Final Exam Policies & Guidelines

Final Examination

There shall be a final examination and/or assessment in every undergraduate course. Exceptions may be made with the written approval of the department chair or other appropriate unit administrator.

Each faculty member shall retain, for one full semester (either fall or spring) after a course is ended, the students' final assessments in the appropriate medium. If a faculty member goes on leave for a semester or longer, or leaves the university, the faculty member shall leave the final assessments and grade records for the course with the department chair, the program director, or the dean of the College or School, as appropriate.

All in-class final examinations must be held on the date and at the time listed in the official final examination schedule. Out-of-class final examination or equivalent assessments shall be due on the date and at a time listed in the official final examination schedule. Changes to final examination schedules and locations must be approved by the chair of the department or the dean of the College, or the appropriate designee. However, final examinations or assessments may not be rescheduled to the final week of classes or to Reading Day.

Students may seek to reschedule final examinations so that they have no more than three examinations on any given day. It is the responsibility of the student to request the rescheduling or be responsible for taking the examination as originally scheduled. When rescheduling is desired, students should first contact their instructors. Students who encounter difficulty rescheduling examinations with their instructors are advised to contact the dean's office of their academic program for help. Faculty members are expected to accommodate students with legitimate rescheduling requests.

Students are strongly encouraged to check the final exam schedule before registering for courses. Exam schedules are based on, but not the same as, the start time of the lecture period for the individual class.

When Course and Classroom Scheduling Services has completed the scheduling of final exams -- first week of April for Spring; and first week of November for Fall, final exam schedules (date/time/location) can be viewed in Testudo Final Exams web page.