POLICY OWNERS

This policy is jointly owned by the Office of the Provost/Executive Vice President, the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, and the University President.

PURPOSE OF THIS POLICY

Colorado State University respects the faiths and Beliefs of all members of the community and seeks to maintain an environment that is supportive and nurturing of religious faith, Belief, and spiritual practices.

The purpose of this policy is to establish practices for accommodating students when Religious Faith, Belief, and Spiritual Observances may conflict with scheduled academic events such as classes, labs, and examinations, and for accommodating employees when observances may conflict with work obligations.

APPLICATION OF THIS POLICY

This policy applies to all students in attendance at CSU and to all CSU employees.

EXEMPTIONS FROM THIS POLICY

None.

DEFINITIONS USED IN THIS POLICY

Religious Faith, Belief, and Spiritual Observance: An event that, according to a sincerely held religious faith or Belief system, requires the observer to be away from work or learning activities for a specific purpose or period.

Belief: A conviction or acceptance that something is true or exists in accordance with a sincerely held religious Belief. It is a personal or shared religious idea about life, the universe, morality, or the divine that people hold to be true. Belief guides what people do in their religion, like how they worship, celebrate, and follow rules that their religion teaches

POLICY STATEMENT

POLICY PROVISIONS

Accommodations for Students

1. Accommodations will be granted for Religious Faith, Belief, and Spiritual holidays or Observances when reasonable. Some key principles in determining the reasonableness of the request include:
   1. whether the request is limited or flexible enough that it will not result in substantial modifications to academic standards; modification or adjustment of requirements essential to any program of instruction, program or activity, or essential to any directly related licensing requirement; or modifications or adjustments that result in undue hardship and
   2. whether the accommodation can be flexible enough that it will not lead to the student missing a significant part of the regularly scheduled course activities for the semester.
   3. Students also have responsibilities. In cases where the observance obligation is a scheduled one, students have the responsibility, as much as possible, to notify the instructor at the beginning of the course,
   4. for observance obligations that cannot be known in advance, students have the responsibility to notify the instructor as soon as practicable,
   5. in cases where the observance obligation is a recurring one, students have the responsibility, as much as possible, to sign up for courses that do not conflict with predictable and recurring observances.
2. In most cases, students should be given the opportunity to complete the work in question in another way, on a different day, or at a different time, or to arrive late or leave class early.  It is imperative that the student follows up with their instructor(s) once the accommodation has been approved to discuss when and how missed work will be completed.
3. There are limits to what is reasonable. For instance, most people find it "unreasonable" to miss one day of class or lab every week of the semester. In such cases the course should be taken at another time or semester to avoid these types of conflicts. Another example of what most people would find unreasonable is the potential to miss two entire, simultaneous weeks of classes.
4. Please be aware of major Religious Faith, Belief, and Spiritual Observances when planning events and exams. CSU maintains a calendar of many of these observances for your reference, although it is not an exhaustive list.

Accommodations for Employees

1. Colorado State University employees may request a religious faith, Belief, or spiritual accommodation by either notifying their supervisor or contacting the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO). Supervisors who receive such a request should consult with OEO for guidance.
2. A reasonable accommodation is any adjustment to the work environment or duties that will allow an employee to participate in the observance and does not constitute an undue hardship to the department or university. Breaks, flexible scheduling, voluntary substitutions or swaps, and lateral transfers are examples of such accommodations, depending on the nature of the employee’s duties. Requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis to determine whether undue hardship would result from the accommodation.
3. An undue hardship is created when the requested accommodation presents a substantial burden to the university, taking into account all relevant factors in the case at hand. For example, this may include but is not limited to, extraordinary administrative costs, infringement of other employees’ job rights or benefits, or impairment of workplace safety. 

COMPLIANCE WITH THIS POLICY

Compliance with this policy is required. For assistance with interpretation or application of this policy, contact the Vice President for Student Affairs, the Office of Equal Opportunity, or the Office of the Provost/Executive Vice President.

REFERENCES

Human Resources--Time Off for Religious Occasions

Office of Equal Opportunity-- Religious Accommodation for Students and Employees

CSU Calendar: Faith, Belief, and Religious Observances

FORMS AND TOOLS

APPROVALS