November 1, 2006

To:               All Faculty Members

From:           Susan Coultrap-McQuin, Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs

Re:               Final Exam/Last Exam Policy/Posting Grades

As we approach final exams, it seems timely to remind everyone that the College Catalog contains statements of policy passed by Faculty Assembly on May 6, 1991 regarding final examinations and "last examinations" for Oswego courses:

All courses will involve some form of comprehensive evaluation; final examinations are an integral part of this procedure in many cases.  For every course requiring a final examination, the day and hour scheduled for this purpose must be used, and the examination must be limited to that specified period of time.  All evening courses, in which final examinations are to be given, will hold the examination during final exam week at the day and hour of the regular class meeting.

The last examination of the semester in a course must be given during the final exam week at the scheduled time.  During the last week of class, examinations may only be given if there is also a comprehensive examination given during the scheduled final examination period.

I urge all faculty to adhere to these policies.  While the policies do not apply to graduate courses, laboratory and studio examinations, or to graduate students enrolled in dual listed courses, the policies are designed to maximize the opportunity for student success by standardizing schedules for major exams and allowing for study time.  The quality of the educational experiences we provide our students should not be compromised, nor should students or entire classes feel pressured to agree to "early" finals.  "Rescheduled" finals frequently inconvenience instructors of other courses and/or result in student complaints.

I would also take this opportunity to remind all faculty that it is a violation of privacy to publicly post student grades, for example, by social security number or in a non-scrambled alphabetical order.

Thank you very much.

dma