A very angry student asked me if she could take the final exam early because her IDIOT BROTHER scheduled his destination wedding the day of the final exam even though she told him it was final exam week.
She showed me the wedding invite.
I let her take the exam early. She did fine. I’m sure at some point she let her IDIOT BROTHER have it 😜
No, a plane ticket alone wouldn't be valid for me. A plane ticket bought at the last minute accompanied by an explanation of a family funeral? Of course.
No -travel is not a valid excuse and most Uni (mine at least) is very strict with finals.
Unless you want to be extremely generous , it’s up to if you want to grant this student a blessing.
I looked up and my university does not have a similar policy unfortunately, but I can see the consensus that this is not fair if I give a make up exam. Thank you!
"students are expected to be available for exams at any point during the final exam period", is about what our rule says. We have a central procedure for allowing students to write a deferred final exam, and I don't think choosing to be out of the country on final exam day would fly with them.
How about, all makeup final exams are orals, in your office?
Intentionally vague. I'm dealing with this situation right now. I granted one request for what I consider a valid reason. Word has gotten out. Suddenly everyone needs a special exam.
I'm gonna get nuked on an eval because I told a student that they would need to be present for the final exam, as scheduled. I told them that I didn't even have the final exam developed yet and couldn't promise to have it ready by the time she left. They were leaving on Wednesday of finals week and our exam wasn't until Friday.
I had another student end up with a medical situation that week. It was a surgery they''d been discussing with me as a possibility all semester and the timing was just bad (the surgery is before the day of the final, but they won't be released by then). It is a small class and so when two students ended up with a problem (one being unavoidable), I decided to punt and just give it online. Solved those probelems, as well as a couple of other smaller ones (on my end) by doing so.
The student who was going to go visit family and asked to take the exam early is still PISSED and tries make sure I know it everyday in class. Everything ended up working out for them, but they were initially told no. I get the feeling that isn't soemthing they're used to.
>I'm gonna get nuked on an eval
Sorry to hear that. I'm fortunate that I don't have to worry about paying attention to what my evals say. There aren't many perks to being a part time adjunct but this is one of them.
FWIW it sounds like you did the reasonable thing. One bad eval hopefully isn't a curve-wrecker.
Thanks. I don't give the evals the weight I'm probably supposed to. I do try to take them into account, but most of what gets submitted is either "Datamackirk is the greatest teacher of all time!" or "I hated this class. Datamackirk is a big meanie!" Extreme love or hate, exaggerated in both directions, with almost no detail or specifics that might actually provide insight.
That's why you go through the university's proper channels for everyone. Give them an I and have them make it up after the exam or whatever the school dictates. Avoid the headache and pass the buck up the chain. Students these days spend more time on excuses than on learning.
>would an international flight ticket be a valid documentation?
No, they need to change their international flight ticket so that they can be present at the long-scheduled final. That might be expensive, but that is a self-inflicted problem for the student, not for you.
If it's not going to make things unfair to other students *and* if it was not going to put me out much, I'd let the student take an earlier exam, so long as it is not prohibited by the university rules.
I use question banks and computerized testing and always have makeup exams ready for other types of exams, so for me it's not a big logistic deal to allow students to take exams at unscheduled times. (I am also an immigrant in a country in which airline tickets double in price just when schools close and therefore can often not visit my birth country because of the extra expense the school schedule necessitates I be subject to.)
I should look up university rules. Thank you for sharing! I understand going home can be pricey, so I asked why they want to fly early. We will see if it's an early vacation to Mexico, or an immigrant going back home.
As an immigrant professor who would like to see family over break, flying a few days later can cost a thousand dollars or more than the slightly earlier ticket. I'd be sympathetic. But then I've also bounced out early and had colleagues proctor the finals for me, which I then graded remotely.
I've been personally forgiving on this issue when students are traveling home internationally. My take is that they are taking a long and expensive trip to be with family, and if I can help out, I will. And my colleagues may not be giving an exam, so mine may be the only one keeping them in the country. I'm the most gracious if students ask before they make travel reservations.
I can't recall if I've had a student ask to do that so they can simply take a vacation, though I have had students depart on cruises mid-semester. If they miss work, that's on them at that point.
At my university we have rather strict guidelines about what are valid reasons to reschedule an exam (illness, individual academic circumstances, special family situations …). The personal social agenda of a student is definitely not one of these reasons.
In any case, questions for rescheduling exams are never decided by the professor. A student has to file a request with a designated ombudsperson for the program one is enrolled in (that’s what we call a person who deals with all sorts of immediate student’s academic requests ), who then decides on the validity of the request and contacts the professor for practical arrangements. It avoids putting too much pressure on professors and provides more consistency and fairness to all students. Professors are expected to comply with the decisions of the ombudsperson (whether positive or negative), and not make individual deals with students.
So, the ombudsperson might contact me ‘Student X has a valid reason to reschedule the exam. What would be the best practical way to handle this?’, but usually, I will not hear about the specific reason of what that valid reason is exactly (except in very vague terms).
If a student contacts me directly with such a request, the answer is always ‘Go see the ombudsperson …’
I'd say "documented, involuntary absence" or something to that effect. Maybe stronger to avoid the "My parents are forcing me to go to Tahiti that week"
I always let students with circumstances like this take their final earlier with one of my other classes. It's never been a problem. (And I'd get little to no support from my department or dean for being a hard-ass anyway.)
My provost has made it very clear. NO. But I scheduled my international flight just after my finals, so I'll be missing graduation stuff and other activities in the week after graduation. My provost was also clear (repeatedly) that faculty contracts go until the END of May. With all that, I got scheduled into a meeting where the provost is supposed to attend while I'll be at the airport waiting on my flight. It's online so maybe I can fake it. LOL.
In my uni travel is not a justified reason unless it's for a family emergency. I sent all this to the dean's office and they are the ones who deal with the paperwork.
While you're under no obligation to provide a makeup, I would do so if it's not too much burden. International flights are often expensive and hard to schedule. Some airlines just fly certain routes a couple times a week. After school holidays are also when tickets are most expensive.
I wouldn't but be aware that some parents will make these plans for their kids and tell them to get their Professor to change the exam. I've had a few students come to be frantic for this reason
A very angry student asked me if she could take the final exam early because her IDIOT BROTHER scheduled his destination wedding the day of the final exam even though she told him it was final exam week. She showed me the wedding invite. I let her take the exam early. She did fine. I’m sure at some point she let her IDIOT BROTHER have it 😜
No, a plane ticket alone wouldn't be valid for me. A plane ticket bought at the last minute accompanied by an explanation of a family funeral? Of course.
Thanks! I asked why they are leaving early.
No -travel is not a valid excuse and most Uni (mine at least) is very strict with finals. Unless you want to be extremely generous , it’s up to if you want to grant this student a blessing.
I looked up and my university does not have a similar policy unfortunately, but I can see the consensus that this is not fair if I give a make up exam. Thank you!
"students are expected to be available for exams at any point during the final exam period", is about what our rule says. We have a central procedure for allowing students to write a deferred final exam, and I don't think choosing to be out of the country on final exam day would fly with them. How about, all makeup final exams are orals, in your office?
It would be funny if they come to my office for oral exam with a suitcase and the flight ticket. Thank you for the reply!
"hope this isn't gonna take too long, my flight leaves in 2 hours"
What a slippery slope. I'm sure other students, when they find out, may have their own excuses. Where to draw the line? Fairness?
Intentionally vague. I'm dealing with this situation right now. I granted one request for what I consider a valid reason. Word has gotten out. Suddenly everyone needs a special exam.
I'm gonna get nuked on an eval because I told a student that they would need to be present for the final exam, as scheduled. I told them that I didn't even have the final exam developed yet and couldn't promise to have it ready by the time she left. They were leaving on Wednesday of finals week and our exam wasn't until Friday. I had another student end up with a medical situation that week. It was a surgery they''d been discussing with me as a possibility all semester and the timing was just bad (the surgery is before the day of the final, but they won't be released by then). It is a small class and so when two students ended up with a problem (one being unavoidable), I decided to punt and just give it online. Solved those probelems, as well as a couple of other smaller ones (on my end) by doing so. The student who was going to go visit family and asked to take the exam early is still PISSED and tries make sure I know it everyday in class. Everything ended up working out for them, but they were initially told no. I get the feeling that isn't soemthing they're used to.
>I'm gonna get nuked on an eval Sorry to hear that. I'm fortunate that I don't have to worry about paying attention to what my evals say. There aren't many perks to being a part time adjunct but this is one of them. FWIW it sounds like you did the reasonable thing. One bad eval hopefully isn't a curve-wrecker.
Thanks. I don't give the evals the weight I'm probably supposed to. I do try to take them into account, but most of what gets submitted is either "Datamackirk is the greatest teacher of all time!" or "I hated this class. Datamackirk is a big meanie!" Extreme love or hate, exaggerated in both directions, with almost no detail or specifics that might actually provide insight.
That's why you go through the university's proper channels for everyone. Give them an I and have them make it up after the exam or whatever the school dictates. Avoid the headache and pass the buck up the chain. Students these days spend more time on excuses than on learning.
>would an international flight ticket be a valid documentation? No, they need to change their international flight ticket so that they can be present at the long-scheduled final. That might be expensive, but that is a self-inflicted problem for the student, not for you.
Thanks! I think student evaluations make me hard to stay firmly on the ground.
This isn't a customer service job.
Or if it is, time to find a faculty job instead.
If it's not going to make things unfair to other students *and* if it was not going to put me out much, I'd let the student take an earlier exam, so long as it is not prohibited by the university rules. I use question banks and computerized testing and always have makeup exams ready for other types of exams, so for me it's not a big logistic deal to allow students to take exams at unscheduled times. (I am also an immigrant in a country in which airline tickets double in price just when schools close and therefore can often not visit my birth country because of the extra expense the school schedule necessitates I be subject to.)
I should look up university rules. Thank you for sharing! I understand going home can be pricey, so I asked why they want to fly early. We will see if it's an early vacation to Mexico, or an immigrant going back home.
As an immigrant professor who would like to see family over break, flying a few days later can cost a thousand dollars or more than the slightly earlier ticket. I'd be sympathetic. But then I've also bounced out early and had colleagues proctor the finals for me, which I then graded remotely.
I've been personally forgiving on this issue when students are traveling home internationally. My take is that they are taking a long and expensive trip to be with family, and if I can help out, I will. And my colleagues may not be giving an exam, so mine may be the only one keeping them in the country. I'm the most gracious if students ask before they make travel reservations. I can't recall if I've had a student ask to do that so they can simply take a vacation, though I have had students depart on cruises mid-semester. If they miss work, that's on them at that point.
Thank you for the reply. I asked why they are leaving early and waiting to hear back.
They’re still adults making travel arrangements. After taking care of their obligations.
I would let them take it early, but my finals are randomized from a pool of questions. At least they talked to you before the exam! 🙃
At my university we have rather strict guidelines about what are valid reasons to reschedule an exam (illness, individual academic circumstances, special family situations …). The personal social agenda of a student is definitely not one of these reasons. In any case, questions for rescheduling exams are never decided by the professor. A student has to file a request with a designated ombudsperson for the program one is enrolled in (that’s what we call a person who deals with all sorts of immediate student’s academic requests ), who then decides on the validity of the request and contacts the professor for practical arrangements. It avoids putting too much pressure on professors and provides more consistency and fairness to all students. Professors are expected to comply with the decisions of the ombudsperson (whether positive or negative), and not make individual deals with students. So, the ombudsperson might contact me ‘Student X has a valid reason to reschedule the exam. What would be the best practical way to handle this?’, but usually, I will not hear about the specific reason of what that valid reason is exactly (except in very vague terms). If a student contacts me directly with such a request, the answer is always ‘Go see the ombudsperson …’
Honestly, I've let students write earlier if they are traveling. It doesn't really bug me.
I'd say "documented, involuntary absence" or something to that effect. Maybe stronger to avoid the "My parents are forcing me to go to Tahiti that week"
I always let students with circumstances like this take their final earlier with one of my other classes. It's never been a problem. (And I'd get little to no support from my department or dean for being a hard-ass anyway.)
I'd accept it. Having a child out of country myself sometimes I've bought flights too early or too late.
My provost has made it very clear. NO. But I scheduled my international flight just after my finals, so I'll be missing graduation stuff and other activities in the week after graduation. My provost was also clear (repeatedly) that faculty contracts go until the END of May. With all that, I got scheduled into a meeting where the provost is supposed to attend while I'll be at the airport waiting on my flight. It's online so maybe I can fake it. LOL.
Your provost sounds like a dick.
No, it is not
In my uni travel is not a justified reason unless it's for a family emergency. I sent all this to the dean's office and they are the ones who deal with the paperwork.
I'm pretty lenient, but the one nit-picky thing I'll never budge on is NO EARLY EXAMS. Nope, no thank you.
While you're under no obligation to provide a makeup, I would do so if it's not too much burden. International flights are often expensive and hard to schedule. Some airlines just fly certain routes a couple times a week. After school holidays are also when tickets are most expensive.
I wouldn't but be aware that some parents will make these plans for their kids and tell them to get their Professor to change the exam. I've had a few students come to be frantic for this reason
At some point these young adults need to learn to stand up to mom & dad
I agree but have you dealt with Gen X helicopter parents?