Religious and Spiritual Belief Accommodations of Students
Policy Statement
In accordance with The Testing Your Faith Act, Youngstown State University instructors will provide students with reasonable alternative accommodations with regard to examinations and other academic requirements missed due to an absence described in the Religious Accommodations of Students policy 3356-8-09 if the student's sincerely held religious belief or practice severely affects the student’s ability to take an examination or meet an academic requirement.
Reason for Policy
The purpose of this policy is to establish procedures to reasonably accommodate the sincerely held beliefs and practices of individual students with regard to all examinations or other academic requirements and absences for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system.
Students may be absent for up to three days each academic semester to take holidays for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system or participate in organized activities conducted under the auspices of a religious denomination, church, or other religious or spiritual organization. To request an accommodation, no later than fourteen calendar days after the first day of instruction in a course, a student is required to provide the instructor with written notice of the specific dates for which the student requests alternative accommodations. If you have any questions about the policy, contact the Dean of Students.
Procedures
Instructors will accept without question the sincerity of a student’s religious or spiritual belief system. Instructors shall keep requests for alternative accommodations confidential. Instructors shall schedule a time and date for an alternative examination, which may be before or after the time and date the examination or other academic requirement was originally scheduled, but shall do so without prejudicial effect.
Included below is a non-exhaustive list of major religious holidays or festivals. The list shall explicitly state that it is non-exhaustive and shall not be used to deny reasonable accommodation to a student for a holiday or festival of the student’s faith or religious or spiritual belief system that does not appear on the list.
Religious Holidays and Festivals (2023).pdf
If you have a complaint about the implementation of this policy, you may submit an academic complaint electronically by visiting the Dean of Students’ website and selecting Student Complaint System, or you may contact Dana Lantz, Executive Director of Equal Opportunity at dclantz@ysu.edu or (330) 941-4629. Complaints will be addressed pursuant to the Guidelines for Initiating and Investigating Complaints on the Youngstown State University Office of Equal Opportunity, Policy Development and Title IX webpage.
CONTACT FOR QUESTIONS/CONCERNS
Office: Office of the Registrar
Location: Meshel Hall
Website: https://ysu.edu/registrars-office/grades