Accessing Records
By logging in to VIF absence.uwaterloo.ca (vif.uwaterloo.ca Instructors ) instructors should automatically be able to access all records relevant to them for thePast last 2 Terms, as well as the current term.Records are Read Only for instructors.terms displayed as a calendar:
...
| Info |
|---|
Instructors who only see a You Shouldn’t Be Here message upon logging into the website have no records for their courses within the last 2 terms. |
Requesting Access to Records
If access to a specific record (less than two terms old) is required but not automatically granted due to faculty automatic inclusion rules, you may request access from admins.
A list of admins for each faculty can be found on the Admin Directory page, accessible from the website homepage on the bottom left of the sidebar.
From here you should be able to see the names and levels of access for current administrators.
Requesting Automatic Access
If you will need to automatically get notifications or have access to records for students in a given course or collection of courses (Eg. All first year labs) contact an admin (see above) with:
Targeted courses
Your username (8-character, what you use to log in to campus tools)
Reason for inclusion
...
! If you’re aware of some absences that you’re not able to see, reach out to your undergraduate office to ensure your user ID is correctly tied to your courses in Quest |
The line items in each calendar day indicate the number of students with an approved absence for a given section they teach.
To browse records for a specific day, instructors can either click on a day to view all absences that span that day, or click on a section to filter only records on that specific day for the specific record in question.
Note that if a students is in multiple sections that you teach, their absence will show up separately for each section.
Record Types
Records can currently be one of several different categories:
VIF - Verification of Illness Form: A formal Doctor’s note has been submitted and subsequently vetted and approved by unit administrators
EC - Extenuating Circumstance: A non-illness reason has been submitted with documentation, then vetted and approved by unit administrators
ST - Short Term: Undergraduate students are granted a once-per term self-declarable absence up to 2 days*
SD - Self Declared: This covers COVID and other self-declared Flu-like symptoms that the university honours*
RL - Religious/Creed: Absences due to religious or creed observances*
OTHER: A special case has been made for the absence. This is rarely used, but you may need to reach out to administrators if no details are given for a record.
| Info |
|---|
More information on Short Term / Self-Declared / Religious absences can be found here: https://uwaterloo.ca/registrar/current-students/undergraduate-student-short-term-absences. These records are automatically imported 3 times per day on weekdays. |
Requesting Access to Records
Cases may arise where you need access to a record:
More than 2 terms back
For a course where you aren’t the “Instructor of Record”
That you should have access to but don’t
Contact the undergraduate office of your faculty or school to get assistance, as access policy may differ between units.
Requesting Continuing Access for Specific Courses
In some cases it may be necessary for access to be granted for all records in a specific set of courses for a term. For example:
A lab coordinator who isn’t the Instructor of Record for the lab
ISCs managing a group of courses
Admins within your undergraduate office can configure rules which will make the software treat a user as an additional instructor for a set of courses for the span of 1 term. Ensure you provide:
Your watiam username (eg. mvucicev)
Every course section that needs to be covered
The reason access is required
Administrators within your unit will follow unit policy when granting access.