Academic Leadership Toolkit

Final Exam Policy/Grades Due

Goals:

• To ensure that each semester, each course schedule provides for the appropriate number of instructor/student contact hours outside of the final exam period.
• To minimize conflicts between students’ scheduled exam times.
• To discourage academic dishonesty by holding an exam for all students in a given course at the same time (with exceptions for emergency situations).
• To ensure that all instructors’ grades are generated and reported by the deadline established by the Registrar.

Authority and Responsibility:

• The policy covers undergraduate students only, yet graduate courses with final exams should follow the standard exam schedule. Instructors who wish to deviate from the schedule should contact the Associate Registrar to make arrangements.
• Instructors are responsible for holding exams at the regularly scheduled time during exam week, not at any other time.
• Students are responsible for providing documentation to their instructors if an emergency situation makes it impossible to take the exam at the scheduled time.
• Deans of the school/college in which the course is taught have final approval authority over individual exceptions.
• Faculty Senate Undergraduate Policy Committee approves rescheduling of final exams for entire classes.

Common Pitfalls:

• Once individual students have obtained instructor approval for an exception, they sometimes petition their own dean, not the instructor’s dean.
• Students sometimes believe that they should be granted exceptions in non-emergency situations like participating in a wedding or interviewing for a job.
• Not turning in grades on time. Note that financial penalties may be levied for late grades.

Resources:

• The assistant/associate deans in the colleges who work directly with student issues can provide valuable advice to faculty and department chairs and sometimes have background information that can facilitate problem resolution.
• The Associate Vice President for Faculty Development and Advancement (850-644-6876) can also help at any stage in the process.
• The Undergraduate Studies Office (850-644-2451) is the primary point of contact for the Undergraduate Policy Committee. The Faculty Senate website is found here.
• The Academic Calendar contains exam dates, when grades are due, as well as deadlines for students to drop courses (the 7^th and 12^th weeks) for each semester.