Travel Letter Example

Below is a generic version of the Travel Conflict Letter shared with students:

Professor and/or Graduate Student Instructor,

We write to you regarding Oski Bear who is a student in your course that is on the Varsity Football team. The student may be away from campus during the semester participating in University of California, Berkeley sanctioned athletic events. The campus guidelines we reference below require the student to inform you in writing of all foreseeable conflicts between the syllabus and their scheduled events before the end of the second week of the semester.

All varsity student athletes are aware of their responsibilities regarding class absences due to competition, as articulated in campus policies and Senate guidelines specific to conflicts between extracurricular activities and academic requirements:

asc.berkeley.edu/scheduling-conflicts

evcp.berkeley.edu/athletics-or-extracurricular-scheduling-conflicts-instructor-guidance

The student is responsible for providing a proposal in writing on how the conflicts, including assignment deadlines and examinations, can be resolved for your course - they will provide these in separate communications with you. In some cases the conflicts can be resolved by instructors granting access to course capture recordings of lectures and discussions to individual students for a limited period of time: we hope you will consider this option if it is feasible for you. For examinations, the Athletic Study Center (ASC), which is an independent organization in the Division of Undergraduate Education, is available to discuss proctoring arrangements. It is the student’s responsibility to inform the ASC of their proctoring needs.

Please find below the provisional competition dates of the Varsity Football team and note that, if the team is traveling, they would typically leave campus no more than two days prior to the competition.

There may also be postseason competition dates if the team has a successful season.  It is the student's responsibility to inform instructors of this potential conflict within the first week of the known conflict.

If you have any questions, concerns or updates regarding their status in the class, please do not hesitate to contact the team’s academic advisor at the Athletic Study Center:

<Advisor Name>   <Advisor Email>   <Advisor Phone>

At UC Berkeley, we value that our students have many talents outside their academics, whether in athletics, music, or other disciplines. We encourage you to engage with Oski Bear about their sport, and if available, consider attending one of their home events this season.

We wish you a successful semester and thank you for all that you are doing to support our campus and our students.

Sincerely,

Oliver O’Reilly
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Faculty Athletic Representative
oreilly@berkeley.edu

Tarik Glenn
Interim Executive Director, Athletic Study Center
glenntarik@berkeley.edu