3,517: Final Examination Scheduling Policy

Revised: August 2025

For regular academic terms, final examinations held during the required final week of instruction must occur at the time specified in the Finals Schedule, unless a change is approved by the Provost’s Office prior to the first day of instruction of the term. A request to change the assigned final class meeting time for an entire class must be forwarded via the instructor, department chair, and dean to the Provost’s Office. Approved requests will be communicated by the Provost’s Office to Scheduling Services.  Except in unusual circumstances, permission will not be granted to change final class meetings to times outside the final week period.  For final exams in online classes that are scheduled in alignment with a standard academic term, instructors shall provide students with a range of allowable final exam times during the final week period.  The range shall not be less than 3 days in duration.

It is the responsibility of students to consult the Finals Schedule each academic term and verify final class meeting times in the class syllabi.  A student having three or more final examinations scheduled in a 24-hour period has the right to request a final examination schedule accommodation if the examinations cover 9 or more credit hours of coursework. 

The student should first request a final examination schedule accommodation by contacting the relevant instructors.  The process of seeking a final examination schedule accommodation should begin as soon as possible after the start of the academic term, and no later than the fifteenth day of instruction.  If the student is unable to obtain a final examination schedule accommodation from the instructors, the student can formally request a final examination schedule accommodation by submitting a request through the Academic Concierge Service.  The deadline to submit a request through the Academic Concierge Service is 5:00 pm on the last day to drop classes with no monetary refund.  The request will be forwarded to the dean of the college/school in which the student is registered. In consultation with other deans, if appropriate, the dean of the student’s college shall determine which of the examinations is to at a time other than that originally scheduled; that decision is final.  The dean shall notify the student and the relevant instructor(s) of the decision within 4 days of the receipt of the final examination schedule accommodation.  The student then shall consult with the relevant instructor(s) to reschedule the examination(s).