With the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah being celebrated on Monday, NIU students who have to miss classes may be wondering if they can make up the work.

According to the Academic Procedures Manual, section II, item 6, concerning conflicts between religious observances and the academic schedule, the university recognizes that conflicts may occur between religious holidays and homework or examinations, and “accordingly encourages the instructional and, administrative staff to make reasonable ‘accommodations'” to help out students when problems arise.

The manual goes on to state that students who have conflicts should notify their instructor or administrative area as much in advance of the examination or other activity as possible.

If students run into problems with their instructor over making up work, however, the manual says the student should bring the matter to the attention of the departmental chair, or if that is not appropriate, to the dean or dean’s designee of their college, for resolution.

Sue Doederlein, assistant dean to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said though the problem of having to contact a dean about making up work does not happen very often, they do encourage faculty to make reasonable accommodations, as stated in the manual.

“Students shouldn’t have to make a choice between academics and religious observances,” she said. “If the professor has been notified, and nothing is done, then the student does have the right to appeal to the dean of their major college.”

Doederlein also said they “take the requests very seriously and try to accommodate the students whenever possible.”

Associate Dean to the College of Business Dave Graf said if a student had difficulty with a professor, he would “probably have a discussion” in order to resolve the problem.

“Most instructors are very easy to work with,” he said.