TO:                  Undergraduate Students

FROM:            Jill Dolan, Dean of the College

RE:                  Religious Observances, Fall Term 2023

Throughout the year, students might ask faculty for permission to reschedule academic obligations so that they may observe one or more religious holidays.  We ask faculty to honor such requests and to work with students to plan the most effective ways for you to make up your work.

For example, you might review a classmate’s notes (if your faculty permit); see your faculty during office hours; write a short essay on assigned readings; or complete an assignment that your instructor considers fair and equivalent.  Our goal is to help you practice your faith without compromising your ability to remain in good academic standing.  To do so, we need you to be thoughtful and collaborative with your instructors.

Many faculty might also observe one or more holidays.  Faculty have been advised to let students know if they plan to reschedule class meetings to accommodate their observances.  Students and faculty should of course be gracious with one another’s religious needs.

You can find a list of religious holidays on the Office of Religious Life website.

Faculty have been advised that students who observe the Jewish holidays in a traditional way are unable to write or use a computer or complete assignments on Shabbat and holidays.

Additionally, faculty have been advised that observant Muslim students are expected to pray individually five times a day, on a specific schedule, as well as weekly in a group session on Friday afternoons.

Because the Friday prayer session overlaps with 12:30 and 1:30 classes, Muslim undergraduate students should have been rescheduled in classes, precepts, drill sections, and labs that meet at times other than Friday afternoon. If you’ve had any issues with your schedule because of your religious observances, please contact your residential college dean or assistant dean for studies.

If you need information about religious holidays, please contact the Office of the Dean of Religious Life.  You may also contact the Dean of Religious Life and the Chapel, Dr. Alison Boden, directly at [email protected] or at 609-258-6244.

And, of course, feel free to contact me in the Office of the Dean of the College at [email protected] or 609-258-3040, if you have questions or concerns about your courses and your religious observances.

I hope your semester will be rich and rewarding.

My best,

Dean Jill Dolan

cc:         Alison Boden, Dean of the Office of Religious Life and the Chapel

              W. Rochelle Calhoun, Vice President for Campus Life

              Kathleen Deignan, Dean of Undergraduate Students

              Emily Shandley, Registrar

              Claire Fowler, Senior Associate Dean of the College

              Cecily Swanson, Associate Dean of the College

              Residential College Deans and Assistant Deans of Studies