POLICY TITLE: Carnegie Mellon University
Policies on Examinations
DATE OF ISSUANCE: This policy was approved by
the President’s Council on February 28, 2003.
ACCOUNTABLE DEPARTMENT/UNIT: Questions on
policy content should be directed to the vice provost for education,
8-5865.
Preamble
The Faculty Senate adopted
the following policies on the administration of examinations for the
undergraduate courses (defined as courses that are numbered 6xx or below). These
policies represent an understanding between faculty and student concerning an
important but often stressful period, especially at the conclusion of each
academic semester and at mid-semester. There should be no expectation that the
following points will cover every conceivable situation. The student should
anticipate the demands of the exam schedule, plan accordingly and early, and be
prepared. The faculty should recognize that the student is encumbered with many
tightly orchestrated and intensive obligations during this period over which he
or she has no control: expectations should be reasonably consistent with the
number of course units and, of course, should be made known to the student well
in advance of the final examination period, preferably as part of the course
syllabus.
In order to help students
plan their time and study optimally for examinations, this document lays out in
some detail the policies regarding final and in-term examinations. Instructors
are requested to provide notification of the major in-term examinations in the
course syllabus. The final examination date is posted early in the semester. It
is the responsibility of the student to give his or her instructor sufficient
notice and to work with the instructor to re-schedule examinations if this is
needed.
Definitions
·
Final examination
period.
The university’s official final examination period begins on the Monday
immediately following the last day of classes and continues through the last day
of scheduled final examinations, with the exception of reading
day(s).
·
Scheduled final
examinations. Scheduled final
examinations are those scheduled by Enrollment
Services.
·
Self-scheduled
examinations. An instructor may
choose not to fix a schedule for the final examination, but instead allow each
student to choose the examination time; such exams are called self-scheduled
examinations.
·
Final
examinations. Final examinations can
either be comprehensive, covering all course materials, or non-comprehensive,
covering only a part of the course.
·
In-term
examinations. Major examinations
during the semester are referred to here as in-term examinations.
Policies
I. In-term Examinations
1.
All in-term
examinations should be given during the regularly scheduled class time. However,
if the exam requires additional time to complete, then examinations may be
administered outside of regularly scheduled class time.
2.
No examinations given
outside of class time (excluding make ups and self-scheduled examinations) shall
be administered on a Friday after 4:30 pm, or at any time Saturday or
Sunday.
3.
The instructor
administering an exam (or another required class event) that falls outside class
time must make any and all reasonable accommodations to provide an alternative
time to students who have conflicts with the proposed time period, including
those conflicts due to activities, meetings, other classes, etc. (provided that
the instructor is notified of such conflict in a timely
manner).
4.
No student shall be
required to take more than two full-period in-class or out-of-class examinations
on the same day. It is the responsibility of the student to notify the
instructor in a timely manner of his/her circumstance so that appropriate
accommodations can be made
II. Final
Examinations
1.
All scheduled final
examinations are held at the end of the semester during the university’s
official final examination period. Comprehensive final examinations are not
required for each course, but are given at the option of the department or
instructor. The reading day and weekend preceding the examination days shall
never be used for examination purposes of any kind, unless a student opts to
take a self-scheduled examination during this time. Non-comprehensive final
examinations or final projects (but not both) are allowed during this final
examination period only in courses that do not give a final comprehensive
examination.
2.
Instructors are
expected to return all work assigned no later than the last regular day of
classes in courses for which there is a final examination. In cases when this is
not possible, an answer key, solution sets or equivalent feedback should be
provided unless the final examination will not cover material in work that has
not been returned.
3.
No other coursework,
including laboratory or studio work, will be due during the final examination
period unless it is assigned in advance and in lieu of the course’s final
examination. Regardless of whether there is a final examination in the course,
no classes other than review sessions shall be held during the final examination
period. Review sessions should be scheduled for optimal attendance, and a
serious effort should be made to accommodate students who cannot attend. In
appreciation of the time required to prepare for final examinations, no other
examinations, portfolio reviews, critiques or juries shall be scheduled for the
last class day of a course with a final examination.
4.
Instructors shall
never exert or submit to pressures to move an examination so that people can
leave earlier nor pressure students to take an examination on a reading day or
weekend preceding examinations.
5.
No student is required
to take more than two scheduled examinations that start within a 25-hour period.
A student who has more than two examinations scheduled within a 25-hour period
or has two examinations scheduled at the same time should first contact the
instructors of the courses for assistance in resolving conflicts. If the problem
cannot be resolved by that means, the student should contact the associate dean
of his or her home college.
6.
Take-home final
examinations shall be given for any 24-hour period of the student’s choosing
during the final examination period.
7.
Students are expected
to present themselves at the place assigned at the start of the examination;
late arrival will reduce the total time a student has to complete the
examination, unless instructor’s course policy indicates otherwise. Instructors
reserve the right to require attendance within a specific time period. Students
who miss an examination with a reasonable excuse and wish to petition for a
make-up final examination should check with the instructor. Instructors are
encouraged to include late arrival policy and make-up exam policy in the course
syllabus.
8.
Any student shall be
permitted to review his or her corrected, graded final examination in the
presence of an instructor or a teaching assistant. Any controversy arising from
this review shall be dealt with in accordance with the university procedure for
the appeal of grades and academic actions. A final examination that is not
returned to a student will be kept available for a year for review. In the event
that the instructor or teaching assistant is not available for the review, the
responsibility shall rest with the department head of the instructor offering
the course or his or her designee. Since instructors are expected to return all
work assigned before the final examinations, they are not responsible for
retaining unclaimed coursework.
9.
Concerns related to
final examination, complaints about violations of the final examination policy
or alterations of the final examination schedule should be directed to the
department head of the instructor offering the course or to the associate dean
of the student’s home college.
Contact
Questions concerning
this policy or its content should be directed to the vice provost for education,
8-5865.
Editor's notes: