Final Exam Policies & Guidelines


Final Exam Policies and Guidelines

Final examinations will be administered during the final examination period, at the same time and day the class met during the semester. Your instructor will provide additional information.

In case a student is subjected to conflicting examinations as listed in the final examination schedule for the appropriate semester, the last mentioned arranges an examination for the affected student at a different time.

  1. When the conflicting examinations are between French and Italian and Spanish, an examination for the affected student is arranged at a different time by French and Italian for spring semesters and by Spanish for fall semesters.
  2. If one of the conflicting examination times is a Common Examination (e.g., all sections of Psychology 104), the non-Common Examination instructor will arrange an alternate time.
  3. In the case of students with final examinations on multiple campuses for the same day, the same procedures apply for determining if a conflict exists and how it should be resolved. In addition to the standard time of the exam, sixty minutes of time should be added to the beginning and end time of the examinations to accommodate travel time between locations when determining if a conflict exists.
  4. If one of the conflicting examination times is in an Online Course Examination, the Online Examination instructor will arrange an alternate time.

The final examination will be administered at the scheduled time for classes that meet during the next-closest time (next time going forward) in the Monday-Wednesday-Friday or Tuesday-Thursday sequence. For example a class that meets at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday would have its final examination at the time scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes. Classes that meet daily will follow the Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule for finals. Classes that meet once a week will follow the schedule that includes the day of the week that a particular class meets. For example, a Monday or a Wednesday class would follow the Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule.

Final examinations for classes that begin at 5 p.m. or later will have examinations from 7:30 - 10 p.m. during the final examination period on the same night of the week that the class regularly met. If the class meets twice a week or more, a final will be on the first evening during the finals period that corresponds with a night that the class meets. For example a Tuesday-Thursday evening class would hold its examination on Tuesday.

Except for those excused in advance by the instructor, all students are required to take final examinations when prescribed. However, in the event that a student has (3) three or more final examinations scheduled on the same day, no student shall be obligated to take more than two exams on that day. No later than two weeks before Stop Day, the student shall notify the instructor(s) from the highest numbered course(s) not having a common final exam of the need to provide a make-up examination to be administered at a mutually acceptable time.

A Common Final Exam is defined as one approved for a particular multi-section course by the Calendar Committee in accordance with USRR 1.3.1, and published in the Timetable. Lecture classes with various discussion or laboratory sections are not "Common Finals" for the purpose of this regulation.

Students who are enrolled in the School of Law or the School of Pharmacy should consult the unit to determine the times of their final examinations.