Student Assembly

Dear Ulysses,

As you know, President Skorton asked me to respond formally to SA Resolution 53 Regarding the Proposed Final Exam Schedule. Thanks to you, Monet, and Yamini for meeting with us on May 6 to discuss the process for setting the final exam schedule.

We read your resolution and supporting memo to University Registrar Cassie Dembosky, and we too acknowledge the difficulties of reconciling the perspectives of many constituent groups, but we remain committed to a reasonable solution.

We agreed that for the coming academic year, the registrar would strive to provide three exam schedule scenarios to the Student Assembly, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, and the Educational Policy Committee and give those bodies at least 72 hours to review and provide guidance as to which scenario provides the best result for the majority of students. We discussed that the best time for developing the scenarios would be after the add/drop period as that will result in the most stable data on which to develop a schedule.

Although not discussed, we recommend that the process for setting the final exam schedule be part of the three year review of the academic calendar, currently set for spring 2017.

In addition, we agreed to reinforce with faculty that they need to abide by the Faculty Handbook regarding the final exam schedule. When possible, please encourage students who are feeling mistreated to contact the faculty member’s department chair and/or dean or Joe Burns or me so that someone intervenes on behalf of the student. We will also speak with Laura Brown, Senior Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, about asking the associate deans to name a liaison in each college to serve as a contact for students who experience difficulty in receiving an equitable solution to conflicts.

Thank you for your leadership as Student Assembly president and all the best to you as you graduate.

Warm regards, Kent