Office of the Provost

Dear Colleagues,

This message is to remind you of the University’s policy regarding religious accommodations for faculty, staff, and students, in particular how this policy applies in academic activities. I am also sharing guidance on reasonable accommodations for participation in certain extra-curricular activities.

Religious Observance

Faculty and instructors are expected to reasonably accommodate individual religious practices unless doing so would result in fundamental alteration of class objectives or undue hardship to the University’s legitimate business purposes. Such accommodations may include rescheduling an exam or giving a make-up exam, allowing a presentation to be made on a different date or assigning the student appropriate make-up work that is intrinsically no more difficult than the original assignment.

The full policy may be found at this link.

Your adherence to this policy is an important aspect in supporting our University’s commitment to building and maintaining a welcoming and inclusive learning and work environment.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Faculty and instructors are strongly encouraged to allow students to complete work missed due to participation in extra-curricular activities that enrich their experience, support their scholarly development, and benefit the University community. Examples include participation in scholarly presentations, performing arts, and intercollegiate sports, when the participation is at the request of, or coordinated by, a University official. Faculty and instructors are also encouraged to respond when the Student-Athlete Success Program requests student progress reports. This will enable the counselors to give our students appropriate advice.

In both cases, for conflicts with final examinations, students should contact the Dean of Students Office. Students should be encouraged to review the course syllabus at the beginning of the semester for potential conflicts and promptly notify their instructor of any anticipated accommodation needs. Students are responsible for making arrangements in advance to make up missed work.

Thank you for your attention to this reminder.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey

Jeffrey Shoulson
Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs