Dec. 08, 2014
Samantha Morley
[email protected]
The new finals schedule is mixing things up for students this semester.
Finals week begins Monday, Dec. 15. This semester, the schedule has been adjusted to not conflict with Commencement, which takes place on Friday, Dec. 19. Students in past semesters could have had a final on Friday and missed the ceremony.
“A large number of graduating students had finals on that Friday and so they would have to find a way to make them up,” registrar Tracy Barber said.
To fix the attendance problem, Barber and a team of faculty decided to remove exams from Friday and push everything between Monday and Thursday. In order to accommodate for this shift, 30 minutes were also removed from the testing periods.
Barber doesn’t think this will create much of a problem for students.
“There are not as many finals on Friday as there are on the other days and not all courses offer finals,” she said.
Several students agree.
“[It’s] awesome. I’d rather not have a final exam on Friday,” Gail Oliver, sophomore biology major, said.
“I think they do a pretty good job of spreading them out throughout the four days that we do have exams. So even though it’s one less day I think they did a pretty good job at spreading it out.”
“I think it’s a good thing because you’re done with exams early and no one really uses that extra 30 minutes at the end I don’t think anyways,” Dustin Tackett, a senior biology major expected to graduate in spring 2015, said.
“I guess it depends on if you have someone who you want to go see or not at Commencement,” Haley Helm, senior biology major, said.
“I guess it’s a good thing if you want to get out, but if you don’t I think the extra 30 minutes is nice.”
Others think the change will put more stress on getting the test completed in time.
“Depending on the class, that could be an issue,” Jeff Baston, sophomore mechanical engineering major, said. “Since I’m an engineer … we needed the full two and a half hours to complete things.” Some don’t anticipate being affected by the change. “It doesn’t really affect me,” Brian Sullivan, sophomore mechanical engineering major, said. “My finals aren’t really that anyways.”
Making up or taking an exam early costs $30 at the testing center and only certain times are available during finals week.
“And as well, a lot of the faculty like to attend Commencement to support the students that they’ve been teaching the last number of years,” Barber said. “But if they have a finals schedule for Friday then they can’t necessarily attend Commencement.” “
It’s created a conflict that’s really been problematic over a number of years.”
Fall Commencement isn’t as large as spring Commencement. Marian Harris, Office of the Registrar program assistant, estimates that over 800 students graduate in the fall.
Students worried about their finals can conference with their professors or make an appointment with advising. The Excel Centers are also available for study assistance. To make or take an exam early, students should contact the testing center.
For a complete list of finals www.uccs.edu/Documents/cic/fall2014/Final%20Exam%20Schedule.pdf