Final Exam Policies

Pre-finals week will be defined as the seven calendar days before the first day of finals. Faculty may cover new course material throughout this week. (Section 4.10 of OU Faculty Handbook )

FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE

Student-Faculty Policies and Information

(A) Assignments or projects worth less than 10 percent combined total of a student's grade may be assigned at any time prior to pre-finals week and may be due during pre-finals week. However, no assignments or projects may be due on the last two days of pre-finals week. Quizzes may be given during pre-finals week, but cannot account for more than 3% combined total of the final grade. Exams may not be given during pre-finals week.

(B) Assignments, take-home examinations, in-class examinations, or projects worth more than 10 percent of a student's grade must be scheduled at least 30 days prior to the first day of finals and must be due or given prior to pre-finals week. Any assignment that is to take the entire semester to complete may be accepted or presented during the first three weekdays of pre-finals week provided the syllabus explicitly states that the assignment can be turned in prior to pre-finals week.

(C) Special cases deviating from the Final Exam Preparation Period policy must be clearly stated in the course syllabus and approved by the chair of the department through which the course is offered. If the professor is the chair of the department, the professor must have these special cases approved by the dean of the college in which said department resides. If the professor is the dean of the college in which the course is taught, the professor must have these special cases approved by the Senior Vice President and Provost.

(D) Special requests made by a student for an extension of assignment deadlines into pre-finals week may be granted subject to the discretion of the instructor.

(E) Final Exam Preparation Period policies must be placed in the course syllabus underneath the University Policy section.

This policy applies only to 16-week courses during the spring and fall semesters.

This policy excludes make-up assignments, make-up tests, and laboratory examinations. It also does not apply to classes meeting one day a week for more than one hour or to classes without a university-scheduled final exam time during finals week.

All University laboratory classes and graduate courses are exempt from this policy.

No Student Government Association (SGA) Registered Student Organizations (RSO’s) may hold meetings, banquets, or receptions or sponsor or participate in any activity, program, or related function that requires student participation during pre-finals week.

Violations to this policy should be reported to the chair of the department in which the course is taught or, in special circumstances, to the dean of the college and may be grounds for grade appeal.

This policy shall remain in force until reviewed no sooner than 2014.

Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education regulations require that those institutions that reserve the final week of the semester as a testing period shall ensure that all classes meet during the testing period. Final examinations are given at the discretion of the instructor, or, in the case of multiple sections, the department in which the class is offered*. When a final examination is given, the student must take the examination.

*EXCEPTIONS

a. The Gallogly College of Engineering and the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy require comprehensive examinations to be given during the regularly scheduled examination periods in all undergraduate courses excluding directed readings, pure laboratory courses, and project-type design courses and seminars.
If a final examination is given, no faculty member is authorized to depart from the published examination schedule for either a class or an individual without approval, as stated in the Faculty Handbook. Early final examinations are prohibited. Final Examination has been defined as follows: an examination that is comprehensive in nature or that accounts for a greater proportion of the final grade than an exam given during the semester.
Uniform final examinations are listed by department and course number at the times they are scheduled to be given.
Two-hour classes which have one of their meetings on MWF will have the examination at the time scheduled for MWF classes. Those meeting both days of TR will have the examination at the time scheduled for TR classes.
Three-hour classes must follow the examination schedule. Classes meeting both Tuesday and Thursday are considered to be TR classes. Classes meeting two of the days Monday-Wednesday-Friday are considered to be MWF classes.
Classes meeting four or five days a week will have the final examination at the time scheduled for MWF classes with the same meeting time.
Classes meeting one day a week for more than one hour with a start time before 5:00 PM will have the final examination during the last lecture period. Classes in this format have been scheduled with sufficient meeting time during the semester to compensate for time lost in the final examination week.
Evening Classes. Classes that begin at 5:00 PM or later will have the final examination during the last lecture period. Evening classes have been scheduled with sufficient meeting time during the semester to compensate for time lost in the final examination week.
If laboratory examinations are given, they will be held during the last regularly scheduled meeting of the lab.
A student will not be expected to take more than two final examinations in one day. In cases where a student has three or more exams scheduled for the same day, instructors must offer make-up exams. The student's number of exams will be reduced to two by the following procedure:

a. If a student has three or more exams on the same day, the instructor(s) giving the third and subsequent exams must provide make-up exams during the week designated for final exams for that semester.

b. The student must notify the instructor or department of the third and subsequent final exams scheduled within a single day. Such notification must be given to the specific instructor or department before the end of the twelfth week of classes (sixth week of summer session).
In the event a conflict should arise from the scheduling of two or more examinations at the same time, the student will attend the examination for the class that met first during the week, according to the student's class schedule. The instructor(s) giving the second and subsequent exams must provide make-up exams during the week designated for final exams for that semester.

NOTE 1: Classes meeting one-day-a-week, with a start time before 5:00 PM, will test according to Regulation #7. Also, see Regulation #9.

NOTE 2: Day classes (class start time prior to 5:00 PM) meeting on-the-hour more than one day a week will test at the same time as classes meeting on the same days at the following half-hour. For example, classes meeting M W 8:00 AM will test at the same time as classes meeting MWF 8:30 AM. Standard on-the-hour meeting times are listed in the schedule above. See Regulation #8.

During the summer session, if a final examination is to be given, it must be administered during the final regular class period, or the final two class periods if additional time is required, as long as the final exam does not exceed two hours in length.

The University-wide policy on multiple final exams (see regulations above) will also apply for the summer session.