23 Personal Day Policies

Jury Duty

The program believes in fulfilling the obligation of jury duty and will support students who are called to serve. Upon receiving a summons for jury duty, the student must notify the Clinical Coordinator of the days of obligation. Students are required to call the Clinical Coordinator following the policy for reporting clinical absences. Jury duty does not count against personal time. In most cases, jury duty lasts one week or less. Students are given up to 4 days to fulfill their civic obligation. If more time is needed, the circumstances will be reviewed on an individual basis.

Students must document the required jury duty by bringing in a letter from the court documenting the dates of their service upon returning to school.

Funeral Leave

A student is granted up to 2 funeral days for the death of a parent, sibling, spouse, child, grandparent or equivalent in-law. A student is granted 1 funeral day for the death of an aunt, uncle, and other relative or equivalent in-law, or close friend. These absences are NOT counted as personal days. Request for additional time off can be made based on extenuating circumstances. This additional time off will require the student to use their personal days or may require that the student take an incomplete in the clinical course.

The student must call the Clinical Coordinator to request funeral leave. The absence may be prescheduled or reported to both the Clinical Site Supervisor and Clinical Coordinator before the specified time for that clinical assignment. Documentation of attendance at the funeral is required (usually a showing or prayer card). Documentation must be given to the Clinical Coordinator within 2 weeks of the funeral leave.

Educational Leave

Students may request release time from clinical assignments to attend the following activities: Indiana Society of Radiologic Technologists (ISRT) meetings, the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) annual meeting, the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meeting, Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS) annual convention or the IUPUI Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) symposium. Other types of educational activities will be reviewed before permission is granted. Students must provide verification of attendance. These absences are NOT counted as personal days. Please note, attending a board review, continuing education session, or hospital employment orientation is not excused leave from clinical absence. Attendance of such programs is subject to the use of personal days.

Adverse Weather

Adverse weather may cause the university to cancel classes.  When weather conditions are such that IUPUI classes are canceled, all clinical assignments will be canceled as well.  Students must monitor their email for any messages from the clinical coordinator or program director.  Didactic courses may be conducted online.

If IUPUI does not cancel classes and a student feels road conditions are too bad to drive, they must use personal time and enter the absence in eValue.  If the roads have been shut down by their county, the student must provide the clinical coordinator proof via email.

There are multiple ways students can stay informed about cancellations, closures, and other non-weather related emergencies

• IU Notify: Sign up for Indiana University’s mass communication tool. Use this link to learn more and sign up.  https://protect.iu.edu/emergency-continuity/emergency-alerts/iu-notify.html
• Phone: 317-278-1600 provides the latest open or closed status for the campus
• Media outlets: Indianapolis media outlets will be contacted about campus wide closings
• E-mail: Closing information will be sent to anyone subscribed to the JagNews and official IUPUI mailing lists.

Personal Days (P Days)

Faculty recognizes that due to illness, unavoidable personal business, or weather conditions (e.g., doctor/dentist, childcare, car trouble, snowy roads, etc.) a student may need to take time off from clinic.  Students are given personal days to use during their clinical course for this purpose.

• A personal day is 8.0 clinical hours and a ½ personal day is 4 clinical hours.
• If a student elects to take a ½ personal day in the afternoon, clinical hours are 8:00am-12:00am. If a student elects to take a ½ personal day in the morning, the student must report by 12:00 pm and remain in clinic until 4:00pm.
• Students are not provided a lunch break with the utilization of a half personal day.

It is encouraged to use personal days wisely. Clinical sites base hiring on attendance among other qualities. Make sure your clinical site regards you in a positive light regarding attendance. Additionally, students limit their ability to acquire the necessary exams and hours required for board eligibility if the use of personal days becomes excessive.

Limitations on Use of Full and ½ Personal Days

• Half-day absences may be taken in the a.m. or p.m.
• Students must contact the Clinical Site Supervisor and the Clinical Coordinator at least 60 minutes before the start of the MORNING shift.
• A student who becomes ill during clinical hours may leave clinic but will be charged personal time.
• If a student leaves before they have been in clinic 4 hours, they will be charged a whole personal day. If a student leaves after working more the 4 hours, they will be charged a ½ personal day.
• The student is responsible for letting the Clinical Coordinator know they will be leaving clinic and reporting their personal time use. SEE PROCEDURES FOR REPORTING PERSONAL DAYS AND FOR PENALTIES RELATED TO NOT REPORTING ABSENCES.
• Personal time may not be saved from course to course or semester to semester.
• Note: A student should not come to clinic when they have a fever, are contagious, are taking narcotics, or are too ill to work for ANY reason; personal time will be charged.
• Clinical faculty and all hospital staff working with students (technologists, nurses and physicians) reserve the right to send a student home if they feel they are jeopardizing the health of the patients, the staff, other students or themselves. YOU MUST CALL THE CLINICAL COORDINATOR AND REPORT THAT YOU WERE SENT HOME AND PERSONAL TIME WILL BE CHARGED.

Procedures for Reporting Personal Days

All absences are recorded in cumulative and course specific records for each student. To use a whole or half personal day, the student must CALL the Clinical Site Supervisor AND call, text, or email the Clinical Coordinator 60 minutes prior to the start of the MORNING shift.

When to report a full personal day

When to report a 1/2 personal day

Regardless of your correspondence, you should leave the following information:

• Your full name,
• Reason for the personal day (illness or personal business)
• Your clinical assignment (i.e., Eskenazi General, OB or Vascular, St Francis Indianapolis, etc.).

You will receive confirmation of your reported absence from the Clinical Coordinator via the same method reported. If you do NOT receive confirmation, you should assume the correspondence failed and another method should be attempted. Ensuring absences are properly reported is the student’s responsibility.

Procedures for Reporting a Late Arrival (Tardiness)

Students are expected to be in the assigned clinical area on time. If a student will be UNAVOIDABLY late, the student should attempt to call both the Clinical Site Supervisor and the Clinical Coordinator prior to the start time for the clinical area and report the reason for the delay.  A tardy will be recorded in the student’s record.

• A tardy is defined as 1-15 minutes late.
• The student must contact the clinical area/clinical supervisor to advise them of their tardiness.
• Tardiness over 15 minutes will be converted to a ½ p-day. If converted to a ½ p-day, the student is still charged a tardy.
• Students are allowed up to three (3) tardy incidences per fall and spring clinical course before a grade deduction is taken. Students are allowed up to two (2) tardy incidences in the senior summer clinical course before a grade deduction is taken.
• Students are expected to be in the assigned clinical area on time. If a student realizes that they will more than 15 minutes late, they may contact the clinical coordinator to request a ½ morning p-day or a full p-day. (If converted to a ½ p-day, the student is charged with a tardy.)

Pre-scheduling a Personal Day

Students may pre-schedule a whole or half personal day by discussing it with the Clinical Site Supervisor and emailing the Clinical Coordinator. Be certain to indicate in the email the Clinical Site Supervisor has agreed to the personal day. The Clinical Coordinator will record the absence on the attendance log and the student will not need to call on the day of the absence. Pre-scheduling should only be used for unusual circumstances when the student cannot call the night before or the morning of the absence. Logging a pre-scheduled personal day in eValue the day of is not required but should be completed as soon as possible.