Final Exams
At Wellesley College, faculty can choose from a number of different options for a final assessment in their course, including one of three types of final exams - Fixed Schedule; Self-Scheduled; or Virtual. These final exams must be taken during the designated Final Exam Period at the end of each semester.
Final Exam Information for Fall 2022
The Final Exam Period Dates are: Monday, Dec 19th - Thursday, Dec 22nd.
Posted Monday, Sept 26th. Subject to change.
Important Information Below:
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Overview
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Guide to Final Exams
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Specifically for Faculty
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Specifically for Academic Administrators
Overview
Fixed Schedule Exams
These exams are scheduled by the Registrar’s Office on a specific day and time during the Final Exam Period. The entire class takes the exam at the same time in the same designated space. The Fixed Exam Schedule provides students with the scheduled date and location of their Fixed Schedule exam. The instructor proctors the exam (or arranges for an alternate faculty or staff proctor). Check the Guide to Final Exams below for more information about Fixed Exams.
Self-Scheduled Exams
For courses that have a Self Scheduled Exam, students can choose when to take their exam during any of the exam sessions during the Final Exam Period. Students go to an Exam Center organized by the Registrar’s Office to check out their exam and have a set time in which to take the exam and check it back in at the Exam Center.
Self-Scheduled Exams are specified as either Closed Book (no reference material of any kind is allowed) or Open Book (the instructor provides details to students about the permissible reference materials they may use during the exam).
Wellesley College has a strong and successful history of Self-Scheduled examinations. This tradition survives due to our community's commitment to the Wellesley College Honor Code.
Virtual Final Exam
Prepared by the instructor and administered by the instructor (for example, via the course’s Sakai Site) during the Final Exam period, to be completed at the latest by 4PM on the last day of the exam period. This option must be offered to all students in the class and is not available to individual students if the instructor has chosen a Self-Scheduled or Fixed Schedule exam.
The Honor Code
The Honor Code applies at all times and to all examination circumstances.
Students are expected:
- To do their own work
- To use only materials the instructor has explicitly allowed during the exam (including use of a calculator)
- To complete the exam in a designated exam classroom
- To return the exam within in the designated amount of time
- To leave all their materials and the exam at their desk if they use the restroom during an exam
Students should not:
- take the exam out of the exam room except to return it to the exam center
- speak with other students about any of their exams, including discussion of the difficulty, content, format, or any other aspect of the exam
Check the Guide to Final Exams below for more information about Self-Scheduled exams such as exam session times and exam center locations.
If you have any questions about Final Exams, please email the Registrar's Office at registrar@wellesley.edu or call 781-283-2307.
Guide to Final Exams
There are three standard exam sessions each day, except on the last day of exams. Fixed Exams are scheduled by the Registrar’s Office for a specific day and time during the Exam Period. Students may take their Self-Scheduled Exam during any session on any day of the Exam Period.
Morning Session: 9:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Afternoon Session: 1:30 PM - 4:00 PM There is no afternoon exam on the Wed, Dec 21
Evening Session: 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM There is no evening exam on the last day of exams Thu, Dec 22
Check the list of Fixed Exam Schedules & Locations for specific information.
The instructor will specify whether any materials can be used during the exam. Students should be at the designated room in advance of the start time. The instructor (or an alternate faculty or staff member arranged by the instructor) will distribute exams and then collect the exams at the end of the time period.
In the rare case that a student has either two Fixed Exams that overlap or three Fixed Exams scheduled for the same day, the student may arrange with one of their instructors to reschedule one exam to a different day and time slot. Though faculty are expected to honor such a request, the rescheduled exam must be at a time workable for both the instructor and the student.
Exam Center Locations
Students pick up and return their Self-Scheduled Exams at the Science Center Hub Focus.
Students should bring their College ID cards, or another form of ID. The Campus Map is helpful in locating campus buildings.
Checking out an Exam
When students arrive at the exam center, they will see exam checkout tables arranged alphabetically by student last name. Students may pick up an exam as early as 30 minutes before the exam session begins.
Students have 2 ½ hours to complete their exam plus 10 minutes time to travel to and from the exam room, starting from the time they pick up their exam. An exam that is picked up after the exam session begins must be returned no later than the exam session end time (that is, the student agrees that they will use less than the normally allotted time to complete the exam). When the exam is checked out, the latest return time allowed will be noted on the exam packet. Students must return their exam by the time noted on the exam packet. If the exam is returned later than this time the instructor will be notified.
Open-Book exams and Closed-Book exams must be taken in separate, designated rooms. These rooms will be listed on the label of each student exam packet and on signage outside of each classroom.
If the exam requires blue books, it will be noted on the envelope. Students should pick up blue books before heading to their exam room. Students must include any blue books they use in the envelope when they return their exam, even if they were only used as scrap paper.
Students will be asked to sign the Honor Code on the back of their exam packet before they leave the checkout table
During the Exam
Once in the room, the student is free to begin taking the exam. There is no proctor in the room during the exam.
In the room will be displayed several posters reminding students of general guidelines for Self-Scheduled Exams, the Honor Code and what a student should do if they witness a violation, and what a student can do in case they feel ill during the exam.
Students are responsible for keeping careful track of the time and for returning their exam back by the time it is due.
Students may use the restroom but must leave the exam in the exam room when they do. Students may take the exam out of the exam room only when they have completed their exam, put all exam materials including any blue books they used into the exam packet and sealed it, and are ready to return it to the exam center.
Returning the Exam
To check an exam back in, students need to deliver it to the Exam Center.
Fixed Exams
Students who need to take their Fixed Exam with accommodations must contact their instructor to make arrangements. Instructors will work with the Registrar’s Office to book a space for exams which allow for extra time. If students need accommodations beyond extra time, they also need to work with the Office of Accessibility and Disability Resources to make additional arrangements.
Self-Scheduled Exams
Students who need to take their Self-Scheduled Exam with any kind of accommodations must have their arrangements pre-approved by the Office of Accessibility and Disability Resources. Details about the exam accommodations will be arranged with these students individually. Students with arranged accommodations will check their exams out from the PLTC in the Clapp Library and will take their exams in the Clapp Library.
Students who observe a religious holiday that coincides with an scheduled examination or an academic deadline will follow the process of providing their faculty with a notification of religious observance and a request for accommodation. The Religious Life website explains these policies and procedures.