Policy UW-880

January 13, 2021

TO:            Deans, Directors, Faculty, and Instructional Academic Staff

CC:            Facilities and Administrative Unit Directors, Teaching Assistants

FROM:     John Karl Scholz, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Lori Reesor, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Heather Daniels, Secretary of the Faculty

RE:            Religious Observances

Please do not schedule exams and other mandatory academic requirements on days when religious observances may cause substantial numbers of students to be absent. Despite a long-standing faculty policy to avoid such conflicts and to make reasonable accommodations for individual cases, students continue to report conflicts in our courses that have not been addressed. Refer to the policy or this memo in your syllabus or use the syllabus template (currently posted on the Instructional Continuity website, under “Course Design & Tools”), where the language regarding religious observances is already included along with additional guidance for students regarding COVID-19. Please advise your teaching assistants to adhere to this policy.

Note that Muslim students who observe Ramadan will fast from dawn to sunset during the most stressful time of the academic year, including finals week Spring 2021. Please extend all possible flexibility to these students

Note as well the removal of spring break from the spring academic calendar and any subsequent changes in the relationship of Passover and Easter to the scheduling of midterm examinations and other assessments.

As in the fall, many courses will be held online or as hybrid courses this semester as we maintain physical distancing to combat COVID-19. Online and remote schedules do not diminish the importance of this policy, and all reasonable accommodations should continue to be made. Please also note that many of our students may be different time zones this semester and accommodations should take this into consideration.

State law mandates that any student with a conflict between an academic requirement and any religious observance must be given an alternative for meeting the academic requirement. The law also stipulates that students be given a mechanism by which they can conveniently and confidentially notify an instructor of the conflict. 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.

The following three guidelines that have been developed to provide clarity for both students and instructors:
(1) Announce early in the semester that your students must notify you within the first two weeks of class of the specific days or dates on which they request relief. Including this information on your course syllabus is encouraged, to make sure your students are informed of the policy. (2) Make‑ups may be scheduled before or after the regularly scheduled requirements. (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.

Some religions mark observances over multiple days, which may begin at sunset on the day preceding the posted date(s) of the holiday. See interfaith-calendar.org for a listing, though not exhaustive, of religious holidays. Please refer to the calendar below or at secfac.wisc.edu/academic-calendar/ to compare with the UW-Madison academic calendar.

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

Heather Daniels, Secretary of the Faculty, 608-262-3958, sof@secfac.wisc.edu

John Zumbrunnen, Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, 608-262-5701, zumbrunnen@wisc.edu

Christina Olstad, Dean of Students, 608-262-1451, dean@studentlife.wisc.edu

CALENDAR FOR SPRING SEMESTER 2021

Spring 2021 Key Deadlines:
registrar.wisc.edu/dates/

Please contact the Office of the Registrar for the Apply to Graduate deadline.

Note that Ramadan falls on April 12-May 12 this year, which includes finals week Spring 2021. More information on making accommodations for religious fasting:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/05/14/colleges-try-accommodate-muslim-students-fasting-ramadan

* In accordance with regent and faculty policy, faculty are asked not to schedule mandatory exercises on days when religious observances may cause substantial numbers of students to be absent from the university.

** Observances of Jewish holidays begin at sunset on the day preceding that which is listed as the holiday.

*** Islamic holidays are based on the lunar cycle and dates may vary by one day from those listed.

**** The official date of degree conferral on the diploma will be 9 May 2021.

Calendar 2021-2026 (Fac doc 2795, Feb 2019) (PDF)

2021-2026 Academic Calendar TR-MWF

Print version, 2017-2021 Academic Calendar revised (PDF)

Academic calendar dates 1961-summer 2021 (PDF)

Jane Richard
Office of the Secretary of the Faculty
University of Wisconsin – Madison
129 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI  53706-1380

jane.richard@wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 262-3958

For questions about commencement, see: commencement.wisc.edu/
or email your questions to: commence@chancellor.wisc.edu

Apply to graduate deadline for Spring 2020 will be Friday, April 9, 2021

Final grades are due to the Office of the Registrar 72 hours after the last final exam day, regardless of whether or not a two-hour summary block exam was held. This is the deadline approved by the Faculty Senate.. For questions about final exams or submitting grades, please see the Office of the Registrar’s pages: Office of the Registrar’s pages.