Final exam policies
There are various policies regarding final examinations which are paraphrased below.
The following final examination policies are taken largely from General Information, chapter 4 (other sources are cited):
- The final examinations for each semester are scheduled by the registrar. Classes that meet at the same time during a semester also have a common examination time (as given in the index of final exam times above).
- Class-related activities, with the exception of office hours, are prohibited on designated no-class days and during the final examination period. These dates are set aside for students to prepare for and take scheduled final examinations. During this period, papers and projects are not to be due, review sessions are not to be scheduled, quizzes are not to be given, and there are not to be any other class-related activities, with the exception of office hours (Policy Memorandum 3.201).
- Special notes for summer: There are no designated no-class days in the summer session.
Classes for nine-week and whole-session courses will not meet on final exam days for first-term courses. However, classes for second-term and whole-session courses will meet on final exam days for nine-week courses. When a conflict between a scheduled final exam and a class occurs, the student should consult the course instructor(s), department chair, and/or dean of the college.
- "No-class" days and final examination periods are listed in the official University calendar, which has been approved by the faculty, the administration, and the Board of Regents. No member of the faculty has the right to alter the calendar without the consent of all those who had approved it (Policy Memorandum 3.201).
- In courses with multiple sections, the departments should provide for necessary coordination among them. Materials to be used in evaluating the student's performance must be collected by the instructor at, or prior to, the time of the regularly scheduled final examination (Handbook of Operating Procedures, Final Examinations).
- Examinations should begin promptly at the scheduled hour and should not continue beyond the three hours allocated in the official schedule.
- No final examinations may be given before the examination period begins, and no change in time from that printed in the official schedule is permitted. An instructor with a compelling reason to change the time of an examination must obtain the approval of the department chair and the dean of the college or school in which the course is taught (and provide this approval to the registrar) before announcing an alternative examination procedure to the students.
No substantial examinations may be given during the last class week or during the no-class days preceding the final examination period. An examination counting for more than 30 percent of the final course grade is considered to be substantial.
A change in the room assignment for a final examination may be made only with the approval of the registrar.
- With the approval of the department chair, an instructor may choose not to give a final examination. However, if an examination is given, all students must take it and no exemptions may be allowed except pursuant to a uniform exemption policy announced to the class.
- For good cause, an instructor may give a student permission to take an examination with a different class section than the one in which the student is registered.
- For good cause, a student may petition his or her academic dean for permission to change the time or place of an examination from that specified in the official schedule. If permission is given by the dean and the instructor, no penalty (such as a reduction in grade) may be assessed.
- In a course extending over two semesters, when the subject matter is continuous, the second semester final examination may include the subject matter of the first semester.
- A student may address complaints related to the final examination procedures in a course to the chair of the department or the dean of the college or school in which the course is offered, or to the Office of the Ombudsperson.
- There is no University policy that provides relief to students who have three examinations scheduled the same day; in that situation, students may seek the assistance of the course instructors, department chair, and/or dean of the college.