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Policy on Instructor Absences and Office Hours
(Adopted on April 8, 2008 following approval by faculty vote)

The faculty in Electrical Engineering recognizes that instructors sometimes need to be absent from campus for various professional reasons. At the same time, the faculty recognizes that instructors have teaching responsibilities and must attend to their students in their undergraduate and graduate courses.

In order to ensure that courses are not impacted adversely by excessive instructor absences and limited student-instructor interactions, the faculty adopts the following recommendation.

Excluding emergency situations, instructors should avoid missing more than 10% of lectures per course offering. Absences should be approved in advance by completing a short-term leave (travel) form with the Chairman’s Office at least one week prior to the instructor’s planned absence. Instructors should be aware that absences in excess of one week require approval by the Dean’s Office.

Instructors should clearly indicate on the leave-of-absence form what arrangements are being made in relation to a substitute instructor or a substitute meeting time for the missed lectures.

Instructors also have a responsibility to maintain regular office hours. It is recommended that instructors allocate two hours each week for office hours. It is also recommended that instructors coordinate their office hours with their teaching assistants to avoid overlap. It is further recommended that instructors let students know that they are available for meetings with the students by appointment. If, for some reason, instructors need to miss their scheduled office hours, instructors should give students sufficient advance notice.