To: The Wellesley Community
From: Tiffany Steinwert, Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life
Re: New Religious Observance Notification Form
Date: August 31, 2018
Wellesley College has created a new way for students to notify instructors of necessary accommodations for religious observances throughout the year: the Religious Observance Notification Form.
Students can now alert professors about anticipated absences and related accommodations by filling out the form, which will be open through September 14. Students must submit any requests for accommodations and communicate about them with their professors before the end of the Drop-Add period.
This form allows students to select a number of prepopulated common religious and spiritual traditions for the upcoming semester at once. Students may also add any other cultural or philosophical traditions they observe.
The Religious Observance Notification Form will automatically generate an email notification for students, which they can edit as needed to include particular accommodations they might require. Once a student completes this process, the email will be sent to each of the selected instructors , notifying them of anticipated absences and/or possible work or food restrictions.
Note: After the email notification goes out, students must contact their instructors, preferably within a week of filling out the form to make arrangements with them regarding any work they may miss during their observance(s).
Students and faculty each have responsibilities to the other in negotiating the sometimes conflicting demands of religious observance and academic study. Students should not be required to attend classes or take examinations on the designated days, and faculty should make every effort to provide reasonable opportunities for students to make up missed work and examinations.
For more information, see Religious Observance at Wellesley.
