Changes to final examination procedures effective Sunday, December 19

If you are currently scheduled to administer a final exam on or after Sunday, both you and your students have options about how to proceed.  

While Yale has not experienced the same increase in COVID rates as some other universities, we know that many are concerned about remaining on campus during the finals period. Although the risk of transmission during in-person examinations is small, we want undergraduate students to be able to go home as soon as is feasible. We have therefore made the difficult decision that beginning Sunday, any final exams that take place will be offered remotely; you may also choose alternative methods for completing the semester as described in what follows. 

At the end of this message you will find a copy of the messages that we are planning to send to all students in Yale College and the GSAS shortly.

We appreciate that this will require many of you to make changes to your expected mode of evaluation. The decision to move to on-line examinations was not taken lightly, and was made in consultation with many parties, including the Yale Public Health Committee, FAS Steering, Yale College and GSAS leadership, the FAS faculty senate, the Poorvu Center, the provost, president, and other faculty leaders. We are grateful for your accommodation at this difficult time.

Recognizing that expertise about how best to adapt a particular class lies with the instructor, details of implementation of this policy lie in your hands. As you decide how you wish to administer your final examination, we encourage you to take into consideration the many individual circumstances that students face. Below you will find a list of options. 

If the inclusion of a final examination grade is essential to the calculation of the course grade:

• You are encouraged to offer your remote examination at the regularly scheduled time. If you need help making this transition and accommodating your students, guidance is available on the Poorvu Center’s website. To request proctors for remote exams, please write to askpoorvucenter@yale.edu with the following information: i) the number of students taking the remote exam, ii) the date and time of exam, and iii) the number of teaching fellows available to proctor remotely.
• You may choose to substitute an alternative assignment in lieu of the final exam. If you do, please communicate the appropriate directions to your students.
• You may offer students a make-up examination; all undergraduate students will be able to receive ABXs from the residential college deans. 

If the inclusion of a final examination grade is not essential to the calculation of the course grade:

• You may but not are not required to offer your undergraduate students the option to waive the examination, and to base their grade solely on the work they have completed during the semester. Students who receive the report of a grade calculated in this way will have the non-reversible option to accept it, convert it to a “CR” (even if it is a grade in the D range), or request an ABX for the make-up final examination described above. Graduate students registered in undergraduate courses may not use this option.

Students who require extra time, because of unplanned travel, to complete final papers or take-home examinations will receive ABXs or TIs from their residential college deans. 

We urge you to communicate directly with your students once you have chosen which options to offer to them so that they can make any adjustments to their study plans. 

Thank you for your understanding at a time when developments are moving rapidly. We are grateful for all that you have done to support your students during this challenging semester. 

Tamar, Marvin, and Lynn

Tamar Szabó Gendler
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Marvin Chun
Dean of Yale College

Lynn Cooley
Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Science

Subject: Final examinations 

Dear undergraduate students, 

While Yale has not experienced the same increase in COVID rates as some other universities, we know that many of you are concerned about remaining on campus during the finals period. Although the risk of transmission during in-person examinations is small, we want you to be able to go home now. We have therefore made the difficult decision that beginning Sunday, there will be no more in-person exams this semester. Some instructors will offer remote exams at their scheduled times; others will offer make-up exams or alternative methods for completing the semester.

We want to emphasize that you are not required to leave campus early, but we encourage you to do so if you wish. 

We recognize that this disruption comes at an already challenging moment in the semester. To make it as easy as possible for you to adjust your plans, we are offering the following options: 

• If your instructor offers a remote exam at the regularly scheduled time, you may take that exam then or choose to postpone it as described below.  
• If you need to postpone any academic work due to your travel disruptions—a synchronous exam, a take-home exam, a final paper, etc.—you may request and will receive this permission from your residential college dean; the temporary grade of TI or ABX will appear on your transcript.
• If your instructor offers the option to waive the final examination and base your final grade on work you have already submitted this semester, you will have the additional but non-reversible choice to accept that grade, to convert it to the grade of “CR” (which will not count against the regular limit on grades of Credit/D/Fail), or to request an ABX from your residential college dean and take the make-up as described above.
• If your instructor chooses to substitute an alternative assignment in lieu of the final exam, please follow those directions. 

Please be alert to messages from your instructors so that you will know how to proceed. If you are taking a graduate or professional school course that is still holding an in-person exam, please contact your residential college dean to make arrangements.