All courses have a final examination or some other means of testing the student integration of the instructional material (e.g., term paper, final project report, take-home examination, etc.). Course instructors determine which of these methods is most appropriate. Students should not make travel plans which prevent them from being present for a final exam.
Term papers, take-home exams, etc., when used in place of a standard final examination, must be due no earlier than the first day of the final exam period. Written final examinations must be scheduled in the final examination period. No examinations may be given during the last week of classes, with the exception of quizzes and narrowly limited tests in support of classroom instruction.
Unless the instructor of a course informs the students otherwise, the time and date of the final exam for a course can be determined from the schedule available on LionPath. But in the case of graduate courses, there may be changes from the published university schedule; the instructor must make it clear when and where the examination is to be held. In the case that the examination is not at the standard time, the instructor should consult the students to avoid conflicts.
Occasionally, instructors come under inappropriate pressure to cancel finals, or to move final exams from the scheduled time. If the students ask for a change, then a procedure should be used that assures that all students want it.