Failure to Take an Examination

Written examinations are held at the end of most courses. Every student is required to take the regular examinations at their scheduled dates and times unless excused. If a student fails to take an examination, a grade of F will be recorded unless the student has been excused from the examination or has obtained the dean of students’ permission to drop the course. No excuse for absence will be granted except by the dean of students and then only for illness or other emergency. Travel or scheduling conflicts do not constitute an emergency, nor do multiple examinations on the same date or examinations on several consecutive dates. Application for excuse must be made in writing as soon as possible but not later than one month after the date of the examination.

An instructor may, at his or her discretion, permit a student who has been granted an excused absence by the dean of students for an in-class examination to take the examination on a graded basis later in the same examination period or as soon thereafter as can be arranged in consultation with the dean of students and the Records Office. If the student is not permitted to make up the examination in this way, and in the case of all other excused absences in graded courses, the following regulations apply: A student who has received an excused absence for a graded course must elect, in writing, one of the following options. First, the student may comply with the instructor’s procedure of evaluation (make-up examination, research paper, or other procedure, as determined by the instructor) to be graded on a Credit/No Credit (CR/ NC) basis (for credit, a minimum grade of C- is required for J.D. candidates) before the last day of classes of the semester following the excused absence. Second, the student may take the next regularly scheduled examination in the same course, taught by the same or a different instructor, for a letter grade. The examination, however, may not be taken after a student has been excluded for low scholarship, and permission to take an examination before the regularly scheduled date and time will not be granted. A student who fails to elect one of these options by the end of the examination period will be deemed to have elected the second option. A student who fails to complete the elected option within the prescribed period without an approved absence will receive a grade of F for the course.