Religious exemption forms due today

Students who want to be excused from class for religious holidays must inform the University today.\nIn order for students to request class off, they need to either inform their professors or turn in the "Request for Accommodation for Religious Observances" form. The University is not obligated to honor the requests of students who are leaving the Bloomington area for religious observances, but the form guarantees students will not be penalized for missed work if their professors grant their request.\n"Usually the only type of problem I have in honoring students' requests is when they say their holiday starts at sundown, yet their class is that morning," said criminal justice professor William Head. "If their reasoning is that they have to leave that morning to get to their destination by sundown, it's a little more problematic because you have to decide how much leeway to give them."\nIn fact, many holidays for which students are exempt from class start at sundown. Jews, Muslims and Bahá'ís all have holidays starting at sundown, including Yom Kippur, Ramadan and the Birth of the Báb, respectively.\nIU implemented the current policy several years ago, said Dean of Students Richard McKaig. Prior to the policy, he said, students and their families were very vocal about not being able to miss class without punishment on certain holidays.\n"Since the policy has been in place, the number of student conflicts with the University has been drastically reduced," McKaig said. "We used to get a couple of problems every year, but now they're a rarity."\nThe form acts as a safety net for students needing to miss class. If a professor allows a certain number of absences during the semester, the exemption might not count as one of them. Students must also be given the opportunity to make up missed work on these days.\nLike many other religious figures at IU, Rabbi Sue Shifron of the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center, worries that students aren't knowledgeable about this exemption form and that some teachers may choose not to honor the exemption form.\n"There have been problems in the past with professors who choose not to observe the policy," Shifron said. "I've already had two students come to me with professors who have told the students that they're going to violate the policy already."\nIf students aren't able to download the form, they can inform their professors by the end of today. Students wishing to use the exemption forms can find them at the dean of faculties Web site at http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/download/holidayreq.html.