It is designed in part to protect the faculty from student pressure for grade changes. All other grade changes, including retroactive change to withdrawal or incomplete, must be approved by the Committee on Examinations and Standing on the basis of a written petition from the student and on information from the instructor. There is no university requirement that a final examination be given in a course. It is university policy that final examinations that cover more than the material since the last examination, that are the only exam in the course, or that are comprehensive of the entire course may be given only during the final examination period. Such examinations may not, for example, be labeled tests and administered during the last week of classes.
Final examinations are normally of three hours duration.
Faculty who, under exceptional circumstances, wish to give longer examinations may do so only if the exam is scheduled as take-home. Under no circumstances may final exams exceed five hours. The due date for all take-home final exams is the end of the examination period. First-year students receive midsemester grades around the eighth week of the fall and spring semesters so that they can, if advisable, enroll in tutoring or drop a class for which they may not be prepared. Faculty who teach first-year students in any of their classes will be asked to submit grades of standing for these students during the seventh week of the semester and should schedule the grading of tests, quizzes, or homework assignments accordingly.