Senate of
Proposal 10-94
Amendments to Final
Exam Policy
Final
exams are those tests scheduled for a special period following the last week of
instruction which is referred to as "final exam week". This period
begins and ends with the first and last officially scheduled final
examinations. Each department shall designate all courses or sections of
courses in which final examinations are to be given.
A
comprehensive final examination designed to measure the student's overall
knowledge is considered good teaching policy. However, no regulations shall
attempt to govern the content of a final exam. A final exam could be either
incremental or comprehensive.
No
final examination will be given earlier than the final exam week. In classes
which do not have final exams the instructor may not give any major tests or
examinations during the last week of regularly scheduled classes, because such
a test would be in effect a final examination given earlier than the final exam
week. However, departments with lab courses can choose to exempt lab
examinations from this policy. Make-up exams for illness or other excused
absences may be administered before or after the scheduled time, consistent
with maintenance of exam security.
No
final exams shall be scheduled on Sunday, unless the regular instruction
periods are also scheduled on Sunday.
No
regular instruction is to be continued during the final exam week, except that
the final examination time assigned to a course can be used for instruction if
an instructor so desires.
The
University shall not schedule, nor shall the students participate in, any
official function during the scheduled final exam period, except events whose
date is beyond the control of the University.
It is
the responsibility of the chair of each department to prevent violations of the
final examination policy. Students may report violations of the policy to the
chair of the instructor's department either in person or by anonymous note.
Students may similarly report violations to the office of the Dean of Student
Affairs; these reports will be forwarded to the departmental chair for
appropriate action.
Any
departures from an officially scheduled examination time must be approved by
the scheduling office.
Absences
from final exams need not be excused when caused by a student scheduling
courses with conflicting final examination times.
No
student shall be required to take more than three examinations per calendar
day.
Conflicts
will be resolved by the Dean of Student Affairs.
Adopted by Senate: October 25, 1995
Approved by President: January 3, 1996