Dead Week Guidelines and Finals Week Policy
Dead Week Guidelines
In 2001, the Government of the Student Body, the Faculty Senate, President Geoffroy, and the Office of the Provost approved the following guidelines regarding classroom activities during dead week, the week before finals:
The last week of fall and spring undergraduate classes has been designated Dead Week by the Government of the Student Body and Iowa State University. The intent is to provide students with time for review and preparation for final examinations. Therefore, no student organization registered with the Student Organization Office may hold meetings or sponsor events without the expressed permission of designated staff member within Memorial Union. For academic programs, the last week of classes is considered to be a normal week in the semester except that in developing their syllabi faculty shall consider the following guidelines:
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Mandatory final examinations in any course may not be given during Dead Week except for laboratory courses and for those classes meeting once a week only and for which there is no contact during the normal final exam week. Take-home final exams and small quizzes are generally acceptable. (For example, quizzes worth no more than 10 percent of the final grade and/or that cover no more than one-fourth of assigned reading material in the course could be given.)
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Major course assignments should be assigned prior to Dead Week (major assignments include major research papers, projects, etc.). Any modifications to assignments should be made in a timely fashion to give students adequate time to complete the assignments.
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Major course assignments should be due no later than the Friday prior to Dead Week. Exceptions include class presentations by students, semester-long projects such as a design project assignment in lieu of a final, and extensions of the deadline requested by individual students.
Instructors are reminded that most students are enrolled in several courses each semester, and widespread violation of these guidelines can cause student workloads to be excessive as students begin their preparation for final examinations.
Students are reminded that their academic curriculum is their principal reason for being in college and they have a responsibility to study in a timely fashion throughout the entire semester.
The Provost will publicize and monitor this policy each semester. In addition, the Provost will study the impact of these guidelines on student achievement and report to the university community on the findings.
Finals Week Policy
Pages 38 and 39 of the ISU Bulletin outline Iowa State policy regarding final exams (or, see http://www.iastate.edu/~registrar/exams/regulations.shtml). Please note that as a part of this policy,
"An instructor may not give a final exam prior to final exam week nor change the time of offering of the final examination as it appears in the final exam schedule. Permission to change the time for which an exam is scheduled may be given only by the dean of the college. If the instructor elects not to give a final exam, the class is required to meet at the scheduled final exam period for other educational activity such as a review of the course or feedback on previous exams."
Policy for evening classes and for conflicts in the scheduling of exams are also listed on these pages.
