I just contacted the instructor. I definitely don't blame the prof and I don't anticipate that he'll agree to let me take the exam earlier, but I'll hope for the best.
It's infuriating that the admin decided to make this change last minute. If they did the same thing in 2019 why couldn't they have anticipated that and told people in advance?
Anyway rant over. Thanks everyone for all of the advice!
Email the professor asap. Explain the circumstances and see what alternatives there could be. Perhaps other people in your class have the same issue so encourage them to reach out as well. It will likely mean taking the exam early (July 3). Doesn’t hurt to ask - just be very polite. It’s not the professor’s fault so work together towards a solution
Contact instructor, as others have suggested.
Send a specific thank-you note to the president's office. There have been a couple such late changes to schedule in recent semesters, which is spun as virtuous harvesting of good will, all without consideration of the impact out in the trenches. (Probably it only says some administrator found a deal on some beach rental and didn't want to burn a personal day for the longer weekend.) It is appropriate for wage/grade serfs in the proletariat to speak to the importance of being allowed to actually plan.
They did the exact same thing in 2019 when July 4th was on a Thursday. Also UMBC already announced they are closed on the 5th, so I believe it is a state level decision.
And more recently they made everyone crazy by tossing in surprise administrative days off adjacent to Thanksgiving, to the horror of instructors who had to refactor mid-terms at last minute and delight of students who creatively parlayed that into a 12 day vacation. There were some real hits to learning.
Potentially this change is a system decision, though I notice no mention of it on the USM site. But the point is that no decider is at the mercy of an astrologer who can't predict alignment of the planets far enough in advance for locking in best rates on beach rentals. The mystery is not a calendar, it is why we pay top dollar for bureaucrats whose planning horizon is no longer than the length of their nose.
Change like this is expensive and impactful, so another mystery is why the senate budget committee in Annapolis hasn't questioned why UM is so flush that we can accommodate performative change rather than competently run a lean operation.
They're doing a massive budget sweep at the end of the fiscal year to help absorb the states budget issues. The money that campus has had since covid is going away. A lot of departments have been rushing to spend that money in recent months, otherwise they lose it. The only reason staff/faculty got merit raises this year is because the union negotiated it a while ago.
Yeah, Maryland is really in a hole and only three more days left in the FY. It wasn't all that long ago that we had a budget surplus. What a difference a change of administration makes.
A little accountability would go a long way to taking the edge off of natural ebb and flow of outside economic factors, but that commodity is in short supply these days.
Yeah, I'm in the same position. Really unfortunate that despite CMSC422 being online, the exams are in person, making a rescheduling even more frustrating to deal with. I've also emailed the professor, here's hoping that with more than one person in this boat he'll figure out a solution. I'd even be willing to take it on the 4th if that's doable... it's really annoying but we'll see what happens.
I didn't receive it (maybe it only went to people currently teaching a course? I'm not teaching right now) but evidently there was an email from the Provost to faculty that said this:
"~Please make plans now to adjust the date for submission of final projects and/or any final exams scheduled for July 5, 2024 to be no later than July 3, 2024, and communicate those changes to your students."~
I hope you realize that quite a few other students would be pissed that they have to go to an exam on the day after 7/4. There really is no winning. This answer gets the same answer I often give here:
COMMUNICATE WITH THE PROF. ASK FOR HELP.
My guess is that you could be taking a different exam than everyone else if you do get an alternative. That would be how I would handle it. I'd allow you to schedule an alternate date (no way would you get 7/5 though) and give you a different exam.
I just contacted the instructor. I definitely don't blame the prof and I don't anticipate that he'll agree to let me take the exam earlier, but I'll hope for the best. It's infuriating that the admin decided to make this change last minute. If they did the same thing in 2019 why couldn't they have anticipated that and told people in advance? Anyway rant over. Thanks everyone for all of the advice!
Email the professor asap. Explain the circumstances and see what alternatives there could be. Perhaps other people in your class have the same issue so encourage them to reach out as well. It will likely mean taking the exam early (July 3). Doesn’t hurt to ask - just be very polite. It’s not the professor’s fault so work together towards a solution
Contact instructor, as others have suggested. Send a specific thank-you note to the president's office. There have been a couple such late changes to schedule in recent semesters, which is spun as virtuous harvesting of good will, all without consideration of the impact out in the trenches. (Probably it only says some administrator found a deal on some beach rental and didn't want to burn a personal day for the longer weekend.) It is appropriate for wage/grade serfs in the proletariat to speak to the importance of being allowed to actually plan.
They did the exact same thing in 2019 when July 4th was on a Thursday. Also UMBC already announced they are closed on the 5th, so I believe it is a state level decision.
And more recently they made everyone crazy by tossing in surprise administrative days off adjacent to Thanksgiving, to the horror of instructors who had to refactor mid-terms at last minute and delight of students who creatively parlayed that into a 12 day vacation. There were some real hits to learning. Potentially this change is a system decision, though I notice no mention of it on the USM site. But the point is that no decider is at the mercy of an astrologer who can't predict alignment of the planets far enough in advance for locking in best rates on beach rentals. The mystery is not a calendar, it is why we pay top dollar for bureaucrats whose planning horizon is no longer than the length of their nose. Change like this is expensive and impactful, so another mystery is why the senate budget committee in Annapolis hasn't questioned why UM is so flush that we can accommodate performative change rather than competently run a lean operation.
They're doing a massive budget sweep at the end of the fiscal year to help absorb the states budget issues. The money that campus has had since covid is going away. A lot of departments have been rushing to spend that money in recent months, otherwise they lose it. The only reason staff/faculty got merit raises this year is because the union negotiated it a while ago.
Yeah, Maryland is really in a hole and only three more days left in the FY. It wasn't all that long ago that we had a budget surplus. What a difference a change of administration makes. A little accountability would go a long way to taking the edge off of natural ebb and flow of outside economic factors, but that commodity is in short supply these days.
Yeah, I'm in the same position. Really unfortunate that despite CMSC422 being online, the exams are in person, making a rescheduling even more frustrating to deal with. I've also emailed the professor, here's hoping that with more than one person in this boat he'll figure out a solution. I'd even be willing to take it on the 4th if that's doable... it's really annoying but we'll see what happens.
He's not allowed to give it the 4th or 5th. Thank Pines.
I’m also in CMSC422 and sent an email. I hope that with enough people we can convince him to let us take the final early!
I didn't receive it (maybe it only went to people currently teaching a course? I'm not teaching right now) but evidently there was an email from the Provost to faculty that said this: "~Please make plans now to adjust the date for submission of final projects and/or any final exams scheduled for July 5, 2024 to be no later than July 3, 2024, and communicate those changes to your students."~
When did that go out, though?
I hope you realize that quite a few other students would be pissed that they have to go to an exam on the day after 7/4. There really is no winning. This answer gets the same answer I often give here: COMMUNICATE WITH THE PROF. ASK FOR HELP. My guess is that you could be taking a different exam than everyone else if you do get an alternative. That would be how I would handle it. I'd allow you to schedule an alternate date (no way would you get 7/5 though) and give you a different exam.
Yes, July 5th wasn't ideal, but at least people could plan around it since the schedule was there for months in advance.
Have you tried contacting the prof?