Dear Colleagues,
Voting is an important civic duty and we urge faculty and instructors to support members of our campus community exercising their right and responsibility to participate in elections. To support engagement in the election process, we ask faculty and those with teaching responsibilities to be flexible with students who need to take time away from their studies to vote. Many students are living outside of California and may be required to vote in person on Election Day and could encounter long waits.
We also encourage you to build in flexibility for student assignments and assessments occurring on and around Election Day, Tuesday, November 3. This can include scheduling midterms and other major assignments on alternative dates, offering asynchronous lectures or delayed delivery of content, not taking attendance, and other actions. Many of you have already made such accommodations, and we are grateful for your efforts to support active participation by our students in voting on Election Day.
Thank you for your support and consideration.
Sincerely,
Catherine P. Koshland
Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education
Lisa García Bedolla
Vice Provost for Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate Division
Jennifer Johnson-Hanks
Chair, Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate
This message was sent to UC Berkeley faculty, instructors, and graduate student instructors.