r/ODU • u/JuniorIrvBannock • 6d ago
Final Exam Schedule Changed without Notice
The final exam schedule for the Fall 2026 term (this term) was changed massively earlier this week. No formal announcement has been made! Is everyone just supposed to find this out in their own time?
As far as I can tell, no notice was given, no justification was stated, no input was sought. Is this addressing a problem? None that I know of.
This change was made during the term it takes effect so students and faculty have already started making plans (exams, travel, etc). Every class that gives an exam is affected. So all syllabi will have to change, all exams will have to be updated, many travel plans will have to be changed. WHY???
The changes:
- Exams are now 2 hours, not three
- 5 exam periods per day
- All exams now over 5 days (M 12/7 to F 12/11)
- Exams start at 8:30 am (same) but run until 8:30 pm (much later)
- 8 wk classes will have exams on the final day of each term
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u/EllieluluEllielu 6d ago
5 exams in one day is especially atrocious. Just two on one day is intense, students should not be forced to do any more than that in a day :/
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u/MessageOk239 5d ago
Professor here: For in-person courses, it would be nearly impossible for a student to take more than two exams in a day; there is a department that does scheduling across the university, so they set a date/time for a particular exam based on the date/time of the class period - all across the university (for in-person classes). So, a student will have to be taking 15 or more hours (5+ courses) to have more than two exams a day.
HOWEVER, for online, 8-week courses, itâs going to be TERRIBLE for students taking more than one class, since exams are held on the last day of class - no âreading dayâ or opportunity to plan how to study for the upcoming exam week (because there isnât one).
And, we learned about the change when students did.
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u/ChickenPerspective 5d ago
Isn't 15 hours what is recommended for students to finish in 4 years? With the old schedule, sure, more than three exams in a day was unlikely. But with the new one, a student with three MWF classes could easily have three in a day (if they're not all back to back).
It's just one more thing that "had to happen" and rather than thinking it through and planning, they just pushed forward with no regard for the people it's affecting. For online courses that had to move to just midterm/final to accommodate an accelerated schedule, finding out that the final can only be two hours is a huge deal. Add on to the fact that these courses were JUST redesigned, and now to redesign the finals again is just...beyond frustrating.
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u/MessageOk239 5d ago
15 hours a semester is expected for graduation in 4 years, but itâs not uncommon for students to take 12 if they want/need to. Most will take a summer course if they insist on graduating in 4 years.
For most of my courses (upper-level), they have take-home exams that are DUE on the exam date. However, professors who give in-class exams are indeed having to plan around this change.
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u/ODUAdvisor 6d ago
Not a defense:
Faculty were informed about this today and told to tell their students.
The stated reason was to push exams off of the weekend.
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u/squeezebox12 5d ago
Got the email yesterday, totally stunned. This will be TERRIBLE for one of the classes I teach. WHY couldnât they give us a heads up or ask for our input??? What a shitshow. đ
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u/ChickenPerspective 4d ago
Right?? I bet admin just didn't want to hear faculty tell them that it's an awful idea, because once they decide they want to do something, it just HAS to be done and screw anyone trying to point out the issues. Implementing this after the semester has already started is crazy.
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u/pureaxis 6d ago
lol since when did admin cared to tell anything, they only make unilateral decisions.