Education Committee Debates Jan. 20 Exams

Budget woes at the administrative level have all but squashed students’ hopes of missing scheduled exams to attend Barack Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

At yesterday’s Committee on Undergraduate Education meeting, students raised concerns about the scheduling conflict.

Members of the Undergraduate Council presented CUE with the UC’s recently passed legislation proposing scheduling accommodations that would allow students both to attend the inauguration and to make up their exams.

The UC proposal outlines three alternatives—administering exams on Sunday, Jan. 18, any day after January 20, or in February during the period already scheduled for make-up exams.

But representatives from the Registrar’s office argued that the costs of administering exams—$300,000 per exam period—reduces the feasibility of moving the Jan. 20 exams.

As of yesterday, more than 600 people have petitioned the College to accommodate students’ concerns in light of the historical nature of this inauguration. One class that—ironically—had its exam scheduled for Jan. 20, Government 1540: “The American Presidency,” did get its test moved up a week earlier.

Moreover, student members of CUE said that, in light of the new General Education curriculum that encourages political awareness, the administration should be receptive to these concerns.

In spite of the petition, the administration cited other barriers in addition to the costs associated with rescheduling exams: exam periods are planned two years in advance and more than 2,000 undergraduates are set to take exams on Jan. 20 for almost 40 different classes.

Though the likelihood of rescheduling exams is slim, UC representatives reiterated that the Registrar’s office may face a substantial logistical problem.

According to UC representatives at the meeting, between 100 and 200 students will miss their scheduled exams to travel to Washington, D.C. If the registrar’s office does not oblige their requests, many of these students plan to take advantage of the unwritten exam make-up rule, which gives students a “free pass” to retake an exam they missed.

But the administration stressed that the “free pass” is granted only in cases in which students are on campus when they miss an exam—for example, when they inadvertently sleep through an exam.

Also discussed at yesterday’s CUE meeting was the issue of reforming the class schedule to allow students more time in between classes.

Members of the administration proposed three new scheduling options that would allow for 15 minutes between classes. The one proposal discussed at length features 75-minute class blocks, giving professors the leeway of using between 55 and 75 minutes of this time frame.

As no scheduling option was heavily favored, the committee plans to explore the issue further after determining whether the number of available classrooms can accommodate such a change.

—Mac McAnulty contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Bita M. Assad can be reached at bassad@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Ahmed N. Mabruk can be reached at amabruk@fas.harvard.edu.