Hi Bonnie Leigh, UTSA does not have a policy that specifically addresses jury duty, but I did receive the following information from our Student Ombudsperson.
We do not have a policy specifically for jury duty, but it seems to me that HOP 5.09<http://www.utsa.edu/hop/chapter5/5-9.html> would be applicable - Reporting Illness or Other Extenuating Circumstances 1. If a student is absent from classes due to illness or other extenuating circumstances (e.g. funeral), the student is responsible for notifying his or her instructors directly in advance or as soon as possible thereafter and providing reasonable documentation. 2. The degree to which classroom participation is required and whether or not work missed by a student during an absence may be made up is at the discretion of the instructor. See Section A.1 for additional information. 3. The instructor should adjust attendance/make-up policies in the event the University of Texas System and/or University issues guidelines to cover extraordinary events (e.g. dangerous conditions due to weather or a widespread threat to general health). There is also an Excused Absence from Class Attendance Form - http://provost.utsa.edu/VPAFS/forms/Excused%20Absence%20From%20Class%20Attendance%20Form%20(10-21-2009).pdf that can be used to outline any missed assignment requirements (i.e. the student and professor would sign off on their agreement). Note: I know there is an exemption for individuals enrolled at an institution of higher education and that proof of enrollment is generally required. However, you might have a student who wishes to participate in the jury selection process so he/she might be out for a day. If a student gets selected and the case runs for several weeks, etc., then I am unsure of what the next steps would be...the student might be able to qualify for grades of incomplete if the student has been in attendance for at least ¾ of the term (depends on when they go to jury duty and are selected to participate in a jury) and has been participating in his/her classes and passing his/her classes. If the grade of incomplete policy is not applicable, then I am unsure of how the student/professor would proceed. I assume the student would need to make a decision on whether he/she wishes to participate in the jury case or withdraw from the university which in turn could affect financial aid, veteran benefits, refund possibilities, etc. or the student could opt to utilize the exemption form the onset or if he/she participates in jury selection and is subsequently selected, then I assume the student could decide to opt out at that point (seems to me that the student would need to carefully think about how participating in a jury for a long period of time could impact their progress toward degree completion and/or have financial implications). Perhaps jury duty could be added to this policy. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bonnie Leigh Reifsteck Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2015 4:50 PM To: Institutional policy-related discussions ([email protected]) Subject: [acupa-l] Jury Duty and students Hello colleagues, Do any of your schools have policies that address jury duty and STUDENTS? Ours addresses only employees, but we have received a query from our Dean of Students office and we wanted to see what others might have/do. Many thanks, Bonnie Leigh Bonnie Leigh Reifsteck University Policy Specialist UNM Policy Office MSC05 3357 1 University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001 Tel. 505.277.6531 Web. http://policy.unm.edu<http://policy.unm.edu/> **Part-time work schedule: MWF 8am-3:45pm ** ATTN: Please be aware that when you respond to an ACUPA-L e-mail, the reply will be distributed to the ENTIRE list of members. If you do NOT want to send an e-mail to everyone, please reply directly to the individual who initiated the query (their e-mail address appears in the "From" line of their original e-mail). If you wish to remove yourself from the ACUPA e-mail list, please go to the following website and complete the form. We will remove you from the list within 24 hours, during normal business hours. http://www.acupa.org/MembershipForm_Discontinue.html If you have questions about the ACUPA e-list, please contact Jamie Parris at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]?subject=ACUPA%20e-list%20assistance> or 607-255-6837.
