Final Exams - UT Policy

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Final exam dates for the current semester are available at the UT Registrar’s website.

The following final examination policies are taken from General Information, chapter 4:

Faculty Presence on Campus During Final Examination Periods
A faculty member is responsible for ensuring that final examinations for his or her courses are adequately staffed, that he or she is available for related questions and to resolve problems, and that final course grades are turned in on time. Unless a faculty member has received approval for travel under regular University policy, he or she must be available on campus during final examinations in his or her courses, or available in the Austin area and easily reachable by telephone or e-mail. The faculty member must remain in the Austin area until his or her grades are finalized. If a faculty member must travel during this time, he or she must include on the request for travel authorization how final examination matters will be handled and how he or she can be reached in case of an emergency.

Class-related activities, with the exception of office hours, are prohibited on designated no-class days and during the final examination period. These dates are set aside for students to prepare for and take scheduled final examinations. During this period, papers and projects are not to be due, review sessions are not to be scheduled, quizzes are not to be given, and there are not to be any other class-related activities, with the exception of office hours (Policy Memorandum 3.201).

Examinations should begin promptly at the scheduled hour and should not continue beyond the three hours allocated in the official schedule.

No final examinations may be given before the examination period begins, and no change in time from that printed in the official schedule is permitted. An instructor with a compelling reason to change the time of an examination must obtain the approval of the department chair and the dean of the college or school in which the course is taught before announcing an alternative examination procedure to the students.

No substantial examinations may be given during the last class week or during the no-class days preceding the final examination period. An examination counting for more than 30 percent of the final course grade is considered to be substantial.

A change in the room assignment for a final examination may be made only with the approval of the registrar.

An instructor may choose not to give a final examination. However, if an examination is given, all students must take it and no exemptions may be allowed except pursuant to a uniform exemption policy announced to the class.

For good cause, an instructor may give a student permission to take an examination with a different class section than the one in which the student is registered.

For good cause, a student may petition his or her academic dean for permission to change the time or place of an examination from that specified in the official schedule. If permission is given by the dean and the instructor, no penalty (such as a reduction in grade) may be assessed.

In a course extending over two semesters, when the subject matter is continuous, the second semester final examination may include the subject matter of the first semester.

A student may address complaints related to the final examination procedures in a course to the chair of the department or the dean of the college or school in which the course is offered, or to the Office of the Ombudsman.

There is no University policy that provides relief to students who have three examinations scheduled the same day; in that situation, students may seek the assistance of the course instructor(s), department chair, and/or dean of the college.