§ 3-201 Final Examinations

1. All Students: The following regulations will be applied with the understanding that the university must reasonably accommodate a student’s religious beliefs, observances, and practices in accordance with § 1-107 and § 1-501 in regard to the scheduling of examinations if the student informs their instructor of the conflict within one week after being informed of the examination schedule. Appeal of an instructor’s decision of such accommodation may be made to the dean or dean's designee of the academic unit in which the course is offered.
   1. Synchronous courses are defined as courses in which at least one component of the course meets in-person or remotely at a day and time published in the Class Schedule.
   2. Asynchronous courses are defined as courses in which no component of the course occurs at a day and time published in the Class Schedule.
   3. Synchronous final exams are defined as final exams where all students enrolled in the section or course are scheduled to begin the exam simultaneously at a scheduled day and time, either in the same location or remotely. Synchronous final exams may be required only in synchronous courses.
   4. Asynchronous final exams are defined as final exams that may be scheduled and completed in any period within a longer window of time. Asynchronous exams may be offered in synchronous or asynchronous courses.
   5. Requirement for final examinations: End of the semester synchronous final examinations that carry significant weight in calculating the final course grade may be given only during the scheduled final examination period for the term. Alternative assessments such as papers, projects, studio assignments, or take-home/asynchronous exams, including those assigned in teams, may be due during the last two weeks of instruction provided they are assigned with a clear due date in the class syllabus or other information distributed to students no later than the end of the first week of instruction.
   6. Change in final examination schedule: The beginning and ending dates for final examinations are defined within each term’s Academic Calendar. The Schedule of Final Examinations for all colleges (except Law, Veterinary Medicine, and the Carle Illinois College of Medicine) is prepared and published by the Office of the Registrar.
      
      Instructors who give synchronous final examinations, regardless of course modality, must do so at the time specified in the Schedule of Final Examinations unless a change is approved in advance by the Office of the Provost. Requests for change should be submitted to the executive officer of the department in which the course is offered. Permission may not be granted to those instructors wishing to change final examinations to a time outside the final examination week. Reading Day should be left entirely free of any mandatory course obligations so that students may use this opportunity to prepare for their upcoming final exams.
   7. The window in which asynchronous exams are to be started must be at least 24 hours. In the case of an untimed take-home exam, this means students must be allowed a minimum of 24 hours to complete the exam.
   8. A student shall be said to have an exam conflict if that student has two synchronous exams scheduled during overlapping time periods. A conflict also exists if the student would be required to take three or more final exams with starting times all within a 24-hour window. Alternative final assessments shall be treated as if they are exams. They should be handled as synchronous exams if individual rescheduling is impractical, e.g. assessments involving group work.
   9. When a conflict exists, the student must first attempt to resolve the conflict with scheduled conflict exams and/or by choosing an alternate time for any asynchronous or self-scheduled exams that may be involved in the conflict. If conflict exams are offered for more than one course, the student must take the conflict for the course that has the largest number of students.
   10. If the conflict cannot be resolved using the methods described in 3-201(a)(9), the student must contact the instructors whose courses are involved in the conflict no later than the last day of class. The instructors and the student will collaborate to resolve the conflict.
   11. The following priority order should be used to determine how to resolve conflicts. That is, setting up any required special conflict exams is the responsibility of the course with the lowest priority.
       1. National and state professional examinations (e.g. CPA, actuarial science, Architecture Registration Examination)
       2. Synchronous noncombined exams scheduled by the Office of the Registrar
       3. Synchronous combined-sections and arranged-time exams scheduled by the Office of the Registrar
       4. Synchronous exams scheduled by the instructor
       5. Synchronous conflict exams
       6. Asynchronous exams

       When two conflicting exams involve courses of the same priority, the course with the largest number of students has the responsibility for offering a special conflict exam.

   12. A department offering a combined-sections, asynchronous, or arranged final examination must provide a conflict exam if required to accommodate student conflicts.
   13. In the event of a conflict not clearly resolved by the provisions of this section or which cannot otherwise be resolved, students should consult with the dean or appropriate designee in the home academic unit.
2. Undergraduate Students
   1. Undergraduate students must obtain the approval of the dean of their college to defer a final examination. Undergraduate students who must miss a scheduled final examination should report this fact to the dean of their college as soon as possible and before the final examination period.
   2. For satisfactory reasons, students may be “excused” by the dean of their college and examined later by their instructor. Absence from a final examination for any other cause is reported as a final grade of “failure” (F) in the course. (See § 3-103.)
3. Graduate Students
   1. Graduate students who are unable to take a final examination at the scheduled time or to complete other requirements of a course must make individual arrangements with the instructor. (See § 3-104.)
   2. Approval of this deferment by the dean of the Graduate College is not required.