Attendance, Sick Notes and Absences at RSU: What You Need to Know

Being sick at RSU can be quite stressful, since instructions on what exactly to do, and how to, is quite confusing at first.

But don't worry, I'm here to help you with that :)

Most courses at RSU have mandatory attendance, and many have specific minimum percentages you must meet to pass the course. Some courses may be entirely online, but those are few.

Attendance

Usually, attendance goes somewhat as follows:

75% attendance without a sick note
50% attendance with a sick note

Information regarding this can be found in estudijas.rsu.lv > course name > usually at the beginning. Go through the files in the course description.

For example, in my anatomy course information was under a file called "Rules of Attendance in the Practical classes".

Attendance is logged differently in each course. For example in anatomy, DemoLab attendance is logged through you being present in the Zoom with your full name as your display name. It will be automatically logged. But then in practical class attendance is either logged through a name list, names being called or another method.

Usually, attendance can be checked independently in estudies > course name > Attendance > All time. Although I suggest that you write down the lessons you've been present for, because you will not remember, and sometimes teachers are slow at logging the attendance in the system.

When it comes to anatomy, attendance can not for some odd reason be checked through estudies. To check your DemoLab attendance, you need to email your practical teacher, or go to Anatomikum office and ask them. For your practical attendance, you need to email your practical teacher as well.

*UPDATE* On my 3rd semester, Anatomy has now added a "DemoLab attendance" section in the e-studies. I'm not entirely sure if this is there for each anatomy course so I'll still keep the previous instructions above :)

Sick notes

If you're sick, you always should submit a sick note. If attendance requirement in a course is 75% and you miss a few classes due to being sick, then you might not need a sick note. Although this raises the risk --> What if you need to skip a class later on and you've already used up the lessons you can miss? So getting sick notes is always smart. If the attendance requirement is 100%, then you most definitely need a sick note.

How do you get a sick note? There's a few options.

Go to the RSU ambulance. Problem with this is that they usually don't have appointments for a week or so. Costs around 30€ or so.
Go to a private clinic. If you have insurance, this is smart. If not, it might be costly depending on the clinic. When at the clinic, double check that whatever test they might suggest won't cost extra, because sometimes they might not be clear about extra costs and you end up paying 100€ extra.
Use an online clinic. Usually, this works. Although there might be issues with sick notes through online clinics. So if you want, you can take the risk.

You need to submit the sick note within 5 working days from when you return to studies.

This means, if you were sick on Monday but attended Tuesday, you need to submit the sick note by next Monday.

How do I submit the sick note? Through myRSU. Here's the pathway:

myRSU > Applications and Inquiries > Applications and Inquiries (yes, twice...) > Change of Status > Application for excused absence > Topic > I wish to register incapacity to work > Date from & to > Short explanation for which classes you're missing > Attach sick note

This is what the application looks like:

The administration is quite strict on submitting the sick note on time so make sure to submit it within the 5 days!

The sick note is usually registered in the system in a few days. You will get an email when it is accepted:

You will still need to do the required tasks of the class, even if you were sick. You should email your professor and ask about submitting time. E.g. for physics you'll need to send an email to a specific person written in the e-studies to get a video of the lab protocol.