From: "Shangyou Scott
Zhang" <szhang@UDel.Edu>
To: "Karren Helsel-Spry" <karren@UDel.Edu>
Cc: <szhang@UDel.Edu>
Dear Karren,
Enclosed is a committee report. Please
forward it to
the Executive Committee of Senate.
Thanks.
Scott
------------------
Report on listing religious holidays on
the UD Academic Calendar
(3/25/2009)
By the Committee on Diversity and
Affirmative Action
Issue:
Currently, three Jewish holidays, Passover, Rosh Hashanah
and Yom Kippur, and one Christian holiday, Good Friday, are listed
on the UD Academic Calendar. It was suggested to list two Islamic
holidays, Eid al-Fitr
and Eid al-Adha, on the UD
Academic Calendar.
Committee
finding:
In April, 1987, the Senate passed a resolution on listing four
major religious holidays on the academic calendar and UD Faculty
Handbook, with the following statement:
"To facilitate planning for the potentially large number of
absences on
these days the University shall include the dates of these
holidays in
the
academic calendar. Adjacent to each of these dates the academic
calendar
will include a reminder to consult the University policy on
excused
absences."
Most colleges in
academic calendar. Only a handful colleges list explicitly
major religious holidays while very few treat different religious
holidays differently.
Committee recommendation:
The four major holidays will be still listed in the academic
calendar, but in a separated table at the bottom of the
calender, along with a policy statement and a
link to an
Internet site for religious holidays, Interfaith Calendar.
The major religious holidays will no longer be listed in the
faculty handbook. A major change on the faculty handbook is
that the absense on major religious days is no
longer
automatically excused, but treated the same as athletic
absense and absenses due to other religious holidays.
The formal recommendations are
1. Delete the four religious holidays from UD Academic Calendar.
Add a table of the current major holidays at the end
of
Academic Calendar with a statement.
Major Religious Holidays, 2008-2009
Sept 30-Oct 1
Tue-Wed Rosh
Hashanah
Oct 9
Thu
Yom Kippur
Apr 10
Fri
Good Friday
Apr 15-16
Wed-Thu
Pesach(Passover)
It is the policy of the University of Delaware not to
cancel
classes on religious holidays. Faculty are encouraged
not to
schedule examinations or require the submission of
special
assignments on major religious holidays. See
Faculty Handbook
on excused absences at religious holidays. For a
complete
list of religious holidays, please visit the
Interfaith
Calendar: http://www.interfaithcalendar.org/
2. Revise the following portion the Faculty Handbook:
Current:
"In addition, faculty are encouraged not to
schedule examinations
or require the submission of special assignments
on the major
following days: the evening before as well as
the first two days
of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in the fall
term, Good Friday and
the evenings before and the first two days of
Passover in the
spring semester.
To facilitate planning for the potentially large
number of absences
on these days the University shall include the
dates of these
holidays in the academic calendar. Adjacent to
each of these dates
the academic calendar will include a reminder to
consult the
University policy on excused absences.
Absences on religious holidays listed in
University calendars is
recognized as an excused absence. Nevertheless,
students are
urged to remind the instructor of their intention
to be absent
on a particular upcoming holiday.
Absences on religious holidays not listed in
University calendars,
as well as absences due to athletic
participation or other
extracurricular activities in which students are
official
representatives of the University, shall be
recognized as excused
absences when the student informs the instructor
in writing during
the first two weeks of the semester of these
planned absences for
the semester. Absences due to similar events
which could not have
been anticipated earlier in the semester will be
recognized as
excused absences upon advance notification of
the instructor by
an appropriate faculty adviser or athletic
coach. "
Revision:
"In addition, faculty are encouraged not to
schedule examinations
or require the submission of special assignments
on the major
religious holidays listed on the academic
calendar.
To facilitate planning for the potentially large
number of absences
on the major religious holidays the University
shall include the
dates of the major holidays in the academic
calendar. Adjacent to
the list of these dates the academic calendar
will include a
reminder to consult the University policy on
excused absences.
Absences on the major religious holidays and all
other religious
holidays, as well as absences due to athletic
participation or
other extracurricular activities in which
students are official
representatives of the University, shall be
recognized as excused
absences when the student informs the instructor
in writing during
the first two weeks of the semester of these
planned absences for
the semester. Absences due to similar events which
could not have
been anticipated earlier in the semester will be
recognized as
excused absences upon advance notification of
the instructor by
an appropriate official appointed by the
college. "
End.