Final Report of the University Senate Calendar Committee - 2002/2003

April 2, 2003

 

The Calendar Committee members were Lawrence Maxey, Richard Morrell (Registrar), Dennis Rosen (Chair), Marjorie Swann, Stacey White, and students Shannon Bell and Jennifer Prohaska (two other students though originally assigned were not involved with the Committee).

 

Charges

The Committee responded to each of its charges for the year as follows:

 

1. The Committee resolved requests for variances in scheduling of special and final exams as they were received.  No requests currently are in progress though others may yet appear as we approach the end of the semester. 

 

2. The Director of Intercollegiate Athletics was informed of the final examination periods for the coming academic year.  No violations or requests for exceptions have been brought to the Committee’s attention.

 

3. The faculty was informed of the regulations governing final examinations.  Following the recommendation of last year’s Committee, the information was sent to instructors at the end of October and March (though a change in that timing is recommended; see item #7 below).  At the recommendation of the Committee, the October notification was also sent to all students. The March notification included the statement that exams cannot be scheduled on Stop Day. The notification was emailed to all involved. 

 

Rationale - It was believed that students should be made aware of their rights concerning final exam scheduling and that this could lead to further pressure on instructors to follow the regulation, hence the mailing to students in October.  Notification was not sent to students in March, nor would I recommend such notification in the future.  It is my impression from email responses from several students and general discussion with others, that many (perhaps most) do not understand the purpose of the regulation and do not see its value.  Of course, it is the very fact that the regulation works (meaning exams are not piled up on the last week) that prevents students from seeing the value of the regulation. 

 

I recommend noting that finals cannot take place on Stop Day in the notification.  This was included in the March notification after the Committee received a complaint from a student that a fall final had been scheduled for Stop Day. (The Committee offered advice and volunteered assistance, but the student opted not to go forward with the complaint.)

 

     I would also recommend the continued use of email.  It is a cost-effective means of delivery and could actually lead to more attention to the memo.  I did shorten the memo length to make it more acceptable for email.  Next year’s chair should be aware, however, that the use of email makes it easy for recipients to respond via email with both positive and negative comments (I received about ten such responses during the year). 

 

4. Solicitation for exam variation requests was made by the Registrar’s Office.  The Committee reviewed the resulting requests as needed.

 

5. There were three Committee meetings during the year, October 25, November 22, and March 28.  Minutes were submitted as required.  Much deliberation took place via email correspondence with Committee members to facilitate speed of action on requests.

 

6. The Committee approved a revised version of USRR 1.3.2 (based on a draft from Rich Morrell), and it was submitted to SenEx after our November meeting.

 

7.  The Committee considered and initially approved the recommendation from last year’s Committee to send final-exam regulation notification later in the semester (see minutes of October 25).  However, I asked the Committee to reconsider this decision at our last meeting.  The Committee approved my recommendation that notification be sent just before the start of each semester (i.e., mid August, mid January). 

 

Rationale - While the Committee appreciates the concerns expressed by last year’s chair, we believe it is important that teaching faculty have this information as they finalize their syllabi at the beginning of each semester.  If an instructor lists an inappropriate date in his/her syllabus, we believe he/she will be less inclined to subsequently change the exam time despite the regulation, since it may then upset the students.  Hopefully sending the notice via email will increase the likelihood that it will be read.  Next year’s Committee may wish to consider sending the notification twice during the semester (e.g., mid August and early November in the fall) though some recipients may consider this to be overkill.

 

8. While the Committee has previously approved a written policy for approval/disapproval of special and common exams (see minutes of October 25 concerning this charge), I questioned some wording that appears contradictory in the policy.  Specifically, under “Final Week Examinations,” current wording says the Office of the University Registrar may approve for courses with “multiple sections,” but the Calendar Committee must approve for “regular sections of the same course.”  The Committee agreed this needs to be clarified.  I have discussed the wording with the Registrar.  We agree that the contradictory line should be struck and that doing so does not change the intent of the policy as previously approved (see the Addendum).

 

9. Concerning functioning of the Calendar Committee during the summer, discussion with the Registrar indicated that there are no exam-scheduling issues during the summer relating to summer session classes.  Any issues concerning fall should be able to be handled at the beginning of fall semester (many of these are likely to be the result of poor planning by instructors).  Handling these issues will require the Committee to be formed as soon as possible in the fall.  Student appointments have slowed this process in the past.  However the Committee will work with Student Senate to have these appointments made by the end of spring semester (see #10 below). 

 

Rational - The Committee does not see the pressing need for it’s operation through the summer given that there are no summer exam scheduling issues.  It is recognized that many (or most) members will be on vacation, working on other summer matters, and will not be on payroll.  It also seems more advisable for the entire Committee to provide input on issues at the beginning of fall semester than to appoint someone to make decisions unilaterally during the summer.

 

10. Concerning the issue of student representative appointments, I have been in contact with the  President of Student Senate.  He has informed me that, with the proper request, their President-elect can appoint student representatives during their joint meeting (in-coming, out-going members) in April.  It is my intention to make such a request once the President-elect has been established.  Next year’s Committee should look into establishing a process so this takes place automatically.  Hopefully this will allow the Calendar Committee to start functioning much sooner during fall semester.

 

11. Concerning scheduling of exams for on-line courses, the Committee recommends that the Office of the University Registrar assign such times through a process of working with the instructor and looking for non-peak exam periods.  This will allow publishing of the exam time in the Timetable and thus help students with their planning.  We recognize that conflicts with other classes may result.  These will need to be worked out through discussions between the student and his/her instructors according to the established rules for dealing with exam conflicts.

 

12. The Committee discussed the concept of a full-week Fall Break.  Given the required number of instructional days and an assumed desire to maintain Thanksgiving Break, the Committee does not see a way to have a full-week Fall Break with the current semester starting/ending dates.  Aside from scheduling issues, the Committee believes that it is too early to consider such a change since experience with the current situation is limited (only two Fall Breaks so far).  The Committee also believes that any future consideration of a full-week Fall Break should involve additional data from students and instructors concerning the value of such a change.  This could be a charge for a future Committee.

 

13. The Committee discussed the academic usefulness of Stop Day with particular attention to the comments of the student representatives.  It was their opinion that many students still make use of Stop Day to aid in their preparation for exams.  The Committee does not recommend any changes at this time.  Again, experience is limited with the current Stop Day arrangement. Therefore, a future Committee should re-evaluate this issue after students and teachers have had more experience with the current arrangement.

 

Moving of Fall Break

In addition to the above charges and typical requests, the Committee acted on a request received November 12th from Janet Murguia and Richard Johnson of the University Special Events Committee to make Fall Break 2003 later by one week moving it to October 23-26.  This request centered on the scheduling of Homecoming Week, which traditionally ends with a Saturday football game.  Due to a number of uncontrollable factors, there were no suitable home games in late September or October other than during the original Fall Break period.  After requesting and receiving further written clarification, our Committee met with the Special Events Committee representatives.  Following considerable discussion of pros and cons, we approved the request admonishing the Special Events Committee to check with department heads and University organizations to determine any negative impact of such a change before moving ahead.

 

Rationale - Obviously, approving a change of the published Fall Break was of major concern to the Committee.  Some will argue that such changes should never be made.  In my service time on the Committee, however, the overriding concern in making exceptions to published times (e.g., final exams) has been the value of the change to the students.  The majority of the Committee was persuaded that the value outweighed potential negatives.  We relied heavily on the comments of the student representatives who pointed out (1) that students do not plan around Fall Break until the beginning of the fall semester (I tested this hypothesis in my class of 280 students. None knew when Fall Break 2003 would be or had made any plans based on its published time), (2) the importance of Homecoming, (3) the involvement of students in the Homecoming-Week process, and (4) potential problems involved with holding Homecoming in early November.  Moving the break one week, in our view, should not diminish the pedagogical value of the break while it should provide a much better environment for Homecoming increasing its value for students, alums and the community at large. 

 

Given the steps needed for final approval and the desire to have the change, if approved, published as soon as possible, our Committee gave its approval noting our reservations and instructing the Special Events Committee on the importance of gathering additional information (which they immediately did).  This allowed the proposal to move forward in a timely manner.  The Special Events Committee also gave its commitment to the Calendar Committee to work closely with any negatively affected organizations to publicize events or provide other helpful support.  It should be noted that the combination of factors that led to the request are unlikely (hopefully) to occur again.  Complete documentation of correspondence and issues related to this decision are available if desired. 

 

Final Comment

All our Committee members were very helpful and involved, and I thank them all for their help and hard work this year.  I have asked for a volunteer for chairing the Committee for next year but have not received a response so far.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Dennis L. Rosen

Committee Chair

 

Addendum: Below is the “Final Week Examinations” portion of the special and common exam rule that was approved by our Committee in its October 25 meeting as noted in #8 above.  A line is drawn through the contradictory section.  Removal does not materially change the rule but does remove confusion. 

 

Special Examinations – Administrative Rules

 

Final Week Examinations

Special Final Week common examinations may be approved for scheduling by the Office of the University Registrar for any course with multiple sections.  The department chairperson must request a common final examination time to replace the normal final examination periods of each section.
 
Requests made under the following circumstances require approval of the Calendar Committee and must have the endorsement of the department chairperson:
 
1)      Requests for an examination time other than the regularly scheduled one by any single section.
 
2) Requests for common examination times for like groups of courses of sections.  For example, lower level language classes or honors sections and regular sections of the same course.