Know Your End-of-Semester Academic Rights

[Jennie Zheng]

​

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 right at the end of the of the semester*. 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 8th
   - For classes with finals, no assignments can be due after May 8th
   - 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 now!*

*If you think one of your classes is breaking a rule*, there are several
steps that you can take. If you are comfortable doing so, you can talk to
the professor directly.
You can also *report the violation *anonymously to the UA or to the Chair
of the Faculty. Please reach out *as* *soon as possible*.

Most violations are unintentional and easily resolved at the beginning of
the semester. Later in the semester, violations become increasingly
difficult to resolve in a matter that is fair to everyone.

To report a violation to the UA, email *violations at mit.edu
<violations at mit.edu> *with the following information:
-Class number
-Professor name
-Details on violation
-Urgency of violation
-Your name and email (which will be kept confidential)

To report a violation to the Chair of the Faculty, please email
exam-termregs at mit.edu

If you have any questions, please email
<violations at mit.edu>*violations at mit.edu
<violations at mit.edu>*.

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

Best,
Trevor Mulchay & Jennie Zheng
Chairs, UA Committee on Education

-------
*A Brief Summary of the Rules for Undergraduate Classes:*

*Classes with Final Exams:*
- No test given after May 8th.
- No assignment due after May 8th.
- Optional Self-Study assignments can be assigned after May 8th. 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 8th.
- Only one assignment due between May 8th and the last day of the class
(which may be before May 14th!)
- 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 listings of regulations available at:
http://web.mit.edu/faculty/teaching/termend.html


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

-- 
Jennie Zheng
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Class of 2015
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