SGA’s excused absence proposal for mental health was recently approved by the University. Beginning next semester, an excused absence policy will be in effect, where students can utilize “personal days” to prioritize their well-being and practice self-care. This initiative was led by Student Body President, Thomas Dessoye, in an effort to reduce the stigma of mental health on campus.
“The purpose of this policy is not only to provide students with an opportunity to take a day off to care about their mental health and well-being, but it is also designed in a way where the University administration allows students to know that it is okay to not be okay,” Dessoye said. “When students utilize a personal day, the primary purpose is to use that day to seek help from either the Counseling Center or practice healthy habits that make students feel better.”
This policy was initially developed by Dessoye after researching excused absences for mental health at different colleges and universities in early 2022. During this time, few higher education institutions offered these policies. He then began looking into how K-12 schools prioritized mental health and looked to incorporate it with his ideas for the SGA policy.
“By the end of the Spring 2022 semester, I was fortunate enough to have been able to present my proposed policy to the University’s Academic Policy Committee (APC), made up of faculty members,” Dessoye said. “Even though it was not approved, it also was not totally dismissed, so there was still an opportunity to do something.”
In Fall of 2022, the idea of the policy was raised again after Northeastern University announced its “Wellness Days” initiative, where students could be excused from class due to mental health concerns.
“After many revisions, I based the policy on Northeastern’s, and it unanimously passed out of the APC towards the end of the Spring 2023 Semester,” Dessoye said. “Over Fall Break, it was ultimately approved by the Provost’s office.”
Students will be allowed two personal days for 50-minute classes that meet three times per week and one personal day for 75-minute classes that meet two times per week. To get their requests approved, students must contact their professors by email before class and state their personal day as the reason for their absence.
“I firmly believe this will help students not feel as overwhelmed with their various responsibilities as a college student,” Dessoye said. “If a student who is experiencing an intense depressive episode and feels as though they are not in the right state of mind to attend class, then they should be able to miss class to feel supported without being penalized. Mental health should be treated like any other issue when it comes to physical health.”
Personal days will not grant automatic extensions to students’ assignments that are due. Students will still be responsible for the work assigned for class that day, too. Additionally, personal days cannot be used for labs, clinicals, internships or courses that meet once per week.
“I believe there is so much more that needs to be done by administrators to adequately and effectively address how students are feeling at a competitive university,” Dessoye said. “It is difficult to open up to someone you may not know, because it may be seen as vulnerability. But I do not believe that at all. To seek help is to be courageous, and we need to cultivate a university that recognizes that it is okay to need support when someone is struggling.”
