To: All faculty and staff

From: 

Kevin Kregel, executive vice president and provost
Cheryl Reardon, chief human resources officer and associate vice president
Liz Tovar, executive officer and associate vice president, Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity

Intent: Inform all University of Iowa faculty and staff of the institution's religious diversity guidelines. Please review the information below and bookmark the websites for future reference.

Date: Aug. 13, 2024

Religious Accommodations

In order to address religious diversity on campus and to abide by state and federal law, the University of Iowa makes reasonable accommodations for faculty, staff, and students whose religious holy days coincide with their work schedules, classroom assignments, test schedules, and classroom attendance expectations.

For more information related to accommodations in the academic and workplace environment, please review the UI policy manual.

For more information related to student absences for holy days, please review the UI policy manual. Information about student absences for holy days is required on course syllabi.

Scheduling Events and Examinations

One strategy for providing accommodations is to avoid scheduling events or examinations on major religious holy days.

The BMindful calendar from the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau is an excellent resource. Reviewed and approved by regional interfaith councils, the BMindful calendar lists holy days when religious observers are likely to stay home from work or school.

ITS has provided a quick method to add holy days to an electronic calendar for the next one to five years.

Religious Symbols

The UI is a community whose members hold a variety of religious and philosophical views.

As a public institution, the university must respect the need to maintain separation of church and state, and at the same time honor individuals' right to free expression of thought. Guidelines indicate the UI should not display religious symbols in public areas that would imply university support for a particular religion. However, individuals are allowed to display religious symbols on their personal attire and in private workspaces.

Visit the Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity website to review the complete guidelines on religious symbols, as well as further discussion of how they should be applied.