Statement on Final Exams; Supercedes EM 98-11

From: Gayle E. Hutchinson, President

Subject: Statement on Final Exams; Supercedes EM 98-11

Upon the recommendation of the Academic Senate and the concurrence of the Provost, I approve the Statement on Final Exams, effective immediately.

POLICY

Because of continuing complaints from students and because of our responsibility to meet requirements in regard to the number of instructional days in a semester as well as the number of workdays in an academic year, the University will rigorously enforce the final examination policy beginning with the current semester. The policy on final examinations is that all classes are required to meet for one two-hour period during finals week for instruction or examination.Faculty are required to give final examinations at the time and place scheduled, normally specified in the schedule of courses. For fully online courses, the course must be active during finals week for instruction or examination. Requests for exceptions to this policy must be in writing and approved in advance by the department chair and by the college dean. Failure to conform to this policy may result in a letter of reprimand or formal discipline, depending upon the circumstances.

A closely related matter is the Academic Senate's resolution (1985 (PDF)) that faculty are advised not to use the last week of classes for examinations unless there is no scheduled examination during the week of final exams.

Another policy which may warrant a reminder in this context is FPPP 1.1.14 which states: "A faculty member must report to his/her department chair any absence from a scheduled responsibility (e.g., a class, an office hour, or a meeting of a campus committee of which she/he is a member). This notice must precede the absence if at all possible. The notice will include the reason for the absence and efforts which are planned to mitigate the effect of the absence (e.g., substitutes, make-ups). If the reason for the absence includes external income- or compensation-producing activities, a potential conflict occurs.