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FACULTY GUIDELINES FOR ACCOMMODATING STUDENT RELIGIOUS
OBSERVANCES
When planning courses, departmental programs, and other activities for the academic
year, it is useful to remember the rich mixture of religious and ethnic groups that
comprise our student population. The following list includes some religious holy days,
civic holidays and festivals that occur during the academic year, variously observed by
certain religious and ethnic communities. This list is not exhaustive, nor does the
observance of all the holy days or holidays require absence from class.
The IU Southeast Religious Observances policy attempts to strike a reasonable balance
between accommodating religious observances of students and meeting academic
needs and standards. This policy requires instructors to make a reasonable
accommodation when a student must miss an exam or other academic exercise
because of a required religious observance. The policy also outlines a procedure that
students should follow in requesting an accommodation.
IU Southeast’s policy on accommodations for religious holy days or holidays for both
students and faculty is available at:
Some illustrations:
o Faculty do not have to consider accommodations for the purpose of allowing students to travel away from IU Southeast for a religious observance. o Any student who is unable to attend classes or participate in any examination, study, or work requirement on some particular day(s) because of his/her religious beliefs must be given the opportunity to make up the work which was missed, provided that the makeup work does not create an unreasonable burden upon Indiana University. Upon request and timely notice, students shall be provided reasonable accommodation. o The University will not levy fees or charges of any kind when allowing the student to make up missed work. In addition, no adverse or prejudicial effects should result to students because they have made use of these provisions. o Attendance policies allowing for a specific number of dates to be missed without impact on a student’s grade should not count absences for religious observance within that number. o Making accommodations requires faculty and students to find suitable accommodation to cover the material from the course and complete all required work, including exams. It is not an appropriate accommodation to permit a student to not complete a portion of material from the course, or to miss an exam, and simply reduce that student’s grade. o Students are not required to prove attendance at religious services or events in order to obtain an accommodation for religious observance under IU policy. The students are required to give notice early in the semester. Please include this reminder in your syllabus. o Chairs and supervisors of adjunct Instructors and all other instructional personnel have a responsibility to ensure compliance with this policy. o Students seeking accommodations for religious observances can find the necessary form on the IU Southeast Diversity website or in one of the school offices. This form should be filled out and returned to the class instructor no later than the end of the second week of the semester in progress. To assist instructors and students in their planning, the Coordinator of Diversity for Academic Affairs encourages instructors to do the following at the beginning of each semester: o Announce dates and times for examinations and other major obligations o Ask students to let the instructor know about conflicts by the end of the second week in the semester so that accommodations can be made. o Provide students with information about how to download the accommodation form from the IU Southeast Diversity website. If, after discussion, the instructor and student cannot agree on a reasonable accommodation, either or both should seek the advice of the Coordinator of Diversity for Academic Affairs.
REQUEST FOR ACCOMMODATION FOR RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES
This form must be submitted by the student to the professor by the end of the second week of the semester to which the request applies. A separate form must be submitted for each day and for each course. The instructor should fill in the bottom section of the form, then return the original form to the student and retain a photocopy. Department: _____________________ Course number and name: _________________________ Instructor name: ________________________________________ Date submitted: ___________ Student name: _________________________________________ Phone: __________________ Student signature: ______________________________________ E-mail: __________________ I request accommodation for the following religious observance: Name of religious holiday: ______________________________ Day(s), date(s), and time(s) of religious holiday (e.g., “sundown Monday, September 29, through sundown Tuesday, September 30”): ________________________________________________________________________________ Briefly state the requirements of this religious observance that will prevent you from attending class,
taking an examination, or fulfilling other academic requirements (e.g., “Because work is prohibited on
this holiday, students observing it are not to attend classes, take examinations, or perform other class
requirements”).
Please note: Faculty do not have to consider accommodations for the purpose of allowing students
to travel away from IU Southeast for a religious observance.
(Optional) Suggested accommodation (e.g., makeup examination): * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This request has been accepted by the instructor, and the following accommodations will be allowed: Instructor signature: ____________________________________ *Holy days start at sundown on evening preceding first day and end at sundown or nightfall of concluding date. #All dates are from Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) and European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) adopted Islamic Calendar. For events based on sightabi/ity of the moon in North America, those denoted with "#"will be the next day from these dates. Mawlid-ai-Nabi (Muhammed's birthday) Islamic *Holy days start at sundown on evening preceding first day and end at sundown or nightfall of concluding date. #All dates are from Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) and European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) adopted Islamic Calendar. For events based on sightability of the moon in North America, those denoted with "#"will be the next day from these dates. *Holy days start at sundown on evening preceding first day and end at sundown or nightfall of concluding date. #All dates are from Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) and European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) adopted Islamic Calendar. For events based on sightability of the moon in North America, those denoted with "#"will be the next day from these dates.

Source: http://www.ius.edu/_office-of/diversity/files/religious-observances-policy.pdf