4150 Student Holidays For Reason Of Faith Or Conscience

Initial Date of Approval: 6/18/15

Revision Date(s): 

Administrative Responsibility: Vice President of Academic Affairs

POLICY

Skagit Valley College students are entitled to two days of excused absences per academic year for reasons of faith or conscience or for organized activities conducted under the auspices of a religious denomination, church, or religious organization. The academic year is defined as summer through spring quarters.

Students’ grades may not be adversely impacted by absences authorized under this policy.

Each holiday taken under this policy must be taken as a whole day, i.e., the day may not be divided into hours and taken piecemeal.

PROCEDURES

1. Students must coordinate an absence with the Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs at least two-weeks prior to the desired absence, unless the purpose of the absence was not known until later. All requests for authorized absences under this policy must be in writing and contain a concise explanation of how the requested holiday is related to a reason of faith or conscience or an organized activity conducted under the auspices of a religious denomination, church, or religious organization.
2. All absences under this policy must be authorized by the Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs in advance of the absence. The college will not authorize an absence for a student after the absence occurs without compelling circumstances.
3. The Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs will provide the student with a document verifying the date of the authorized absence and further instructions. In order to ensure that their absence does not negatively affect their grades, the student must comply with directions for notifying their instructors of their upcoming authorized absence. The student is solely responsible for ensuring the documentation authorizing the absence is provided to each of the instructors whose classes or assignments will be affected by the absence.
4. After an instructor is notified by the student of an upcoming absence, the instructor will determine what adjustments, if any, will need to be made to the student’s scheduled classwork or assignments. The instructor shall inform the student of these adjustments within two days of receiving the student’s notification.
5. If the student’s desired absence date is on a day when a test was scheduled or an assignment was due, the instructor may require that the student take the test or submit the assignment before or after the regularly assigned date.
6. Regardless of an instructor’s class expectations or grading policies, absences authorized under this policy shall not adversely impact a student’s grade
7. If a student fails to notify any of their instructors of an authorized absence (as directed by the Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs), the instructor is not obligated to make any accommodations for the student’s absence or treat the absence as authorized under this policy or the law.