In an e-mail message sent to all students this week, the Office of the Registrar explained the University's standing on religious-academic conflicts. The policy, adopted in July 1996, states that if students provide reasonable notice for their absence, they may arrange for alternative opportunities to complete coursework missed due to religious observances. The policy also states that if they encounter any difficulty, students can appeal to the department chair; if this fails to solve the problem they should take their case to either the dean of the school or the University Ombuds.
This policy is extremely helpful to many University students for several reasons. First, it allows students to practice their religion without worrying that it will adversely affect their academic career. The policy acknowledges the importance of religion in people's lives, and it lets students of all faiths avoid having to choose between their beliefs and their studies. Second, having an official policy on religious-academic conflicts gives students a plan to fall back on if professors are unwilling to compromise, as well as a procedure to file complaints. And third, an official policy creates a need for faculty to address the conflict and arrange for alternatives; traditionally, some faculty ignored the importance of religious holidays by scheduling quizzes or tests with no alternative make-up dates, forcing students to forgo religion for academics.
Though the University's policy fills a need, it also consistently creates the conflicts in the first place. Last year, the winter term final exam period coincided with the beginning of Passover, a time when most observing students want go home to celebrate with their families. This is just one example of several instances in which major religious holidays came into conflict with University scheduling. Even with the existence of the religious-academic conflicts policy, the situation is not always easy for students. The University should take care in the future to avoid major conflicts.
Above all, it is important that students and the faculty are aware of the religious-academic conflicts policy. Students received information over e-mail last week, but because not all students use e-mail, it would have been helpful to pursue other methods. The University especially needs to remind the faculty. To ensure that the policy is truly effective, both students and faculty need to be aware of how it works, so that students may pursue both spiritual and academic goals without feeling pressured because the two conflict.