Excuse Notes

Consistent with American College Health Association recommendations and the policies of our peer institutions, the Student Health Care Center (SHCC) does not provide written excuses for students who miss classes or assignments due to a short-term illness or an injury.

Per UF policy, students who are absent from classes or examinations because of illness should first contact their instructors. The Student Health Care Center (SHCC) will only provide excuse notes for illnesses or injuries that have resulted, or are expected to result, in an absence of three or more days of class. Excuse notes are only provided when the SHCC is involved in the student’s medical care. Absences of fewer than three days do not qualify for an excuse note unless requested by an instructor in writing on official UF letterhead.

If you are seen at the SHCC, you may receive a Verification of Visit form documenting the date(s) of your visit; however, this is not an excuse note. If you receive care from a non-SHCC provider, you must obtain any verification of visit or excuse note directly from that provider.

Excuse Note Parameters:

• Excuse notes may be issued by SHCC medical providers using a standardized letter in the patient’s electronic health record.
• If additional recovery time is needed, you must return to the SHCC for re-evaluation before your original estimated return date.
• Unless requested by the patient, excuse notes do not include a diagnosis. SHCC will not release medical or psychiatric information without the patient’s expressed written authorization, except as permitted by law.

Self-Care Class Note:  

In times of high SHCC appointment demand and increased illness rates on campus, the Self-Care Class Note is an option for students to self-submit a note to their instructors and the Dean of Students office. This note option is available to students thru the SHCC website.

PLEASE NOTE: This is not an excuse note, but rather a note stating that the student attests to having certain symptoms that maybe contagious and are in-line with the symptoms listed on the website. By completing the form, the student understands that falsely sending the form that they would be in violation of University Regulation 4.040 (Student Honor Code and Student Conduct Code). This self-care class note is only available to students via the website when:

1. The UF Campus is experiencing a higher than usual viral illness rate; AND
2. The SHCC is at maximum capacity for appointment availability. If the note is not available via the website then these criteria have not been met, and a student would need to make an appointment to be seen in person or via TeleHealth for a written excuse note.