Final Exam Schedule Process
The University Registrar’s Office has partnered with Student Senate to ensure timely and consistent communication regarding the release of the final exam schedule each semester.
The final exam schedule is released within five weeks of the semester start. This enables students to better plan for travel arrangements and structure decisions around post-semester plans; it also addresses scheduling needs for faculty and departments.
In order to produce a conflict-free final exam schedule, the University Registrar's Office takes into account the following during the planning process:
- Student course schedules (these are confirmed by the tenth day of classes)
- Exam dates requested by faculty
- Alternate seating / room assignments
After the final exam schedule planning process is completed, the schedule is reviewed by the associate deans and academic departments. The mini-1/mini-3 final exam schedule is posted to The HUB website by the third week of classes and the semester and Mini-2/Mini-4 schedule is posted approximately six weeks after the start of the semester.
Once the final exam schedule is posted, students are notified via email and encouraged to review the schedule to determine if any conflicts exist. Examples of conflicts include:
- when two final exams are scheduled for the same date and time, or
- when three or more final exams are scheduled within a 25-hour period.
If students believe a conflict exists (foreseeable or unforeseeable), they should refer to the Carnegie Mellon University Policies on Examinations and the Final Examination Conflict Guidelines, before contacting their instructors to resolve the conflict in advance. Students are responsible for initiating the conflict resolution process.
Questions regarding the final exam schedule in general may be directed to the University Registrar’s Office at cmuregistrar@andrew.cmu.edu.