Final Exams

From an email circulated earlier today:

To: UCLA Faculty, Advisers, and Students

Dear Colleagues and Students:

We face extraordinarily difficult times. The unequal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our communities have laid bare the realities of institutional racism. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and the increasingly tense situation in Los Angeles and across the nation, have deeply affected our university community. We recognize that these events affect members of our communities in ways that disproportionately impact Black students, staff, and faculty.

The Academic Senate cannot postpone or cancel finals campuswide. However, we urge instructors to be understanding and flexible with respect to final exams and coursework deadlines. Instructors possess the following options for final exams in Spring 2020 as indicated in a message to faculty on March 16, 2020 (PDF) — in addition to the guidelines outlined in our memo on May 19, 2020 (PDF):

• Offer alternate assessments. This could include take-home (untimed) exams instead of in-person (timed) exams, essays, or other written papers, and recorded presentations instead of live presentations.
• Give students the ability to opt-out of the final and receive the grade that they have earned up to that point.
• Allow students who do complete a final assessment to receive the higher of either the grade that they would have received prior to the final assessment or the grade they would receive after the final assessment. This may be done for students who have already completed their final assessment.
• Extend due dates. Grades may be submitted to the Registrar’s Office until 11:59 p.m. on June 22, 2020.
• Reduce the number of pages required for a final assessment.

These options are permissible under the current suspension of specific sections of UCLA Senate Regulations 332 and 505 (PDF), which gives instructors the flexibility to change their method of final assessments. As stated in Divisional Regulation 332: The final grade shall reflect the student’s achievement in the course and shall be based upon adequate evaluation of the achievement. These acts of flexibility and compassion will be appreciated if you are able to offer them.

We remind students of the following options, under the current suspension of UCLA Senate Regulation A-310 (A) and (E) (PDF):

• In Spring 2020, undergraduate and graduate students have until the last day of instruction (Friday, June 5) to drop a course or change the grading basis on an optionally graded course using MyUCLA without need for petition and without the usual fees. This same policy is extended through Summer 2020 for undergraduate students. For more information regarding registration and enrollment, please consult the COVID-19 FAQ from the Registrar’s Office.
• Students considering requesting an Incomplete grade, especially graduating seniors, are encouraged to consult with an academic adviser. For more information regarding Incompletes, please consult Grading & Repeats from College Academic Counseling and In Absentia Graduation from the Registrar’s Office.

Instructors seeking resources for healing, learning, and taking action are encouraged to visit the Resources for Racial Trauma from the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Office, particularly the resource “Acknowledging the Current Racial Crisis in the Classroom” (PDF). For resources regarding final examinations and proctoring, please consult Planning for Academic Continuity from the Administrative Vice Chancellor’s Office, the Checklist for Remote Assessment Recommendation from the Center for Education Innovation & Learning in the Sciences (CEILS), and the Spring 2020 Addendum to Accommodation Instructions for Faculty from the Center for Accessible Education (CAE).

Thank you for your hard work, compassion, care, and integrity during these last few weeks and months.

Sincerely,

Michael Meranze

Chair, UCLA Academic Senate

Adriana Galván

Chair, Undergraduate Council

Andrea Kasko

Chair, Graduate Council

Shane White

Vice Chair/Chair Elect, UCLA Academic Senate

Joseph Bristow

Immediate Past Chair, UCLA Academic Senate