Colorado School of Mines offers 'Ramadan exam support' for Muslim students...but what about other faiths?
Colorado School of Mines offers specialized "Ramadan exam support" for Muslim students on its website.
The same page on the school's website does not advertise the same support for students of other faiths, however.
The Colorado School of Mines is offering “exam support” for students of the Islamic faith who will be observing Ramadan.
The research university’s website states that “Ramadan is expected to begin on April 13th and end on May 12th, and Eid al Fitr is expected to be celebrated on the 12th or 13th.”
This observance is expected to have an impact on final exam scheduling and will interfere with the later portion of the Spring semester.
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Students may submit a request to the Mines Testing Center to reschedule their exams if they are scheduled in the afternoon (12:01pm-9:00pm) during the observed dates. The submission request form is available on the website through an easily accessible link in the dropdown menu, which is labeled as “Ramadan Exam Support Request.”
However, the school has not released any similar webpages for students of different faiths who may be observing holidays such as Easter, Good Friday, Lent and Passover. Campus Reform reached out to Sue James, the Web Content Specialist for the college, but she did not respond.
Mines states on its student absences webpage that a student may submit an excuse for missed academic work, if the individual “has a documented personal reason (illness, injury, jury duty, life-threatening illness or death in the immediate family, religious holiday or required observance, job interview [limitations apply] etc.)”
“A minimum of 7 days’ notice is needed to process requests,” states the Ramadan Exam Support page. But another page on the school’s website contains a different requirement, stating that “in the case of religious holidays or required observances (not including weekly or daily activities), the student must submit the request at least three weeks in advance of the absence.”
The student absences webpage states that “once documentation has been received and approved, the Associate Vice President of Student Life will send notice of excused absences to faculty members. The student is responsible for contacting his/her faculty member(s) to initiate arrangements for making up any missed work.”
The Ramadan request form does not ask for documentation.
Gregory Manley, a second-year student at the school, told Campus Reform that “one of the biggest worries for me is unfair treatment.”
”Mines is a very academically rigorous school and receiving even a couple of extra hours to study makes a big difference,” he said, adding that he has not seen the school permit these types of accommodations for students of other religions.
Campus Reform reached out to CSM Public Information Specialist Jasmine Leonas and Vice President of Student Life Daniel Fox but did not receive a response.
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