USC's Student Government is working to add mental health as a reason for excused absences in the academic bulletin's attendance policy by working with Faculty Senate, which controls attendance and excused absences policies.
USC Faculty Senate Chair Wayne Outten said this proposal came under the leadership of former Student Body President Patton Byars.
During Byars' State of the Student Body address, he announced that the university would launch a wellbeing excuse pilot program during the Spring 2025 semester. This pilot program provides a way to test if having students request excused absences for mental health can happen successfully.
Vice President of Student Affairs and Academic Support J. Rex Tolliver confirmed that the pilot program has already started. He said the initiative began when Student Government spoke with administration about providing resources to support mental health while being enrolled at USC.
"It really was an initiative of the students that they brought forth to the administration. They demonstrated need and also shared with us the number of schools that have undertaken such measures on their campus as well," Tolliver said. "We worked to try to create a pilot where we can test it to see how it would work on the campus."
Tolliver said one of the hard parts about trying to make the pilot program a reality is how to ensure that students are best served while also meeting academic requirements.
According to a mass email sent to students in January, the University of South Carolina recognizes that academic pressure, social stress, mental health and overall well-being significantly impact students. The university encourages students to notify their course instructors if they need to miss class for health and well-being reasons."
There are no limits on excused absences, however they do have to meet class enrollment requirements.
"One of the things we're looking at and why it's important to have this formalized, ultimately, within the excused action policy, is to ensure that students still meet the academic requirements to be able to graduate- and also to try to ensure that students are only taking the time they need to recover from whatever the particular need may be," Tolliver said.
Tolliver said that when students submit their excused absence request form, everything is based on self-reporting.
"Mental Health is one of those spaces where it's best that you're not trying to require an explanation or provide some evidence," Tolliver said. "This is based on a self-care notion, that this is something I need personally to be able to continue to function at my best going forward."
According to Byars, students do not have to attend class on a day when their professor approves the excused absence request. However, since this is a pilot program, professors are not required to accept these requests yet. Without an official policy in place, there is no enforcement to guarantee that excused absence requests will be honored.
I'm hoping, with it being a pilot program with more lights on the issue, I think faculties are going to see this and realize that this is a priority for students, and with the amount of students that are going to be asking for this day, I believe that this won't just become a pilot program, this will be permanent," Byars said.
Byars said there has been some resistance in trying to make the pilot program a reality. One reason is in trying to explain to some faculty leaders and members of Faculty Senate the importance of having mental health excused absences and why students need them. He said faculty concerns are valid, as some members are concerned that their students will take advantage of the excused absences and affect class accreditation.
"In my opinion, those concerns do not outweigh the concerns of a student who needs a mental health day," Byars said. "We can deal with the things that faculty is concerned about. We can't deal with the student who needs the day if they absolutely need it."
Byars said that students can reach out to faculty members and people in Faculty Senate and let them know that this is a priority for them He said students can ask their professors and faculty representatives to support the legislation.
"Working with Faculty Senate ... Is a slow process, but it is the only process right now, so we have to work with them to make it permanent, or else it will continue just to be a pilot program," Byars said. "I want to make sure this is etched into the policy so that it can always be there for students if they need it."
Outten said regarding academic bulletin changes, the proposal went to the Scholastic Standards and Petitions committee, which includes a Student Government representative. The committee reviewed it and plans to bring the recommendation to the Faculty Senate on April 2, where the proposal will be presented and discussed.
The Scholastic Standards and Petitions committee reviews university standards, policies, academic requirements and student appeals on academic regulations. It can uphold, return, or overturn college committee decisions in exceptional cases. The committee includes six faculty members, two students, and ex officio members from admissions and the registrar’s office.
Outten said depending on the discussion length, proposed amendments or other motions, the full Faculty Senate may vote on the proposal at its April 2 or May 7 meeting. If approved, the policy would be added to the undergraduate bulletin for the 2026-2027 academic year.