Final Examination Policy

Final exams are determined by the first hour of the first scheduled class meeting in a typical week. Classes meeting Monday, Wednesday, or Friday follow the "Monday" schedule and classes meeting Tuesday or Thursday follow the "Tuesday" schedule. (Law students: Refer to MyLaw for the Law School Final Exam schedule.)

Scheduling Criteria

Times for final examinations are scheduled in one of four ways:

  1. For most Fall, Winter and Spring term classes, exams are determined by the first hour of the first scheduled class meeting in a typical week. Classes meeting Monday, Wednesday, or Friday follow the "Monday" schedule and classes meeting Tuesday or Thursday follow the "Tuesday" schedule.
  2. For Summer Session classes, final exams are given on the last class meeting day.
  3. Some Fall, Winter and Spring term classes have "combined" exams, where several sections of the same course meet together during finals week for the exam. See Combined Final Examination Schedules below for more information.
  4. An asynchronous final exam for an asynchronous WEB class can be due any day and time during the final exam week.  
  5. Asynchronous WEB classes that request a synchronous final exam time will be assigned a Combined Final Exam time (1700-1900 M,T,W, or R).

All exams are scheduled for two hours. Check with your instructor or refer to course syllabus to confirm final exam times.

Exam Locations

By week 5 of a term, exam locations are listed on the schedule of classes and on the student's schedule in DuckWeb.  For locations listed as TBA, students should refer to their syllabus or to the department to identify the exam location.

Early Examinations

Final examinations must be given during the scheduled final examination period. Faculty legislation prohibits the early administration of final examinations. Final examination week is considered to be a part of the regular term, and to end the term prior to its scheduled date reduces instructional days to which students are entitled.

Dead Week

Faculty legislation controls the assignments that may be made during the last week of regular classes, commonly known as "Dead Week".

In the week preceding final examinations during Fall, Winter, and Spring terms:

  • No examination worth more than 20% of the final grade will be given, with the exception of make-up examinations.
  • No final examinations will be given under any guise.
  • No projects will be due unless they have been clearly specified on the class syllabus within the first two weeks of the term.
  • Take-home examinations will be due no earlier than the day of the formally assigned final examination for the class in question.

Questions about this policy should be addressed to the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, (541) 346-3081.

Multiple Examinations

Students are encouraged to review the schedule of final examinations prior to registering to avoid conflicts or multiple examinations in a single day. Students who are scheduled for more than three examinations within one calendar day may take the additional examination later in the week. The instructor of record for the course beyond the third examination, counting in the order the examinations are scheduled, will arrange for a makeup examination. Students unable to resolve multiple examinations problems with their instructors may contact the Office of Academic Advising, 101 Oregon Hall, for assistance.

Examination Conflicts

In the event that a student is scheduled for two or more exams at the same time, the following policies assist with resolving the conflict:

  • For regular courses with examinations scheduled at the same time, the course with the largest enrollment must provide an alternate examination;
  • For conflicts between regular courses and combined examinations, the combined examination course must provide the alternate examination;
  • For combined examinations with conflicts, the largest combined enrollment course must provide the alternate examination.

These procedures were approved by the Undergraduate Council effective Spring 2003. Students unable to resolve examination conflicts with their instructors may contact the Office of Academic Advising, 101 Oregon Hall, for assistance.