Final Exams
Final examinations are comprehensive assessments administered during the designated final exam period at the end of each semester. The final exam schedule is published by the Registrar's Office and must be followed by all courses unless approved exceptions exist. Students are expected to take exams at the scheduled time and should not make travel arrangements that conflict with exam schedules. Conflicts, emergencies, or multiple exams scheduled simultaneously may qualify for alternative exam arrangements through official university procedures. Final exam schedules are generally based on the University's exam schedule and any changes are ultimately subject to the instructor's approval.
Final Exam Schedule
The Registrar's Office publishes the final exam schedule several weeks before the end of each semester. This schedule assigns specific exam times based on course meeting patterns, ensuring that exams are distributed appropriately across the exam period and minimizing conflicts for students taking multiple courses.
When the Schedule Is Published: The final exam schedule typically becomes available 4-6 weeks before the end of the semester. Check the Registrar's website and the academic calendar for the exact publication date each term.
How the Schedule Works: Final exams are scheduled based on when courses meet during the regular semester. For example, courses meeting Monday/Wednesday/Friday at 9:00 AM all have their finals at the same designated time, while courses meeting Tuesday/Thursday at 11:00 AM have finals at a different designated time. This pattern-based scheduling
helps prevent conflicts for most students.
Where to Find Your Schedule: Access your personal final exam schedule through the student portal. Your schedule shows each course, the exam date and time, and the exam location (which may differ from your regular classroom). Print or save this schedule and plan accordingly.
Exam Locations: Final exams may be held in your regular classroom or in different locations to accommodate larger groups or special needs. Check your exam schedule carefully for location information and arrive early to unfamiliar exam locations to avoid getting lost.
Final Exam Period Dates
The final exam period occupies the week immediately following the last day of regular classes each semester. This dedicated period allows concentrated time for comprehensive assessments without regular class meetings.
Timing: Final exams typically begin the day after the last regular
class day and extend across one week. The exact dates vary by semester and are published in the academic calendar at the beginning of each academic year.
No Regular Classes: During final exam week, no regular class
meetings occur. Students attend only scheduled final examinations. This allows focus on exam preparation and ensures adequate time between exams.
Reading Days: Some institutions designate one or two reading days between the last day of classes and the first day of final exams.
Reading days provide time for final exam preparation without exams or classes scheduled. Check whether your institution offers reading days and plan your study time accordingly.
Exam Spacing: The exam schedule attempts to space exams appropriately, but students may have multiple exams in one day or consecutive days. Plan your study schedule to accommodate your specific exam timing.
Attendance Requirements for Finals
Final examination attendance is mandatory unless you have documented circumstances that prevent attendance and follow proper procedures for alternative arrangements.
Attendance is Assumed: Just as regular class attendance is expected, final exam attendance is required. Instructors schedule finals based on the assumption that all enrolled students will attend at the designated time.
Missing Exams Without Excuse: Missing a final exam without approved excuse typically results in a score of zero on the exam, which significantly impacts your final course grade. Many courses weight final exams at 20-40% of the total grade, making it difficult or impossible to pass the course without taking the final.
Communication is Essential: If circumstances prevent you from taking a final exam at the scheduled time, communicate with your instructor
immediately. Early communication demonstrates responsibility and gives instructors time to make alternative arrangements if your circumstances warrant accommodation.
Conflict Exam Procedures
Exam conflicts occur when two or more of your final exams are scheduled at exactly the same time. The university has procedures for resolving these conflicts.
Definition of Conflict: A conflict exists when you have two exams scheduled at the identical time on the same day. Exams on the same day at different times, even if close together, do not constitute conflicts under university policy, though they may be exhausting.
Resolving Conflicts: When a conflict exists, contact the instructors of the conflicting courses immediately upon discovering the conflict. One instructor will arrange an alternative exam time, typically either earlier the same day, immediately following the regularly scheduled
exam, or at another mutually agreed time during the final exam period.
Student Responsibility: You must identify and report conflicts as soon as the exam schedule is published. Waiting until exam week to address conflicts is unacceptable and may result in limited accommodation options.
Documentation: Some institutions require conflict exam request forms. Check with the Registrar's Office or your instructors about required documentation for alternative exam arrangements due to conflicts.
Multiple Exams Same Day Procedures
While not conflicts (which are same-time situations), having multiple exams on the same day creates stress and fatigue. University policies may provide relief in specific situations.
What Qualifies: Some institutions allow alternative arrangements
when students have three or more final exams scheduled on the same day. Two exams on the same day, regardless of timing, typically don't qualify for accommodation.
Requesting Accommodation: If you have three or more exams on one day, contact your instructors early in the semester to discuss possible alternative timing. Instructors have discretion in whether to offer alternatives for multiple-exam situations.
Plan Your Preparation: Even if you cannot change exam times, plan your preparation strategy for days with multiple exams. Study sequentially for each exam, allocate time proportionate to exam weights and your confidence levels, and ensure adequate rest before exam days.
Medical Emergency During Finals
Illness or medical emergencies during final exam week require proper documentation and communication.
Notify Instructors Immediately: If you're too ill to take a final exam, contact your instructor as soon as possible, ideally before the
exam time. Provide basic information about your situation and when you expect to be able to take the exam.
Obtain Medical Documentation: Visit the Wellness Center, a doctor's office, or emergency room depending on your condition. Obtain documentation of your illness that includes the date(s) you were unable to attend exams and any restrictions on your activities.
Dean of Students Notification: For serious illness affecting
multiple exams, contact the Dean of Students Office at (804) 524-5350. They can help coordinate communications with your instructors and document your circumstances.
Make-Up Arrangements: Work with each instructor individually to schedule make-up exams. Instructors will set deadlines for make-ups, typically requiring completion before final grades are due. Missing these deadlines may result in failing the course.
Family Emergency During Finals
Family emergencies such as death or serious illness of immediate family members warrant accommodation, but require proper documentation and procedures.
What Qualifies: Circumstances typically qualifying for emergency accommodation include death of immediate family member (parent, sibling, grandparent, spouse, child), serious illness or hospitalization of
immediate family member requiring your presence, or family crisis requiring your immediate attention. Extended family situations or less urgent matters may not qualify.
Immediate Communication: Contact the Dean of Students Office as soon as you learn of the emergency. They can help verify your situation and communicate with your instructors on your behalf, providing centralized documentation and consistent information.
Documentation: Provide documentation such as obituary or funeral service information, hospital admission records or doctor's statements, or other verification of the emergency situation. This documentation protects both you and the university by ensuring accommodations are granted for legitimate emergencies.
Return and Make-Up Timeline: Work with the Dean of Students Office and your instructors to establish reasonable timelines for your return
and completion of make-up exams. These timelines balance your need for time to address family matters with the university's need to close semester grades.
Documentation Requirements for Makeup Exams
Alternative exam arrangements require appropriate documentation regardless of the reason for accommodation.
Medical Documentation: Doctor's notes or Wellness Center documentation should specify dates you were unable to attend exams, confirm the medical condition prevented exam attendance (without necessarily disclosing diagnosis), and indicate when you're able to resume academic activities.
Emergency Documentation: Family emergency documentation includes obituaries, funeral programs, hospital records, or official documents verifying the emergency. These documents establish the legitimacy of your absence and support your make-up exam requests.
Conflict Documentation: For exam conflicts, documentation from the Registrar's office showing your official exam schedule demonstrating the conflict is typically sufficient.
Submission Timing: Provide documentation promptly, within 24-48 hours of the missed exam if possible. Delays in documentation can delay make-up exam scheduling and may raise questions about the validity of your circumstances.
Final Exam Format and Length
Final exams vary in format, length, and structure depending on the course and instructor's preferences.
Comprehensive vs. Non-Comprehensive: Most final exams are comprehensive, covering material from the entire semester. Some instructors limit finals to material covered after the last major exam, though this is less common. Check your syllabus or ask your instructor about the scope of the final exam.
Format Variations: Finals may be traditional written exams with
multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions, take-home exams with longer-answer or research components, practical exams or demonstrations for skills-based courses, oral examinations or presentations, or creative projects or portfolios due during exam week. Your syllabus should specify the final exam format.
Length and Timing: Final exams are typically scheduled for 2-3 hours, though not all exams use the full time. Your instructor may
indicate expected exam length to help you plan. However, arrive prepared to stay for the full scheduled time if needed.
Study Strategies by Format: Tailor your preparation to the exam format. Multiple-choice exams require different preparation than essay exams. Cumulative exams require reviewing earlier material, not just recent topics. Understand what your exam will entail and prepare accordingly.
Courses Exempt from Final Exams
Not all courses have traditional final exams during the final exam period. Several types of courses may have alternative final assessments. Seminar and Discussion Courses: Some upper-level seminars use final papers or projects due during finals week rather than traditional exams.
These courses still utilize the final exam period for assessment, just in different formats.
Lab Courses: Science lab courses may have final practical exams during the last regular lab session rather than during finals week, or
they may have cumulative practical exams during the final exam period. Performance Courses: Music, theater, and dance courses often have final performances or juries during the last weeks of class rather than traditional final exams. Studio art courses may have final critiques or portfolio presentations.
Senior Seminars and Capstones: Some capstone courses have final presentations or thesis defenses that occur during the final weeks of the semester or during the exam period.
Your Syllabus Specifies: Check your syllabus for each course to understand what final assessment, if any, replaces a traditional final exam. Don't assume every course has a sit-down final exam during finals week.
Travel Policy During Finals Week
University policy strongly discourages travel during the final exam period, and instructors are not required to accommodate travel plans that conflict with scheduled exams.
Do Not Make Travel Plans: Until you know your final exam schedule, do not purchase airline tickets, make hotel reservations, or commit to travel during the exam period. The exam schedule is published weeks in advance specifically so students can plan around exams, not the reverse.
University Priority: The university's position is clear: final exams take priority over travel plans. Instructors are not obligated to offer alternative exam times because you made travel plans before confirming your exam schedule.
Limited Exceptions: In rare circumstances, instructors may accommodate unavoidable commitments that preceded the exam schedule publication, such as mandatory military duty, pre-scheduled medical procedures that cannot be rescheduled, or legal obligations. However, these accommodations are at instructor discretion and require substantial advance notice.
Plan Travel After Finals: Schedule departure travel for after your last exam. If you have exams early in finals week and none later, you may be able to travel mid-week, but confirm all exam dates before booking anything.
Academic Integrity During Exams
Final exams are governed by the same academic integrity policies as all course work, with serious consequences for violations.
Prohibited Behaviors: Academic dishonesty during final exams includes using unauthorized materials or resources during exams, communicating with other students during exams (unless explicitly permitted by the instructor), copying from other students' exams, allowing others to copy from your exam, using electronic devices for unauthorized purposes during exams, continuing to write after time is called, or removing exam materials from the exam room without permission.
Consequences: Academic integrity violations on final exams typically result in failure of the exam (zero score), which often means failing the course, referral to the Office of Student Conduct for additional sanctions, possible notation on your transcript, and in serious or repeat cases, suspension or expulsion from the university.
Exam Environment: Arrive at exams with only permitted materials.
Turn off and put away cell phones and smart watches. Maintain appropriate distance from other students when possible. Keep your eyes on your own exam. These behaviors demonstrate integrity and avoid situations that might be misconstrued as dishonest.
When Unclear: If you're uncertain whether specific resources or behaviors are permitted during an exam, ask your instructor before the exam. Don't make assumptions that could lead to integrity violations.
Grade Submission and Access
After completing your final exams, instructors have deadlines for submitting final course grades.
Grade Submission Deadlines: Instructors typically have 48-72 hours after the final exam to submit grades to the Registrar's Office. For exams early in finals week, grades may be available before finals week ends. For exams at the end of finals week, grades may not appear until several days after finals conclude.
Where to Check Grades: Final course grades appear in your student portal once submitted by instructors and processed by the Registrar. Check your portal regularly during and after finals week to see grades as they're posted.
Incomplete Grades: If you see an "I" (incomplete) grade, contact your instructor. Incompletes are assigned when you're passing but haven't completed all requirements due to circumstances beyond your control. Your instructor will explain what work you must complete and by what deadline to resolve the incomplete.
Grade Changes: If you believe a final grade contains an error, contact your instructor promptly after grades post. See the Changing Grades page for information about grade change procedures. Act quickly, as addressing grade concerns becomes more difficult as time passes.
Preparing for Final Exams
Effective final exam preparation requires planning and strategy: Create a study schedule for the days or weeks before finals. Allocate time for each exam proportionate to its weight, difficulty, and your confidence level. Review earlier material for cumulative exams, not just recent content. Utilize study groups, tutoring, and instructor office hours for clarification on challenging concepts.
Take care of yourself physically. Adequate sleep, regular meals, and breaks for physical activity support cognitive function. All-nighters impair performance more than they help. Manage stress through healthy coping strategies and campus wellness resources.
Gather permitted materials and resources before exam day. Have your student ID, writing implements, calculators (if allowed), and any approved reference sheets ready. Know your exam locations and plan to arrive 10-15 minutes early.
Questions?
For questions about final exams:
Your Course Instructor (for questions about specific course final exams)
Office of the Registrar (for general questions about exam schedules and conflicts)
Phone: (804) 524-578
Final exams are significant assessments demonstrating your learning across the semester. Prepare thoroughly, follow policies, and communicate proactively if circumstances prevent you from taking exams as scheduled.