The standard final exam week at the end of each semester has officially been eliminated from the academic calendar. As a result of this initiative, professors will be allowed to choose when their exams take place.
The new policy requires final exams to take place during regular class sessions, rather than designating the last week of the semester for final exams. The goal is to stop the disruption of other class times during the remainder of the week.
The new semester schedule starting this fall was determined by Vice President for Academic Affairs, Willard Gingerich, along with the University Senate, Registrar, Provost and Deans and Department Chairs.
“The University Senate conducted a study and discovered the many difficulties students were facing and contacted myself the administrator,” Gingerich said. “The registrar also had suggestions, so we all made a final decision together.”
Several students and professors at the university are pleased with this new policy since it diminishes the complications that many students faced at the close of the semester.
“I’m glad that they decided to do away with it because I found it a little inconsistent at the end of the semester,” Professor Thomas Franklin said. “I’ve had classes where there were 10 days between my last regular class session and the final so I think it is a really good idea.”
Students also experienced a lot of confusion with exam overlap. Adam Adrignolo, a senior majoring in political science, is one of those students, having had two exams scheduled at the same time.
“Last semester I had a problem where I had to take two exams at the same exact time,” Adrignolo said. “I actually had to choose one to take that day and I had to retake an exam by myself on a completely other day that wouldn’t conflict with my other three exams.”
Donia Bayoumy, a senior majoring in business management, faced a problem similar to Adrignolo’s where she was scheduled to take an exam and work on a final project during the same class time.
“I’m glad they got rid of finals week because it gets rid of time conflicts with tests and if you have to work on a project or a presentation too,” Bayoumy said. “It’s just a lot easier for the professors as well as the students, since most professors assign both a final project and an exam.”
