Please adhere to the final exam schedule

December 4, 2023

Dear Faculty Colleagues,

Each semester we remind you that final exams may not take place outside the final examination period. 

This semester, the final exam period runs Thursday, December 14 – Wednesday December 20, 2023.

 Although some students (and some instructors) might prefer to administer the final before the exam period begins, we may not do this because:

(1)  Students should not have to study for a final that will take place on days that they are still attending and doing assignments for other classes;

(2)  The New York State Education Department specifies the minimum number of contact hours per credit; we meet the minimum by including the final exam period; therefore, no final exams may be administered during regularly scheduled classes, including during the last sessions of the semester; and

(3)  Students deserve the number of classroom hours they have paid for.

Please note that students regularly report that when their instructor asked if changing the date to another was ok, they felt pressure (from peers or the instructor) to agree despite conflicts.

For the record, a similar message will be sent to students by the end of this week, asking them to contact Associate Dean of Students Dr. Annie Virkus-Estrada.

Dennis Slavin
Associate Provost for Teaching and Learning
Assistant Vice President
Baruch College, CUNY