13. Final Exams

This section provides information that scheduling contacts need to know about final exams, including:

• Understanding the Final Exam Schedule
• Viewing assigned final exam times/locations for a class
• Finals Determination Lists
• How to submit final exam requests for your department
• Common exams
• Important Deadlines

Final exams take place after the last week of classes for each term.

• For Autumn and Spring, the final exam period is five days, and for Summer, it is three days.
• Session 1 classes also have finals exams, which are only two days.
• Final exams should be one hour and forty-five minutes long.
• The Final Exam Schedule with specific dates for each term can be found at registrar.osu.edu/ under the Course and Event Related heading.

Final Exam Schedule

The Final Exam Schedule for each term contains the specific dates  and times that a class will be scheduled to hold their final exam. The algorithm used to determine these dates and times does not change from term to term, but the specific dates do.  The first meeting weekday and start time of a class determines when the final exam will be held. Below is an example of the Autumn 2013 Final Exam Schedule.

• The following classes are treated as exceptions to the final exam schedule:
  • Classes with Thursday or Friday as the first meeting day of the first whole week
  • Classes with a start time that is before 8:00 am

• Weekend classes should hold their final exams on the last class meeting date in the regularly scheduled classroom.
• All Summer classes except those meeting the 12 week (Summer term (1S) This includes all Four Week, Six Week, and Eight Week session classes) should hold their exams during the last class period. There are no designated exam days for these sessions.
• Session 1 final exams in Autumn and Spring have two available options:
  • A final exam at the regularly scheduled class time on the last day that the class would have met during Session 1 final exam days, so as to allow for at least one reading day between the last  day of instruction and the exam.
    
    Autumn Semester
    8th Week of Classes (Second Week of October)

Spring Semester
7th and 8th Weeks of Classes (Last Two Weeks of February)

• An evening final exam on the last day that the class would have regularly met during the Session 1 final exam days, or soon thereafter, so as to follow for at least one reading day between the last day of instruction and the exam. Room scheduling arrangements must be made in advance through the Scheduling Office.

Final Exam Components

Only one component can be listed as Yes for having a final exam. Whichever component has a Yes under the Final Exam column will automatically have their regular classroom reserved during finals week according ot the Final Exam Schedule. To view which component is listed as having a final exam, use the following path:

• For the example below, the final exam component is the Lecture.

  

• The meeting pattern for this Lecture is T/Th from 12:40-1:35 pm in SM1153.
   

  

• According to the Autumn 2013 Final Exam Schedule, classes with Tuesday as the first meeting day of the week and a start time between 12:10 pm - 12:59 pm will have their final exam on Tuesday, December 10th from 2:00 pm -3:45 pm.

  
• When the final exam scheduling program is run, the final exam reservation for this class will appear on the Exam tab, which you can view at the following path: 

•  You  will also be able to view a comprehensive list of final exam assignments for all classes on the Office of the University Registrar website. it will be located under the Course & Event Related heading with the title "(Term) Finals Assignment List (pdf)".

  

Finals Determination Lists

Approximately two months prior to the final exam week for each term, you will receive a Finals Determination List for your department. This Excel spreadsheet will contain a list of all of the classes that have a final exam component marked as Yes on the Adjust Class Associations page.

• The column on the far right labeled "Final Exam? Y/N" should be completed by the Scheduling Contact for each department and send back to the Scheduling Office.
  • Classes that have a Y in the last column or that are left blank will automatically have their regular classroom reserved during finals week according to the Final Exam Schedule.

  • Classes that have a N in the last column will not have a room reserved for them during finals week, unless a separate request is submitted to the Scheduling Office.

    

Requesting a different final exam time/location

To request a different final exam time and/or  location, please email the Scheduling Office your preferred exam date, time, and location.

• Final exam requests should not be submitted as Event Requests in SIS.
• If your request is approved, our office will update the Exam tab of the class and send you an email confirmation.

Common Exams

Common final exams are when two or more classes prefer to hold their final exam at the same time in the same room. Common finals will be given as an exception to the listed schedule when approved by department chairpersons, deans, and the Scheduling Office. An announcement that a common final exam will be given should be made in class during the first week of classes.

• Departments who offer common exams must provide an alternative exam time and work to resolve conflicts generated by common exams.
• Common final exams are restricted to the evening hours of 6:00-7:45 pm and 8:00-9:45 pm.
• All requests for common finals should have college and departmental approval and be submitted via email to the Scheduling Office by the deadline noted on the Scheduling Calendar.
• Common exam times and locations will be individually confirmed back to departments via email, and will not appear on the Finals Assignment List posted on your website.

Important Deadlines

The Scheduling Calendar contains several important deadlines regarding final exams. It can be found on our website at registrar.osu.edu/scheduling/. It is located under the Important Scheduling Information heading with the title "Scheduling Calendar (Year)". Look for the following entries:

• Common Midterm Exam Dates/Times due to Scheduling
  • Approximately six weeks before the term begins
• Common Final Dates/Times Confirmed to Departments
  • Approximately three weeks before the term begins
• Finals Determination Survey sent to Departments
  • Approximately three weeks before the term begins
• Finals Determination Survey sent to Departments
  • Autumn and Spring: ninth week of the term; Summer: seventh Monday of the semester
• Finals Assignment List with Exam Dates/Times Posted
  • Autumn and Spring: tenth week of the term; Summer: Wednesday of ninth full week

Final Exam info on our website

• Final exam information, schedules, and assignments can be found on the Office of the University Registrar website.

Submitting Final Exam Requests

• Final Exam requests should be submitted to the Scheduling Office via email, not as Event Requests in SIS.

Final Exam Schedule Exceptions

• Classes with Thursday or Friday as the first meeting day must initiate a request with preferred exam day/time/location to the Scheduling Office. Otherwise we will assume that the class is not holding a final exam and a time/classroom will not be reserved.

Common Final Exams

• Common final exam requests are due approximately six weeks prior to the start of the term.
• Common final exams are restricted to the evening hours of 6:00 -7:45 pm and 8:00 -9:45 pm, and departments must offer an alternative exam time for students with conflicts.