Religious Accommodations

Employees

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of an employee or prospective employee unless doing so would create an undue hardship upon the employer.

To receive reasonable accommodations for a religious practice at Vanderbilt University employees should submit the Religious Reasonable Accommodation Request Form to EOA. The submission of this form will begin an interactive process that will include the employee, the employee’s supervisor, EOA, and relevant parties as Vanderbilt deems necessary. On average, the process takes at least two weeks to complete.

Reasonable accommodation arrangements are not retroactive. The accommodation will begin once it is approved by EOA. The employee will be notified about the outcome. Requests for accommodations must be renewed annually.

Accommodations are determined on a case-by-case basis. Examples include, but are not limited to, flexible scheduling, voluntary substitutions or swaps, job reassignment, and lateral transfers.

Students

To receive reasonable accommodations for a religious practice at Vanderbilt University, students and applicants for admission should submit the Religious Reasonable Accommodation Request Form to EOA.

Please keep in mind that the Religious Reasonable Accommodation Request Form must be completed before Vanderbilt can make any accommodation recommendations. The submission of this form will begin an interactive process that will include the student and relevant parties, as Vanderbilt deems necessary. 

A member of EOA may contact the student for additional information or to schedule a meeting and discuss the accommodation request as well as reasonable accommodations that do not create undue hardship or substantially alter the University’s pedagogy. The student and relevant campus partners will be notified of any accommodation decisions. Accommodations are determined and reviewed on an individual basis.  

Examples include, but are not limited to, rescheduling of a presentation, rearranging a graduate student's research responsibilities, and giving a makeup exam.

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