Ohio University’s Faculty Senate met Monday night to discuss the Testing Your Faith Act, student grade transfers and student grade grievances.
Faculty Senate Chair Sarah Wyatt brought attention to Ohio House Bill 353, referred to as the Testing Your Faith Act. The act, which goes into effect on April 3, will require all higher education institutions to have a policy providing religious accommodations to their students.
Senate reviewed the policy OU plans to enact in accordance with the Testing Your Faith Act, which would give students three days of excused absence from class for a religious holiday not formally recognized by the university, as well as accommodations for any missed classwork.
Students will be required to alert their professors of religious accommodation requirements within the first 14 days of the semester. Professors will be required to state this religious accommodation policy in all of their syllabi.
Protocol is currently unclear regarding an unrecognized holiday that may fall within the aforementioned 14-day period. Clarification and updates on the policy are to be expected during Senate’s next meeting in March.
Jennie Klein, the associate director and graduate director for the School of Art and Design presented the second reading of a proposed policy which would allow acceptance of transfer credits for grades of D-, D and D+ from out-of-state and independent institutions. Currently, OU accepts the aforementioned grades only from in-state institutions.
Senate also conducted the first readings of revisions that would remove outdated language from the Faculty Senate Handbook and clarify information about academic employee registration for graduate degrees.
