• Religious Holidays
• Student Illness
• Twelve-Day Rule

Academic Honesty
Students are required to be honest in all of their university class work. Faculty members have a duty to promote ethical behavior and avoid practices and environments that foster cheating. Faculty should encourage students to bring incidents of dishonesty to their attention. A faculty member, in certain circumstances, can resolve an academic dishonesty matter without a student disciplinary hearing. The procedures and guidelines are available from the Director of Student Judicial Affairs. In the fall of 1995, the UF student body enacted a new honor code and voluntarily committed itself to the highest standards of honesty and integrity. (See UF Rule 6C1-4.017 (PDF))

The Honor Code: We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honesty and integrity. On all work submitted for credit by students at the university, the following pledge is either required or implied: "On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment."

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
Support services for students with disabilities are coordinated by the Disability Resource Center in the Dean of Students Office. All support services provided for University of Florida students are individualized to meet the needs of students with disabilities. To obtain individual support services, each student must meet with one of the support coordinators in the Disability Resources Program and collaboratively develop appropriate support strategies. Appropriate documentation regarding the student's disability is necessary to obtain any reasonable accommodation or support service.

Adding and Dropping Courses
Courses may be dropped or added during the Drop/Add period without penalty. The Drop/Add period is the first five days of classes during fall or spring semester, and the first two days of classes for summer terms. The specific dates are listed in the critical dates by term.

After Drop/Add, students may withdraw from a course up to the date established in the university calendar. A grade of W will appear on the transcript, and students will be held liable for course fees. All drops after the Drop/Add period must be submitted to the Office of the University Registrar by the deadline.

Antiplagiarism Software
TurnItIn is an internet-based anti-plagiarism software that enables faculty members to determine if research papers have been plagiarized. The Office of Academic Technology has licensed Turnitin.com for faculty and student use.

Turnitin's web-based program searches out matching and even partially altered phrases from web content and Turnitin databases. The software provides a color-coded "originality report" with links to similarities in submitted text. The instructor then can carefully evaluate suspect papers for proper and improper citation and dishonest plagiarism.

Attendance
Instructors set the specific attendance policies for their courses. Students enrolled in a course are responsible for satisfying all academic objectives as defined by the instructor.

Students may not attend a class unless they are officially registered or approved to audit with evidence of having paid audit fees. Students who do not attend at least one of the first two class meetings of a course or laboratory for which they are registered, and who have not contacted the instructor or department to indicate their intent, may be dropped from the course. However, students should not assume they will be dropped from a course automatically if they fail to attend the first few days of class.

Religious Holidays
The university calendar does not include observance of any religious holidays. The Florida Board of Governors and state law govern university policy regarding observance of religious holidays. Students shall be excused from class or other scheduled academic activity to observe a religious holy day of their faith with prior notification to the instructor. Students shall be permitted a reasonable amount of time to make up the material or activities covered in their absence. Students shall not be penalized due to absence from class or other scheduled academic activity because of religious observances.

Student Illness
Students who are absent from classes or examinations because of illness should contact their instructors. The Student Health Center can provide a medical excuse note only if their providers are involved in the medical care of a student who must be absent from class for three or more days for medical reasons. A student who has a medical reason that results in fewer than three days of absence from class should talk with his/her professor. If the instructor requires a note for a medical absence of fewer than three days, then the professor must provide the Student Health Center with a written request on department letterhead.

Twelve-Day Rule
Students who participate in athletic or extracurricular activities are permitted to be absent 12 regular class days per semester without penalty. This rule applies to individual students participating on an athletic or scholastic team. It is the student's responsibility to maintain satisfactory academic performance and attendance.

More information on policies regarding student athletes is available from UF Rule 6C1-7.058 (PDF) and/or the Office of Student Life, a division of the University Athletic Association.

Auditing Courses
Students may audit courses on a space-available basis with approvals of the course instructor and the dean of the college offering the course. Audited courses are subject to course fees.

Course Syllabi
UF policy requires a course syllabus for every course. A syllabus is the written record of the instructor's plan for the organization and management of the course, and his or her expectations of the students.

The UF policy on Course Syllabi outlines the information that must appear in all course syllabi, independent of course level or discipline. Instructional faculty are expected to post their course syllabi to a student-accessible website and submit a copy to the department office to document compliance.

Student Assessment of Courses and Instructors
The State University System Student Assessment of Instruction (SUSSAI) was implemented in 1995 to provide for student assessment of instruction based on eight criteria common to all SUS institutions. Forms are provided through department offices for all scheduled undergraduate and graduate courses. Course evaluations should be completed during the last two weeks of the semester.

Faculty, department and college summary results will be distributed by the departments. Course and instructor evaluations are used as part of individual faculty evaluations and in consideration for tenure and promotion.

Textbook Adoption
Textbook adoptions can be submitted online. Faculty and staff are should submit textbook information in a timely manner to ensure that students know about required materials when they register and to ensure that the books are available before classes begin.