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Greetings from the Provost’s Office,
Toward the end of each academic semester as faculty are concluding the work of one term and beginning to plan the next, Academic Affairs typically receives questions regarding a number of policies, including the final exam and closed-week policies. We want to take this opportunity to address these questions and a few other faculty-developed policies, some of which have been recently updated.
Final Exam Policy: The ISU Final Exam Week Policy states that, if a class requires a final exam, the exam be held in its allotted time during finals week and that it be no longer than the scheduled time. Faculty may, however, work with individual students to provide a special exam time during finals week if there is an extenuating circumstance, such as the student having more than two exams on the same day.
Closed-Week Policy: Although ISU previously had several rules regarding assigning exams during closed week, that currently is not the case. Faculty are welcome to introduce new material and give assignments, quizzes, or tests (except for final exams) during the seven days prior to the start of final exam week. Take-home final exams may be provided to students prior to final exam week as long as they are not due before the end of the scheduled final exam period for the course. As a reminder, there are severalexceptions to this policy, such as laboratory and performance courses, as well as graduate courses. As an FYI, ASISU and Faculty Senate recently passed recommendations regarding the reestablishment of our previous closed week practices. These will be reestablished in the University Catalog for the AY 24-25 year, and we encourage faculty to take this into account when preparing to deliver courses beginning Fall 2024.
Incomplete Grades: Students often ask about incomplete grades near the end of the semester. Incomplete grades may be assigned at the discretion of the instructor of a course, though students must meet eligibility requirements. In particular, a substantial amount of the course material must have been completed by a student in order to be granted an incomplete grade. If a faculty member wants to provide an incomplete grade to a student who meets this condition, then the instructor will work with the student to fill in a Course Completion Contract, which indicates the work that remains to be completed. Both the faculty member and student must agree to the contract and sign the form before the grade of I is entered as a grade.
Office of the State Board of Education
Idaho Academic Leadership Academy: We have received approximately 20 applications for IALA so far. The application deadline is December 15, 2023. https://boardofed.idaho.gov/iala
OPAL Fellowship: Wiki Scholars Communications: The call for the next round of OPAL Scholars is now open. The application deadline is December 20, 2023. https://wikiedu.org/courses/idaho-opal-fellows-wiki-scholars/
All of the policies discussed here are available in their entirety in the Undergraduate Catalog. We hope these reminders help you navigate some of the questions you receive from your students during the remainder of the semester.
Supportively,
Adam Bradford
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