Guidelines concerning scheduling conflicts between university-sponsored, extracurricular activities and academic course requirements
Revised 2026
These guidelines focus on the handling of conflicts that arise between university-sponsored extracurricular activities* and academic requirements, and specifically those that arise when the schedules of student athletes and other students with university-sponsored activities compete with course requirements.
Instructors have broad discretion when setting academic requirements and determining pedagogical needs for their courses – a fact that this document affirms. In addition, instructors have sole discretion to make adjustments to coursework or exams as deemed appropriate for course content and learning goals.
The university’s primary objective for the undergraduate cohort is to provide an academic education. Our campus and the wider community also benefit from the university-sponsored, extracurricular activities in which our students participate. These include university-sponsored concerts, university-sponsored sporting events, and academic-discipline-relevant competitions. In many cases, it is possible to implement academic adjustments for students pursuing these activities while maintaining course rigor and academic objectives.
These guidelines are advisory, offer suggestions for handling scheduling conflicts when they arise, and identify resources available to make academic adjustments more readily manageable. Actions and procedures that enable students to pursue simultaneously their academic interests and chosen extracurricular activities generate considerable benefits to the campus community.
The scheduling of university-sponsored, extracurricular activities
Many university-sponsored, extracurricular activities in which students are participants are arranged outside the hours that students are expected to be in class or taking final examinations. This is the preferred arrangement.
We recognize that students participating in university-sponsored, extracurricular activities, including student-athletes, have limited agency in the timing of these activities. The setting of practice times, competition schedules, concert programming, etc., involves issues of facility availability, partnering with peer institutions, and many other factors outside of students' control. With this in mind, we expect the event organizers to schedule, whenever possible, extracurricular activities outside of classroom hours and times when students are expected to take final examinations. Those coaches, music directors, and others who are scheduling activities or coordinating student participation should seek to minimize the number of conflicts and impact on regularly scheduled classes and examinations.
When these activities need to be scheduled at times during which instruction and examinations are scheduled, the event-participation coordinator (e.g., coach or their designee) must work with students to identify these conflicts as soon as course information is available, ideally before students enroll in their courses for the term in question.
To minimize scheduling conflicts, event-participation coordinators should schedule activities for upcoming semesters prior to course enrollment deadlines and communicate these schedules to affected students. Students with unresolvable conflicts may not be able to participate in the activity.
If extracurricular-event schedules change during the semester, the event-participation coordinator should consult the students affected to determine whether there will be classroom conflicts and whether they can be resolved.
Instructors are encouraged to outline course requirements and a schedule of activities and exams as early as possible to help the scheduling process. Instructors are encouraged to design the course syllabus to allow students to participate in extracurricular activities, when possible, and to avoid changes to the syllabus during the semester that may create scheduling conflicts, to the extent possible.
Notification of conflicts
It is the student’s responsibility to inform the instructor, in writing, before the end of the second week of the semester of all foreseeable conflicts between course requirements and university-sponsored activities, as well as to provide a proposal for resolving these conflicts. If unforeseen conflicts arise during the semester, students must promptly notify the instructor and arrange to discuss the situation as soon as these conflicts (or the possibility of these conflicts) are known.
Similarly, if event-coordinators have stated policies concerning mandatory attendance, punctuality, or participation, students involved in extra-curricular activities must also notify event-coordinators by the second week of the term concerning academic conflicts or potential conflicts.
Class conflicts
Participation in university-sponsored activities does not exempt students from course requirements and class attendance. In the event of a potential absence or missed assignment, the instructor is encouraged, but not required, to suggest alternative possibilities for makeup (e.g., attending an alternative section or viewing a lecture via course capture when available). If an alternative adjustment is not possible, the instructor may assign an alternative requirement or may be unable to accommodate the student. In all cases, academic adjustments should not result in an excessive burden on instructor time and effort.
Students should be aware that, because of course requirements (such as activities requiring students to work in specific teams during class time, special resource-use, and similar necessities), instructors may decline to enroll students who cannot be present at all scheduled class activities. Students are responsible for material covered during missed classes, whether or not they have been formally excused.
If, in the opinion of the instructor, the student’s list of foreseeable conflicts reveals unresolvable scheduling conflicts, the student may be advised to find another course that better accommodates their priorities. It is important that this latter case is identified as soon as the student informs the instructor of the conflicts and preferably before the add/drop deadline.
Assignment conflicts
Students whose off-campus events conflict with the due dates of projects and assignments must arrange to have their work submitted to instructors before the assigned deadline so that it can be evaluated and graded with the work of their cohort, unless the instructor has agreed in advance to other arrangements.
Examination conflicts
The make-up and proctoring of examinations for individual students (or groups of students) who have a conflict with the regularly scheduled exam is a workload issue for instructors. Instructors wishing to make adjustments for student-athletes may, but are not required to, use the proctoring services, policies, and guidelines offered by the Athletic Study Center (ASC). The Athletic Study Center can arrange for out-of-class proctored exams for student-athletes who are away from campus for competition. The ASC is available to partner with instructors, to make this aspect of adjustments easier.
Other resources
These guidelines are intended to minimize the impact of university-sponsored activities on classroom instruction and the workload of instructors while satisfying the university’s primary academic objective and allowing students to participate in these activities to the extent possible.
It is the responsibility of the student to identify conflicts promptly and to engage proactively with the instructor about a possible solution. In cases where the resolution to a conflict is not found, students may contact the Ombuds Office for Students and Postdoctoral Appointees. Instructors may consult with their department or program chair.
* In this document university-sponsored, extracurricular activity or university-sponsored activity refers to any extracurricular activity for which the university assumes the risk and liability associated with participation of employees and/or registered students of the university in such activity.
Originated by the Committee on Educational Policy (2005). Revised by the Undergraduate Council (2023, 2026). Endorsed by Divisional Council (2026).