Policy Statement
Non-academic leaves are granted with the approval of the Office of Student Affairs. A leave of absence may be granted for military duty, financial, medical or personal reasons. Students must be matriculated and have completed at least one semester at Oneonta to be eligible for a leave of absence.
Policy Elaboration
Students must fill out an application to request a leave of absence. The application should include a statement explaining the way in which the leave will contribute to their education or why the leave is necessary. The leave will be rescinded if work subsequently reported is unsatisfactory unless the Committee on Student Progress approves an exception. Applications and information are available online.
When a student obtains a leave from the university after the start of a semester, the policy for grades assigned to courses for which s/he is registered is the same as the course withdrawal policy. On the leave application, students must indicate the last day of class attendance. The date may be verified to support eligibility and/or applicable refunds. The Office of the Registrar will then assign the grade appropriate for that point in the semester. A student taking a leave prior to the mid-semester date does so without penalty and is assigned a grade of W. If a student takes a leave after the deadline for individual course withdrawals and up to two weeks before the end of the semester,
s/he will receive a "W" with an indication of the quality of his/her work up to the time of departure. No credit is issued for grades of "W".
Incomplete (I) grades earned during the semester prior to leaving the university are subject to the same university grading policies. Hence, even though students may not be enrolled for the full semester, previous semester incompletes must be made up by the specified dates. The date by which incomplete grades must be made up falls during the last week in November for incompletes received during the preceding spring semester or summer session, and the last week in April for incomplete grades received during the preceding fall semester. Incompletes not made up by those dates will revert to a failure per the university incomplete policy.
If a student is not earning credit for courses at Oneonta, that student’s residence hall contract is not in effect for that semester. Students are expected to vacate their residence hall room within 48 hours of approval of their leave application.
Students obtaining a non-academic leave of absence are responsible for contacting those offices listed on the front of the application form prior to having the leave of absence approved. In addition, education majors scheduled to enter student teaching must contact the Office of Education Advisement and Field Experience, Fitzelle Room 211.
During the last semester of a student leave of absence, the student will have the opportunity to register for the following semester via the world wide web. The schedule of classes and student appointment time will be available online. The student should contact the Registrar’s Office at (607) 436-2531 for a printed copy of the schedule or to have a PIN reset.
If the student does not intend to return from a leave of absence, the student must contact the Student Affairs Office in writing to withdraw from the university. Students who do not withdraw from the university will be administratively withdrawn. All students who have withdrawn or have been administratively withdrawn must apply for re-admission. Readmission cannot be guaranteed.
Students wishing to be considered for on-campus housing or financial aid must initiate contacts with the appropriate office as soon as possible. Neither housing nor financial aid can be guaranteed.
Procedures
As part of the leave procedure, students must visit the Financial Aid Office. Students are encouraged to discuss future applications for financial aid, loan repayment obligations, notification of the Higher Education Services Corporation and any other financial aid considerations.
Students who have been granted a leave for one semester may have it extended for a second semester, but in no case will a non-academic leave be granted for longer than one academic year. A written request for an extension of a leave of absence must be filed with the Student Affairs Office prior to the beginning of the semester of scheduled return.
If the reason for the leave of absence is medical, students are required to have a statement of clearance from their attending physician. This statement must be sent to the Health Center prior to the student’s return to the university.
Related Documents / Policies
In addition to the above, students are encouraged to consult the Student Handbook, the Code of Judicial Affairs and Academic Catalog for other policies not covered here which may be appropriate to their situation.