May 2019

TO:            Deans, Directors, Faculty, and Instructional Academic Staff
CC:            Facilities and Administrative Unit Directors, Teaching Assistants
FROM:       Sarah Mangelsdorf, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Lori Reesor, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Steven K. Smith, Secretary of the Faculty

RE:                 Religious Observances

As we move into the summer, we would like to remind those who are teaching Summer Term courses 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. Some religions mark observances over multiple days, which may begin at sunset on the day preceding the posted date(s) of the holiday. In addition, given our university’s multicultural community, there are bound to be conflicts between mandatory academic requirements and other religious observances. See interfaith-calendar.org for a listing, though not exhaustive, of religious holidays. Please refer to the calendar below and note the holidays so that you do not schedule mandatory exercises or major events or activities 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 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.

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 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 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. (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.

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

Steven K. Smith, Office of the Secretary of the Faculty, 608-265-4562, sof@secfac.wisc.edu\
Steven M. Cramer, Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, 608-262-5246, steven.cramer@wisc.edu
Argyle Wade, Interim Dean of Students, dean@studentlife.wisc.edu

CALENDAR FOR SPRING SEMESTER 2019

Summer 2019 Key Deadlines:
registrar.wisc.edu/dates/

[The following holidays fall on class days during the 2019 fall term: Navaratri, September 29^th-October 8^th; Rosh Hashanah, September 30^th-October 1^st; Yom Kippur, October 8-9^th.]

* 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.

Print version, 2021-2026 (PDF)

Print version, 2017-2021 (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