’t excuse it.”
The director of the Office of Student Advocacy, Lisa Jerald, said the advocacy office wants students to know that they must meet certain criteria for excused absences. Students frequently make requests for reasons such as illness, injury or death. Documentation is required to be reviewed and excused for these reasons.
"We have some fantastic student workers and we are utilizing them and training them so they are able to respond to a lot of the more simple cases that have all of the information they need that freeze up the rest of the full-time staff for the more complex cases, or cases that don't have appropriate documentation," Jerald said.
Jerald said that students submit both "doozy" and valid requests. Jerald said that the office handles the more valid requests on a case-to-case basis, in many cases, students lack the necessary documentation or information required.
“We have a number of students who complete our online form and they don’t put their name or their USC ID,” Jerald said. “So those might take a little bit longer; also, I think that plays into what might delay our response to a student.”
Even with proper proof provided, some students have voiced concerns about having an excused absence denied while sick and unable to attend class. Caroline Vita, a first-year pharmacy student, said she has experienced these issues directly.
“The last time I sent in a doctor’s note, they were like, ‘We need proof that you have bronchitis,’” Vita said. “So I didn’t get those days excused, which was kind of annoying.”
Students can be more likely to attend a class if they have more strict professors and will face consequences from previous absences that have not been recognized, Willits said.
“Luckily for me, my professors were understanding,” said Willits. “But I don’t know about other professors, and a lot of professors put attendance in with your average grade. So that could mess up a lot of people’s averages.”
First-year biology student Emily Hodgdon sent the advocacy office her medical documentation and has been waiting for a response since Feb. 17. Hodgdon's instructors are more strict, not allowing her to complete classwork until the absence is excused by the office.
"I have some zeros in the grade book right now and it's stressing me out because I'm waiting on the student advocacy to tell my teachers that I'm actually sick," Hodgdon said.
Vita's problems with the student advocacy office have not been limited to sickness. She also had her request for excused absences denied after her grandfather passed and she needed time off.
Vita said she was able to provide documentation for her grandfather's obituary, but her mother had to call the school because they were unable to provide proof for the celebration of life because it was a small family event.
Anna Jones, a first-year international business and risk management student, encountered difficulties when the advocacy office rejected a form she thought contained the information needed for an excused absence. Jones said that although it was arranged for her to be granted an excused absence, she encountered difficulties submitting the form after being given a day to shadow the Lexington County Sheriff's Office.
"They said because it's not required by your major for you to go to this specific place, it won't count as an excused absence," Jones said. "Which seemed really off to me because I wasn't told that in the first place. It was told to me in emails that it would be considered an excused absence."
Peak said that if an excused absence is rejected, students are still able to have up to four unexcused absences before being penalized. If the office does not excuse the absence, the student may contact their professor and attempt to work with them to see if they will excuse it instead.
Eleni Fernerigos, a first-year mass communications student, spent two weeks waiting for the advocacy office after they requested that she add more details to her medical records, despite the fact that they were from a medical facility. Fernigos said she used up her four unexcused absences since the office took so long to review her records, and she risked facing academic consequences if she missed any more.
Getting in-depth documentation is the key in order to get excused absences, according to the students. Without proper notes from the doctor, the advocacy office will not excuse any sick days.
"I think it's ridiculous for them to need to know exactly what illness I had," Fernigos said.
Students being able to advocate for themselves when they are in a time of need or sickness is something that the office wants to teach to students, Peak said.
“I think at the end of the day, students are going to know what is good for them, whether they need to rest or do not need to rest,” she said. “We want students to ultimately take care of themselves.”
If students cannot afford a doctor's visit or cannot go to obtain the necessary papers, they should contact the Office of Student Advocacy via email or phone call to see if they can assist by emailing the student's professor, Peak said. The office will try to work with the student and faculty together to let the faculty know the situation.
“I would really encourage students to come to us first,” Peak said. “We can send them in the right direction, give them the best steps on how to solve it and just kind of be that support system for them through all of that.”
Students can contact the Office of Student Advocacy by email or phone, and there is also a live chat option available from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., where students will likely speak with Peak herself about any concerns.