Examination Conflict and Hardship Policy

1. Any student who is scheduled to take an examination that conflicts with another examination may request that one of such examinations be postponed to the earliest possible time and date thereafter available in the examination schedule without creating another conflict. A ‘conflict’ exists only when an examination begins less than 24 hours after the commencement of the prior examination. Any rescheduling based on a conflict requires the written permission of the Senior Assistant Dean for Students no later than the expiration of the drop/add deadline of the registration period. The examination schedule shall be provided with registration materials, and students will be expected to take the schedule into account when registering for their courses. Notwithstanding the foregoing limitations, any student who is scheduled to take four or more examinations on consecutive days shall be entitled, upon request, to postpone one of such examinations to the designated ‘make-up’ day as described in resolution 2, below.

2. A student who is unable to take an examination because of extraordinary personal circumstances may be permitted, upon request, to postpone taking the examination. A request for any such postponement must be made in writing (when feasible) to the Senior Assistant Dean for Students and supported by appropriate documentation. 'Extraordinary personal circumstances’ are limited to such rare matters as a personal medical emergency, death or medical emergency in the immediate family necessitating the student’s assistance, or victimization or providing assistance in a serious crime or accident. Appropriate documentation for a personal medical emergency shall consist of a signed letter from a medical professional on professional letterhead explaining the student’s medical condition and containing a statement that, in the professional’s opinion, the student’s medical condition would severely affect the student’s ability to perform adequately on the examination. Appropriate documentation for other extraordinary personal circumstances shall consist of a writing or writings that sufficiently establish the basis for postponement. In the discretion of the professor teaching the relevant course, a make-up examination for the examination that has been postponed because of extraordinary personal circumstances shall be administered either on a designated ‘make-up’ day immediately following the regular examination schedule (or, in emergency circumstances, as soon as possible thereafter) or when the course is next offered.

In order to protect the integrity of the anonymous grading procedure, a student who has been directed to take a make-up examination on the ‘make-up’ day may not disclose his or her identity to, or discuss the circumstances with, the professor teaching the relevant course until after grading has been completed.

3. A student who has been granted permission to postpone an examination based on a conflict or extraordinary personal circumstances will be required to sign a statement attesting to the fact that he or she has not discussed the content of the examination with any other student prior to taking the examination. Such statement is not required where the student has been directed to take the examination when the course is next offered.

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