From: Student Affairs & Civil Rights Office
Dear OSU-Cascades students,
Welcome back to a new academic year at Oregon State University (OSU)! We are writing to share a reminder regarding religious holiday observances, and to confirm that the university is committed to providing support for students whose religious observance may have an impact on classes, schedules, and dietary needs. OSU has established a pilot calendar of religious and spiritual observances that are salient to OSU community members, and information regarding both updates are included in this message.
OSU’s Religious Accommodations of Students Policy & Community Resources:
We request that faculty work with all undergraduate and graduate students, regardless of learning modality, as outlined in OSU’s Religious Accommodation of Students Policy. It is incumbent on the student making the request to notify their faculty member or supervisor as soon as possible prior to the need for accommodation, although we recognize that holidays closely aligned with the start of a term may make that difficult. Students should work directly with their faculty member on these requests, and we ask that faculty provide reasonable accommodations to allow for the completion of any missed course deliverables. Faculty and staff can approve requests for religious accommodations without consultation, but must first contact the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access before denying a request.
Below, we provide information regarding dining and food options available on the OSU-Cascades campus.
Quiet Spaces:
A quiet space, called the Reflection Room, is offered on the upper floor of the Student Success Center. This room serves as a meditation/multi-faith quiet space for students, and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. A foot-washing station is located in the private bathroom on the upper floor as well.
Dining and Food Options:
Residential students at OSU-Cascades who practice a faith-based diet and need to develop a plan that will meet dietary needs for upcoming holidays and beyond, please complete the dietary needs form, and Dining Staff can assist in developing a plan that will meet dietary needs for upcoming holidays and beyond.
Religious and Spiritual Observance Calendar:
Oregon State University has created a calendar illustrating observances shared by members of the OSU community. The calendar is a pilot that seeks to serve multiple purposes:
- as a valuable resource for OSU leadership when making decisions regarding important OSU dates, deadlines, and timelines, and
- a useful tool for supervisors and teaching faculty when creating work schedules and course calendars.
You may find the calendar on the Office of the Dean of Students website. The calendar is not exhaustive of all observances celebrated by OSU community members and is intended to be an illustrative example; faculty and supervisors are reminded that accommodations should be considered for all observances, whether or not they appear on the calendar.
If you have any questions, concerns or recommendations, please do not hesitate to directly contact the Office of the Dean of Students or Equal Opportunity and Access.
Reporting Concerns:
OSU is committed to creating and maintaining an equitable and inclusive working and learning environment. If you experience conduct that falls short of this commitment, please report your concern to a university office so we can promptly address the issue. Most OSU employees are Responsible Employees and must report discrimination, discriminatory harassment, retaliation, and sexual misconduct to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access. Concerns of bias can be reported to the Office of Institutional Diversity’s Bias Response Team.
We wish you all a great start to fall term.
Kevin A. Dougherty, Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, Dean of Students, [email protected]
Becky Bangs, Associate Vice President and Chief Civil Rights Officer, Title IX and ADA Coordinator, [email protected]
To request this information in an alternative format please contact [email protected].