7 August 2009

Deans, Directors, Faculty and Instructional Academic Staff

Paul DeLuca, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs;
David Musolf, Secretary of the Faculty;
Lori Berquam, Dean of Students

When Classwork and Religious Observances Conflict

We would like to remind you of the faculty policy that mandatory academic requirements should not be scheduled on days when religious observances may cause substantial numbers of students to be absent from the university. Some religions mark observances over multiple days, which may begin at sunset on the day preceding the posted date(s) of the holiday, such as the Jewish holidays Rosh Hashanah (Saturday, 19 September) and Yom Kippur (Monday, 28 September), and the Islamic holidays Eid-al-Fitr (Sunday, 20 September) and Eid-al-Adha (Friday, 27 November). And due to our university's multicultural community, there are bound to be other conflicts between mandatory academic requirements and religious observances. Please visit the web site www.interfaithcalendar.org for a listing, though not exhaustive, of religious holidays. You also may obtain a copy of the listing from the Office of the Secretary of the Faculty, 262-3958, 130 Bascom Hall.

Please refer to the academic calendar for additional information, and mark the above noted holidays on your calendar now so that you do not schedule mandatory exercises on any of these dates.

A student's claim of a religious conflict, which may include travel time, should be accepted at face value. A great variety of valid claims exist for religious groups, and there is no practical, dignified, and legal means to assess the validity of individual claims. State law mandates that any student with a conflict between an academic requirement and any religious observance must be given an alternative means of meeting the academic requirement. The law also stipulates that students be given means by which they can conveniently and confidentially notify an instructor of the conflict.

Please adhere to the following three guidelines that have been developed to provide clarity for both students and instructors: (1) Announce early in the semester that students must notify the instructor within the first two weeks of class of the specific days or dates on which he or she requests relief. Including this information on your course syllabus is another appropriate method to make sure your students are informed of the policy; (2) Make-ups may be scheduled before or after the regularly scheduled requirements; and (3) It is understood that instructors may set reasonable limits on the total number of days claimed by any one student. Occasionally, students may not fully understand the necessity for prior notice, and under these circumstances we urge you to be as flexible as possible. Our policy seeks to be sensitive to the needs of individual students.

Please advise your teaching assistants of this policy.

Finally, on a different but somewhat parallel topic, we urge fairness, compassion and sensitivity when you or your TAs are approached by a student requesting class time off due to a family emergency. Demonstration of your understanding in such a circumstance may be important to the student in getting through the crisis.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Paul DeLuca, Office of the Provost - (608) 262-1304
David Musolf, Office of the Secretary of the Faculty - (608) 262-3956
Lori Berquam, Office of the Dean of Students - (608) 263-5700

Academic Calendar
Faculty Document 488a - Religious Observances Policy