Extenuating Circumstances Due to COVID-19

The Grade Mode Change Request committee will consider the following extenuating circumstances due to COVID-19 that severely impacted students’ academic success during fall 2020:

• The student was diagnosed with COVID-19 and, due to the diagnosis, was severely ill and unable to engage academically.
• An immediate family member was diagnosed with COVID-19 and suffered an untimely death or whose illness placed an undue burden upon the student (ex: a primary caretaker for siblings).
• The student had to be a primary caregiver of someone diagnosed with COVID-19.
• The student had an economic hardship resulting from COVID-19 directly impacting the ability to meet academic requirements.
• The student had to become a first responder due to COVID-19.
• The student had increased hours of employment to address financial hardship related to COVID19.
• The student lost a babysitter/childcare due to COVID-19.
• The student was unable to complete online education/distance education due to COVID-19.
• The student had no WIFI access during COVID-19 due to facility closures.
• Other – must be specific and not general “stress due to COVID-19.”

 

Documentation

Documentation is required to support your grade mode change request and the extenuating circumstance(s) due to COVID-19 that severely impacted your academic success. Please see examples of required documentation below or refer to this PDF.

Extenuating Circumstance	Examples of Required Documentation On official letterhead, signed and dated
Student was diagnosed with COVID-19 and, due to the diagnosis, was severely ill and unable to engage academically.	Letter from doctor Medical Records documenting illness
An immediate family member was diagnosed with COVID-19 and suffered an untimely death or whose illness placed an undue burden upon the student	Letter from doctor Medical Records documenting illness
The student had to be a primary caregiver of someone diagnosed with COVID-19.	Letter from doctor Medical Records documenting illness Third party documentation of caregiver status
The student had to become a first responder due to COVID-19.	Letter from employer Military orders
The student had an economic hardship resulting from COVID-19 directly impacting the ability to meet academic requirements.	Letter from employer Termination/separation letter Unemployment records Medical bills not covered by insurance
The student had increased hours of employment to address financial hardship related to COVID19.	Letter from employer including dates and whether the increase/change was mandatory Unemployment records/termination/separation letter for parent/spouse that caused the student to need to work
The student lost a babysitter/childcare due to COVID-19.	Statement from the childcare provider Documentation of school/childcare closure
The student was unable to complete online education/distance education due to COVID-19.	Third party documentation of the lack of internet resources or documentation that the student had to move and was unable to complete in-person classes remotely
The student had no WIFI access during COVID-19 due to facility closures.	Third party documentation describing the facility closure and explanation of the inability to access WIFI due to the closure
Other – must be specific and not general “stress due to COVID-19.”	Detailed description of the extenuating circumstances and how they were directly related to Covid-19 Third party documentation to support the extenuating circumstances