Leave of Absence Policies
1 in 20 Harvard students takes a leave of absence.
How does Harvard's Leave of Absence Policy support students during and returning from time off?
"Students who wish to interrupt their studies at any time before graduation must petition the Administrative Board for a leave of absence. To petition the Board, the student and the student's Resident Dean work together to determine what pertinent information to present to the Board with the petition, and then the Resident Dean brings the petition to the Board on the student’s behalf."
Beyond this published statement, there is no additional information found online. When students leave, they are provided information regarding the conditions of their leave from their resident dean. In comparison, the following is the policy stated by Princeton University. There is a website dedicated to providing students information about a taking a leave of absence.
A white paper report written by the Ruderman Foundation investigates the leave of absence policies for eight Ivy League schools and finds that "components of the policies are ambiguous at worst and discriminatory at best."
The following are the key findings from the Ruderman White Paper that investigates the leave of absence policies at eight Ivy League schools.
- Four of the Ivy League schools policies (including Harvard's) cites “community disruption” as reason to invoke an involuntary leave of absence.
- Four of the Ivy League schools state that students are prohibited from visiting campus while they are on leave.
- Four of the Ivy League schools do not state that students are entitled to reasonable accommodations that could mitigate the need for a leave. Students with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Five of the Ivy League school policies include a minimum length of time for leave of absence.
- "The trajectory of mental illness and treatment varies from one person to the next, and the student should be allowed to return whenever he or she is ready. If there is a minimum length for leaves of absence in general (including leaves not pertaining to mental health), the policy should include a statement noting that students with disabilities are entitled to modification of the time restriction— this modification is an example of a reasonable accommodation, under the Americans with Disabilities Act."
A Crimson article published in 2017 highlights that "deciding to leave also means figuring out how to come back."
Harvard says that they want returning students' to be prepared to resume classes. How does this align with their stated policies? The salient issues that have been highlighted by students are:
- The requirements of how a student must spend their time off.
- The communication detailing when students may return from their time off.
A stipulation of some students' time off from Harvard is that they are working for six months prior to returning to school. An issue that has been taken by psychologists and students is that working full time does not require an equivalent skill set to being a full-time student. One student quoted in the 2017 Crimson article stated that the “hardest part of re-entry has been the difference between college life and life in the working world.”
