Final Examinations

Conclusion of the Academic Term

Each St. Olaf course officially ends at the conclusion of the course’s scheduled final exam period. The Registrar's Office establishes a schedule and posts it at least a year in advance on the Registrar's Office website. The schedule for each term states in writing a specific date and time for each course’s final exam period. The final evaluation for Active Body (ACB) courses typically occurs on the last day of the class. All in-class final examinations must be administered at the place and time period scheduled for final exams.

Time Limits for In-class Exams

An instructor must formulate examinations so that students can complete them in the scheduled final examination block of time. Faculty and students need to respect this time limit in the spirit of equality and citizenship that produced this constraint.

Student Absence from a Final Examination

An instructor should report any student’s absence from a required final examination or failure to submit final evaluative material by the end of the course’s scheduled final exam period to the Dean of Students Office as soon as possible. Absence can constitute grounds for a student failing either the final evaluative item or the entire course. The instructor has the discretion in how to factor the absence and any missing, final evaluative material into the course grade with the exception of granting an incomplete.

Student and Family Responsibility

Because final examination schedules are publicly posted well in advance, students and parents/guardians are expected to consult the schedules before making any travel or family plans for upcoming terms and to plan accordingly.

Academic Integrity

All final examinations of any type are subject to the college’s Honor Code; all other forms of final evaluation are subject to the college’s academic integrity procedures.

Other Means of Final Evaluation:

Performative Final Evaluative Activity

Certain forms of final individual or small-group evaluation (e.g., performance studies [MUSPF] courses, individual oral examinations as part of the course’s final evaluative activity, etc.) typically are scheduled individually during a time span between the end of classes and the final examination period. These are scheduled through mutual agreement of the instructor and student(s) involved, taking into account the special function of Reading Day, students’ individual workload as each faces other examinations, and the grades-due deadlines (e.g., 24 hours after the end of each course’s scheduled final exam time for seniors in the spring semester).

Other Final Evaluative Activity

Other means of evaluation (e.g., final examinations completed electronically, “take-home” examinations, final papers, final projects) substituting for in-class final examinations and not requiring the students’ presence at an organized meeting of the course cannot be required to be due prior to the course’s designated final exam period and must be due no later than the end of the course’s designated final exam period. If the alternative form of evaluation also includes a formal, required event for the full class in the same place at the same time, that event must be scheduled during the course’s scheduled final examination period.

Time Limits for Other Final Evaluative Activity

Instructors are encouraged to establish time limits for take-home examinations, online examinations, etc. Instructors should assign final papers or projects and stage any specified activities in developing them so that completing them during the final examination period should consume no more time than an average student would take to prepare for and take an in-class final examination.

Exceptions to Taking In-class Final Examinations at the Scheduled Block of Time or Place

Disability Accommodations

Accommodations for students with documented disabilities are determined in consultation with the disability and access specialists in the Academic Success Center and the instructor.

Multilingual Student Accommodations

Accommodations for students with certified, special English-language needs are determined in consultation with the Academic Success Center  and the instructor.

Special Circumstances

A student is required to take in-class final examinations on the scheduled days unless the department chairs or program directors, in consultation with the course instructors, give the student written permission to reschedule any final examination to other days or times. Student requests for any alternative final examination dates, times, or accommodations for special circumstances must be made in writing on the Special Circumstances form and submitted to the instructor, who passes it on to the appropriate chair or program director. The Special Circumstances form can be found on the Registrar's website under Forms & Requests.  

Special Considerations for Final Examination During January Term and Summer Session

Due to time constraints, some academic calendars for January term and Summer Session may include the two-hour final exam period when calculating seat time. During such terms, faculty should require students to take part in an in-class meeting during the scheduled final exam period.  The Registrar's Office will indicate the relationship between seat time and final exams on the official final exam schedule for each January term and Summer session term.  

Three Final Examinations in a Single Day

Three final examination periods are scheduled per day during the fall and spring semesters’ five-day final exam period, but rarely does an individual student have more than two examinations in a day. In the rare instance where a student has three in-class examinations scheduled for the same day, they may request an alternative for one of them by filling out the Petition to Move an Exam to a Different Date and Time​ form and following the procedure outlined above. The form can be found on the Registrar's website under Forms & Requests. Since some examination formats require that all students be present in the same room at the same time, faculty members are not obligated to make such an alternative arrangement.