Notes from Division of Academic and Student Affairs about exam changes due to weather:
We have had several questions on how an instructor might work with a student to accommodate test conflicts that arise due to finals rescheduling. Share this as you see fit.
As the instructor, can I decide what conditions constitute a reason for providing alternative exam accommodations?
Of course, faculty should evaluate each case as they deem appropriate. I would certainly expect to see proof of travel plans, especially for flights. Simply being inconvenienced by having to stay an extra day or two before traveling home by car does not rise to the level of a rescheduling problem, at least from my perspective. Clearly, religious grounds might be acceptable. I can imagine that major work conflicts could arise with travel, and for some students and their families, missing work may represent significant hardship. However, I would hope that employers would also be flexible.
Can I provide alternative times for individual students?
A question from a faculty member this afternoon dealt with whether she could work with students individually. The answer to that is Yes! Providing a time for a small number of students with conflicts to take the exam is always a good solution. I would suspect that in most classes there will be only a small number of students impacted in any class, and scheduling a separate time for them would make sense. However, the regularly scheduled time should also be used for students who choose not to use an alternate time.
Can I assign an Incomplete grade?
REG 02.50.03 states the following. “At the discretion of the instructor, students may be given an IN grade for work not completed because of a serious interruption in their work not caused by their own negligence.” If the interruption is unavoidably missing the final, then this is a reasonable choice. The instructor and student need to agree on this and arrange the make-up exam for early January. Waiting until next fall, or asking the student to attend the course again is not acceptable.
Do I have to offer the final in the newly assigned time on Saturday or Sunday?
Essentially, yes. We have students concerned about their instructors scheduling alternate times rather then the rescheduled exam on Saturday or Sunday. As discussed above, it is fine to offer alternative times for those with conflicts, but the exam should also be offered on Saturday or Sunday at the scheduled time, unless all students agree that the new times work. Moving to a new time can result in conflicts with other exams, and may result in students having 3 exams in a 24 hr period, which we avoid (REG 02.20.14). If students want to use the scheduled time on Saturday or Sunday, the exam needs to be administered then.
Are there other situations to consider?
I am sure that there are many other scenarios that might arise. Hopefully we can get through this unprecedented disruption of exams working together on solutions.
Questions? Contact Division of Academic and Student Affairs at 919.515.2446 or dasa.ncsu.edu.