Scheduling to Avoid Conflict with Religious Holidays

Please use the guidelines below to avoid scheduling important academic deadlines, events, or activities on religious holidays that many individuals on our campus observe. For your convenience, we have also indicated UCSF campus holidays.

While it will be hard to avoid all conflicting dates, the Graduate Division asks all program directors, faculty, and staff to be sensitive to this issue and not schedule critical deadlines or events that students, faculty, or staff must attend on the dates listed below.

Note that UCSF must comply with California State Education Code section 92640, which says that an instructor must make a reasonable attempt to accommodate student needs in the case of serious incompatibility between a student's religious creed and a scheduled test or examination. Therefore:

  • Accommodation for alternative examination dates may be worked out directly and on an individual basis between the student and the faculty member involved.
  • Students should make such requests of the instructor during the first two weeks of an academic term, or as soon as possible after a particular examination date is announced by the instructor.
  • Students or faculty with questions may contact Nicquet Blake, dean of the Graduate Division.

If you have already scheduled an important event on one of the dates on this list, be sure to allow reasonable accommodations for students who observe the conflicting holiday.

Also, please bear in mind that it is not always comfortable for students to ask for accommodations, so you’ll want to give them opportunities to easily make such requests.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and for creating a supportive, inclusive environment for our students.

Religious and Campus Holidays 2022 through 2023

PLEASE NOTE:

  • Jewish and Islamic holidays (denoted with "^") begin at sundown the day before listed date.
  • Islamic holidays are approximate and can vary by one day.

2022

  • Christmas (Eastern Orthodox), Jan 7 (every year)
  • Chinese New Year, Feb 1, 2022
  • Ash Wednesday (Lent begins), March 2, 2022
  • ^Purim, March 17, 2022
  • Holi, March 18, 2022
  • Persian New Year (Nowruz), March 21, 2022
  • ^Ramadan, April 3-May 1, 2022**
  • Good Friday, April 15, 2022
  • ^Pesach/Passover, April 16-23, 2022*
  • Easter, April 17, 2022
  • Orthodox Good Friday, April 22, 2022
  • Orthodox Easter, April 24, 2022
  • ^Eid al-Fitr, May 3, 2022**
  • ^Shavuot, June 5-6, 2022
  • ^Eid al-Adha, July 10, 2022***
  • ^Rosh Hashanah, Sep 26-27, 2022
  • ^Yom Kippur, Oct 5, 2022
  • ^Sukkot, Oct 10-16, 2022*
  • ^Simchat Torah, Oct 18, 2022
  • Diwali, Oct 24, 2022
  • Birth of Bahá'u'lláh, Oct 27, 2022
  • ^Chanukah, Dec 19-26, 2022
  • Christmas, Dec 25, 2022

Also be aware of these UCSF campus holidays in 2022:

  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Jan 17, 2022 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Presidents Day, Feb 21, 2022 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Cesar Chavez Day, March 25, 2022 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Memorial Day, May 30, 2022 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Juneteenth National Independence Day (observed), June 20, 2022 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Independence Day, July 4, 2022 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Labor Day, Sep 5, 2022 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Veterans Day, Nov 11, 2022 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Thanksgiving holiday, Nov 24-25, 2022 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Christmas holiday, Dec 23-26, 2022 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • New Year's holiday, Dec 30, 2022 (UCSF campus holiday)

2023

  • Christmas (Eastern Orthodox), Jan 7 (every year)
  • Chinese New Year, Jan 22, 2023
  • Ash Wednesday (Lent begins), Feb 22, 2023
  • ^Purim, March 7, 2023
  • Holi, March 7-8, 2023
  • Persian New Year (Nowruz), March 22, 2023 (begins evening of March 21)
  • ^Ramadan, March 23 – April 21, 2023**
  • Good Friday, April 7, 2023
  • ^Pesach/Passover, April 6-13, 2023*
  • Easter, April 9, 2023
  • Orthodox Good Friday, April 14, 2023
  • Orthodox Easter, April 16, 2023
  • ^Eid al-Fitr, April 22, 2023**
  • ^Shavuot, May 26-27, 2023
  • ^Eid al-Adha, June 29, 2023***
  • ^Rosh Hashanah, Sep 16-17, 2023
  • ^Yom Kippur, Sep 25, 2023
  • ^Sukkot, Sep 30 – Oct 6, 2023*
  • ^Simchat Torah, Oct 8, 2023
  • Birth of Bahá'u'lláh, Oct 17, 2023
  • Diwali, Nov 12-16, 2023
  • ^Chanukah, Dec 8-15, 2023
  • Christmas, Dec 25, 2023 (also a UCSF holiday)

Also be aware of these UCSF campus holidays in 2023:

  • New Year's holiday, Jan 2, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Jan 16, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Presidents Day, Feb 20, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Cesar Chavez Day, March 31, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Memorial Day, May 29, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Juneteenth National Independence Day, June 19, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Independence Day, July 4, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Labor Day, Sep 4, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Veterans Day, Nov 10, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Thanksgiving holiday, Nov 23-24, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Christmas holiday, Dec 25-26, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • New Year's holiday, Dec 29, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)

*Avoid scheduling important academic deadlines, events, or activities on the first two days of Sukkot, and on the first and last two days of Passover.

**If possible, avoid scheduling major academic deadlines during the month of Ramadan, and especially during Eid al-Fitr, the three days just following Ramadan. Be sensitive to the fact that students and employees celebrating Ramadan will be fasting during the day, continuously for 30 days, and may have less energy as a result.

*** Avoid scheduling important academic deadlines, events, or activities on the first day of Eid al-Adha.