Unexpected injuries and illnesses can happen to anyone at any time. We may be able to provide some assistance if the impact of your condition is expected to last more than a week.  Please be aware that we cannot assist with personal care such as typing homework assignments, laundry, or transportation to off-campus medical appointments.

What’s next?

1. If you anticipate your condition will impact you for more than a week (concussion, broken bone, admitted hospital stay, etc), reach out to us early by submitting a Request for Accommodations Form  
2. Communicate with your faculty (see email template below)
3. If you anticipate being impacted for a week or less than a week (cold, flu, other sickness, etc) we encourage you to reach out to sas@sunypoly.edu for guidance and review the general tips below that may assist you in keeping up with your work:
4. Review your syllabi. Often, your professors have policies regarding short-term absences and missed work, and procedures for how to let them know if you need to use them.  
5. Communicate with your instructors (see email template below).
6. Reach out to understand what free or low-cost assistive technology resources are available for thing like writing, taking notes, and reading.
7. The Care Team or Wellness Center provides support to students navigating sudden situations.  
8. When communicating with your professors or college advising staff, you do not need to disclose the specific illness or injury. You just need to let them know that you’re ill or injured, and are experiencing symptoms.   

Here is an example of what you can say:

Dear [Professors’s Name]

My name is [Name and U#], and I'm enrolled in your course, [Course name, day/meeting time].    

I am currently experiencing symptoms related to a recent [injury/illness] that are preventing me from [turning in an assignment on time / taking an upcoming exam or quiz / attending class or lab, etc]

This course matters to me and I still want to be able to participate and perform the work to the best of my ability. However, my recent condition is going to impact me in a temporary way. I anticipate that this will only last a few days to a week, but if it turns out to be longer, I will work with Student Accessibility Services.    

It would be most helpful if I could have an [extension/arrange for a different exam date/attend a different course section] and hope that this could be a reasonable solution. Could we connect [after class/during office hours/virtually/through email] to work on this while I recover?  

Thank you in advance for your help and support,
Sincerely,
[Your Name]