Dear Colleagues,
As we approach the end of the fall semester and the final exam season, please remember that per the Academic Senate’s Council on Course Instruction (COCI) handbook, instructors of undergraduate courses are expected to hold final exams for their courses at the regular date and time published in the Final Exam Schedule.
It has come to our attention that some instructors are planning to hold their final exams only at times different than those their course is assigned to in the Final Exam Schedule. Students are rightfully upset if faculty make arbitrary changes in the final exam times as they plan their courses to avoid exam conflicts and to avoid having too many exams on the same day. Changing the time of the final exam is not permitted for undergraduate classes without approval from COCI; COCI does not consider petitions after the fifth week of instruction. It is permissible--and indeed recommended during remote instruction--to also schedule a second alternate exam time to accommodate students in different time zones.
We would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that you can find best practices for remote examinations on the Academic Senate website. These have been recently updated to reflect what we learned in the spring and summer terms. In particular, please note:
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Practices for supporting and safeguarding academic integrity;
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Online proctoring is permitted only for those courses in the Zoom proctoring pilot and for Haas courses approved to use HonorLock.
Thank you for considering the health and well-being of our students and creating as fair conditions as possible for them to be successful in completing their courses for the semester.
Sincerely,
A. Paul Alivisatos
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Jennifer Johnson-Hanks
Chair, Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate
This message has bee sent to all Faculty, Instructors, and GSIs.