Despite an updated religious holiday policy that provides students greater accommodations in their classes, a majority of posted syllabuses have yet to reflect the changes.

Only about 20 percent of the syllabuses on Blackboard – 69 out of 353 documents – have updated their religious policy sections with the new changes while more than 216 syllabuses – 61 percent – still include the outdated policy. Officials said the policy, which went into effect starting this semester, recognizes more holidays and faiths and allows students to notify their faculty up to three weeks before the date of their religious observance instead of at the start of the semester.

The Faculty Senate passed a resolution proposing this policy last fall following pressure from the Student Association and students of faith for greater inclusivity and flexibility. The updated policy recognizes 30 additional holidays from 11 religions, like Jainism, the Bahá’í Faith and Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and increases flexibility for exam scheduling on holidays – the old policy recognized only six religions.

University spokesperson Crystal Nosal said interim Provost Chris Bracey instructed deans and associate deans in early August to forward the new religious holiday policy and the updated 2021-22 academic calendar to department chairs. She said students concerned about faculty adherence to the new policy or the academic calendar should first raise the issue at the “departmental level.”

“The policy and calendar were distributed in August to ensure that faculty had time to plan their courses accordingly,” she said in an email. “By all indications, the policy and calendar, which reflect faculty and student input, have been well-received.”

Nosal declined to say how officials are keeping track of faculty who have updated their syllabi with the new policy and how they’re ensuring all students know about the changes.

The University’s fall 2021 syllabuses bank posted on Blackboard shows that 19.5 percent of the syllabuses have the updated religious holiday policy, 61.2 percent continue to include the old policy and 19.3 percent lack any section about religious holidays and exemptions.

Zachary Nosanchuk, the Student Association’s chief of staff, said while passing the policy is great “in the books,” many professors have yet to inform their students of the changes to religious holiday accommodations because they have not updated their syllabus. He said the new policy is a “big win” for students at the University because the changes assure more students of faith that they matter at GW.

“It’s not them being ignorant or malicious, it’s really just the lack of knowledge and lack of information that this is a new policy change, and it’s an exciting one and it affects a lot of students,” he said.

He said he heard from some students this fall who emailed professors during the first week of classes in accordance with the older requirement because they were unaware of the change. He said faculty need to better inform students about the changes and update their syllabi with the new policy, especially for freshmen and sophomores who are new to campus and in-person classes.

“This sort of policy change is one of the biggest ones we can do to make sure people feel really included here,” he said.

Nosanchuk said SA leaders have “brainstormed” ideas like asking Bracey, the interim provost, to send an email about the expanded accommodations and hosting a workshop encouraging professors to change their syllabi to make the policy more well known. He said they have also considered posting a document to Blackboard with all the University policies that faculty should include in their syllabuses, like religious holidays and Disability Support Services, so they can share updates more easily and frequently.

“We’re exploring all options to make sure it’s implemented because currently it is very much not being implemented,” he said.

Julia Kerrigan, the SA’s assistant secretary for interfaith engagement and a member of GW’s Interfaith Council, said she helped complete the new policy and religious holiday calendar. She said she’s been “trying to get the word out” about the increased accommodations.

“The religious holiday calendar is posted on the provost’s office, but I don’t think it’s very widely circulated and that is a goal of mine, to see it more widely circulated,” Kerrigan said.

She said while the new policy is more “accepting,” she said the extent to which students of faith have fully utilized the updated policy because faculty is unclear. She said officials have not “widely circulated” the changes throughout the GW community.

“I think it’s functional,” she said “I think it holds professors and students accountable. I’m personally fine with it, but I think it depends on professors being willing to create spaces where students’ identities can be fully explored and then information circulating properly to students so that they know that this is available to them.”

Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the founding director of Chabad GW, said the old policy mandating students to notify professors of their religious holiday observances during the first week of class was problematic, especially for new students who might not know the requirements because they just arrived on campus.

Shemtov said the new time frame allowing students up to three weeks before their holidays to notify professors is more practical, but students have “just heard” about the policy and will need some time before fully taking advantage of it.

“Every university has to balance its rigorous adherence to policy with valid concerns, especially when it comes to faith,” Shemtov said. “I think this is a step in that direction, and I’m sure that the administration will evaluate whether this addresses the problem fully or needs to be adjusted.”