Policy on Secular and Religious Holidays
- The University recognizes/observes the following secular holidays:
Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Thanksgiving and
the day after, Labor Day, and New Year's Day.
- The University also recognizes that there are several religious
holidays that affect large numbers of University community members,
including Christmas, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, the first two
days of Passover, and Good Friday. In consideration of their significance
for many students, no examinations may be given and no assigned
work may be required on these days. Students who observe these
holidays will be given an opportunity to make up missed work in
both laboratories and lecture courses. If an examination is given
on the first class day after one of these holidays, it must not
cover material introduced in class on that holiday.
Faculty should realize that Jewish holidays begin at sundown on
the evening before the published date of the holiday. Late afternoon
exams should be avoided on these days. Also, no examinations may
be held on Saturday or Sunday in the undergraduate schools unless
they are also available on other days. Nor should seminars or
other regular classes be scheduled on Saturdays or Sundays unless
they are also available at other times.
- The University recognizes that there are other holidays, both
religious and secular, which are of importance to some individuals
and groups on campus. Such occasions include, but are not limited
to, Sukkot, the last two days of Passover, Shavuot, Shemini Atzerat
and Simchat Torah, as well as Chinese New Year, the Muslim New
Year, and the Islamic holidays Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha. Students
who wish to observe such holidays must inform their instructors
within the first two weeks of each semester of their intent to
observe the holiday even when the exact date of the holiday will
not be known until later so that alternative arrangements convenient
to both students and faculty can be made at the earliest opportunity.
Students who make such arrangements will not be required to attend
classes or take examinations on the designated days, and faculty
must provide reasonable opportunities for such students to make
up missed work and examinations. For this reason it is desirable
that faculty inform students of all examination dates at the start
of each semester. Exceptions to the requirement of a make-up examination
must be approved in advance by the undergraduate dean of the school
in which the course is offered.
(Source: Office of the Provost, 2003)
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