Know Your End-of-Semester Academic Rights

[Naren Tallapragada]

Dear undergrads,

Believe it or not, MIT believes in some work-life balance. There are *rules
governing* when and how *tests and assignments* are given *near the end
of the semester*.

We're only at week 4 of the semester, but *p**lease check if your classes
comply with MIT's rules* for end-of-term tests and assignments. Your professors
might not be aware of these rules! You can find a *summary of the rules at
the end of this e-mail*, but here are a few examples:


   - No tests are allowed after May 10th
   - For classes with finals, no assignments can be due after May 10th
   - Take-home finals must be open-book and open-note

*Your professors should have given you a* *final** schedule of all exams
and major assignments by last Friday* -- the end of the 3rd week of
classes.

*If you think one of your classes is breaking a rule*, you can *report the
violation anonymously* to the UA Committee on Education, and we'll talk to
your professor.

To report a violation, *visit **
http://ua.mit.edu/issues/educational_policy/violations/*. If you have any
questions, feel free to *email violations at mit.edu*.

Thanks for taking the time to check your syllabi. Hopefully we can help if
there are any issues.

Best,
Naren Tallapragada
Chair, UA Committee on Education

-------
*A Brief Summary of the Rules for Undergraduate Classes:*
*
*
*Classes with Final Exams:*
- No test given after May 10th.
- No assignment due after May 10th.
- Optional Self-Study assignments can be assigned between May 10th and May
16th. However, these cannot count for a grade in any way, not even as extra
credit or as substitutes for earlier assignments.

*Classes without Final Exams:*
- No test given after May 10th.
- Only one assignment due between May 10th and the last day of the class
(which may be before May 16th!)
- This one assignment may be both an oral and a written report if derived
from the same project.

*Take-home (ex camera) Finals:*
- Must be scheduled through the Registrar.
- Offered over one afternoon — beginning no earlier than 1:30 P.M. and
ending before 7:30 P.M.
- Students are allowed unrestricted use of resources.

*Excused Absences from Finals:*
A student may be excused from a scheduled final examination for reasons
of illness or significant personal problems. Undergraduates should contact
a dean in S^3
(http://web.mit.edu/uaap/s3/) if they wish to seek an excused absence.

A more comprehensive listing of regulations is available at: *
http://ua.mit.edu/issues/educational_policy/termregs.pdf*

Any violations can be reported anonymously at:
http://ua.mit.edu/issues/educational_policy/violations/

For more information, feel free to email: violations at mit.edu.
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