<p>my son is currently on a medical leave of absence.
he left school last november toward the end of his sophomore fall semester. we (his parents) were not included in the loop when all the leave of absence dicussions/paper signing took place. at the time he left my son felt very good about his dealings with the counselling staff and the dean. he was assured that he would be welcomed back when he was ready to come back and his doctors release him. he is doing extremely well and he and his doctors feel he is ready to return to school in the fall and to recommence his sophomore year. since class registration and housing should be taken care of shortly my son contacted the dean to let her know he is ready to return. she told him it is too soon for the school to consider readmission and that he should recontact her in august.
i feel very concerned by this response. august is really the 11th hour and what if they decide he won't be readmitted? i believe the school only allows leaves of up to one year....which will effectively end in september.
anyone have any insight on this? should i be as concerned as i am or even more concerned?</p>
<p>I think that answer from the school sucks.</p>
<p>My daughter took a semester off for medical reasons and the university was great.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the school’s comments.</p>
<p>I would contact the school again and ask for clarification. Tell them you thought a medical leave of absense was not permanent. Say it in a nice way. :)</p>
<p>I’ve known a few kids who have taken a leave of absence and usually the conditions for return are specified in the documents. Do you have copies?</p>
<p>the only “document” we have is a november letter from the dean which states “when you are ready to apply for readmission” submit the forms and medical clearance</p>
<p>You need to call the dean.</p>
<p>the dean is the one who told me not contact them until august</p>
<p>Understandably, the Dean is concerned about the fast turn around in his mental health in 4 months with 6 more months until August.
His condition could change again within that time frame.
If you want to be agressive and go against the Dean’s advice, get the doctor’ paperwork and submit for readmission Fall 2012 with the stipulation that an updated status from the doctor will be forthcoming in July so your student can register for classes in August.</p>
<p>Which dean is involved in this? The dean of student affairs? If not, thats who I’d contact. If need be, a polite call to the presidents office might be necessary if you are given a response that is inconsistent with what was noted in the LOA. If your s has a clearance letter form his Drs and they feel he is ready to return, it is inappropriate for the dean to override the recommentdation of the Dr intricately and directly involved in your child’s care. I’d be pretty steamed. And, you can make a good argument that making him wait until the 11th hour to find out if he can return and if he will be able to secure housing, classes, etc. places an undue stress on him that may be counter-therapeutic. In fact, maybe getting one of the Drs to write that might help.</p>
<p>That is interesting language, “when you are ready to apply for re-admission”. It seems ambiguous as to status and doesn’t quite jive with the verbal assurances that you will be welcomed back when medically cleared. I would want to understand exactly what that process is and clarify procedure as well criteria. How do you determine what is an appropriate time-frame? If fall of this year is a possible re-start time, it doesn’t make sense to not have a plan in place prior to August, contingent, as Battlo described, on additional confirmation of medical clearance closer to the semester. </p>
<p>What I would not want to have happen is to be hopeful about a fall start and then hear again that it is “too soon”. Well worth contacting the dean/s to sort this out. Colleges can be skittish about some medical issues and “buying time” with vagueness is not fair to the student or family. I would also want to review copies of all documents related to the process for a thorough understanding.</p>
<p>Glad your son is doing better and wish you all the best.</p>
<p>Did he withdraw or take a medical leave?? If he withdrew he would likely have to reapply. Would also be likely if he’d been on academic probation. If he took a medical leave, I would think the procedures would differ.</p>