Religious Observance
The University policy on religious observation allows examinations to be missed for religious reasons, and the completion examination schedule is used instead.
A student who wishes to observe a religious holiday on an examination date may take a completion examination on the scheduled date if appropriate protocol is followed for documenting the religious observance.
Specifically, at the beginning of each term, the Office of Student Affairs will invite students via email to register the dates of their religious holidays that conflict with their examination schedule for that term. Students who fail to register these dates within two weeks from the start of each term will not receive an excused absence from examinations.
Students must follow this protocol each term. The protocol does not cover any dates of travel associated with the religious observance beyond the actual religious holiday. All completion examinations are scheduled after the semester ends, as per the official Academic Class Schedule published on the Office of the University Registrar.
Medical Excuse
In rare instances, medical reasons may prevent a student taking an examination as scheduled. Students are entitled to one Medical Excuse for examinations per 12-month period. The student receives an “I” for the exam grade and is permitted to take the Completion Examination. Students take the Completion Examination after the semester ends, as per the official schedule on the Office of the University Registrar website. Students should consider this completion examination period when scheduling end of term travel. Travel conflicts are not a valid reason for missing an examination; examinations will not be re-scheduled to accommodate student travel.
Students should use their Medical Excuse appropriately as no additional excused absences for examinations will be allowed. If a student does not take an examination as scheduled and has already used his/her Medical Excuse in the prior 12-month period, then the student will receive a “0” grade for the examination.
Students with extenuating circumstances for missing an additional examination should seek guidance from the Office of Student Affairs.
Procedure for Submitting a Medical Excuse
To submit a medical excuse, the student uses the Medical Excuse link on the University Portal. This self- report form should be submitted before the end of the scheduled examination time. The Medical Excuse covers all exams within a 7-day period starting from the date of submission of the Medical Excuse. If a student becomes able to take some or all of the examinations during the timeframe covered by the Medical Excuse, he/she may take any remaining examinations. If a student makes a second Medical Excuse request within 12 months, then the student receives a written notice about his/ her ineligibility for a second Medical Excuse and is apprised of the consequences of missing the examination(s).
Note: Students may not request a Medical Excuse once they have started an exam. Once a student has started an exam, a score will be submitted and contribute to the student’s grade, irrespective of how much of the exam is completed. Therefore, students are strongly discouraged from taking an exam if they are unwell.
Process for Resolution of Missed Examinations
Any student with an approved absence who misses an examination will temporarily receive a zero score for the missed examination and an Incomplete grade for the course.
Any student who is not approved to miss any examination must contact the Office of Student Affairs and provide an explanation, which will be evaluated by the FPAP. The FPAP will then determine whether a panel hearing is required and the academic penalty to the students’ course grade for the absence. The student will then receive a zero score for the missed examination and an Incomplete (I) grade for the course.
To rectify the zero score, the student must sit the scheduled completion exam. Students must take a Completion Examination as per the course schedule. No additional Completion examinations will be offered. Students who do not take the scheduled Completion Examination to rectify their zero score and their Incomplete grade will receive a failing grade for the course.
Publication of Examination Schedules
The examination schedules, once finalized, will be published as part of the Academic Class Schedules. These schedules also include the dates of completion and make-up examinations. Once the examination schedules are published, they are considered final and cannot be changed at the request of individuals or groups.
Re-Scheduling of Examinations
Examination dates can only be changed under extreme extenuating circumstances. These extenuating circumstances include, but are not limited to natural disasters, extreme weather, pandemic or other severe situations that are not compatible with an orderly delivery of an examination.
Adverse Conditions in an Examination Venue
During an examination, the condition of the examination venue is constantly monitored by the Chief Proctor assigned to the venue. In case the conditions become unsuitable for an examination, the Chief Proctor may have to terminate the examination process in the affected venue. This step is taken if the adverse conditions cannot be rectified within a reasonable time. In case the adverse conditions appear during the examination, suspension of the examination and relocation to a suitable environment can take place if there is no undue delay (i.e. <2 hours). Under no circumstances can the overall interruption time exceed two hours.
Minor adverse conditions in an examination venue within the normal variability, such as variations in ambient light (from sun to cloud), room temperature, as well as minor interruptions caused by the persons inside the examination venue, for example when they are blowing their nose, do not warrant a termination of an examination, nor do they warrant any interference with the resulting examination scores for an individual student.
The safety of students and members of Examination Services inside an SGU examination venue is paramount. A fire alarm requires immediate evacuation of the examination venue, and students must assemble in the designated muster area. The Chief Proctor will assess the situation and report to the Department of Public Safety (DPS), the Course Director, the SGS Dean, and the Office of Student Affairs.
In case one or more examination venues become dysfunctional prior to a scheduled examination, the Assistant Dean overseeing scheduling will investigate the availability of alternative venues first and will only initiate rescheduling if the available alternatives, which may include lecture halls, are not sufficient or suitable to deliver the examination to the class.
Students who experience adverse conditions in an external professional testing center (e.g., Prometric) are advised to contact the Office of Student Affairs, which will start an investigation and work with the respective Dean on a remediation plan, if appropriate.
Compromised Integrity of an Examination
If the integrity of an examination has been compromised, for example, if there has been a breach in examination security and students were able to get access to an examination or its elements prior to the delivery date, the originally scheduled delivery of the examination will be abandoned.
In cases where a breach of examination security comes to light after the examination has already been delivered, but the scores have not become final, which is two weeks after the examination, such a compromised examination can be invalidated by the Course Director in consultation with the Assessment Review Committee and following the approval of the SGS Dean. This requires rescheduling the examination within the term or at the scheduled completion date.
Procedures following Examination Termination/Invalidation
If an examination is terminated or invalidated, for example, in case of compromised examination integrity, for the whole class, or for a specified cohort, e.g., in a specific examination venue, the Course Director, in consultation with the Assessments Review Committee and the SGS Dean, will meet with representatives of Examination Services. During this meeting, the situation is analyzed, and a plan of action is developed.
As one of the possible outcomes of this meeting, the Assistant Dean responsible for scheduling may be charged to call a scheduling meeting to discuss the rescheduling of the examination, including the stakeholders relevant to the scheduling of the particular examination, including the Course Director and two members of the Student Government Association (SGA), to reschedule the examination for the affected student cohorts.
In case the program is unable to deliver a rescheduled examination during the term, it is at the discretion of the SGS Dean to develop an alternative plan.
Students will be informed of the date and time of the rescheduled examination, or the decision to determine the course grades without the missing examination, no later than 7 days after the originally scheduled examination, via the usual communication pathways, including the electronic course management system.
In case an examination is terminated for a single student or a small number of students, these students will have to take the completion examination on the date published in the official Academic Class Schedule.
Guidelines for Rescheduling Examinations
The rescheduling should adhere to the following guidelines as much as possible:
Saturdays, Sundays, or public holidays are not absolute exclusion days for emergency rescheduling of examinations.
All course examinations must be rescheduled within the published dates of the term to which the original examination belongs, and no later than the day of the last scheduled completion examination, as published in the official Academic Class Schedule.
If the last course examination in a term must be rescheduled, it should be done between the original date of the final examination and the last Completion Examination, as outlined in the official Academic Class Schedule.
Publication of the rescheduled examination dates and times, and the revised examination announcement, is usually done via email or the electronic course management system. There is no requirement to publish the rescheduled examination in a revised Academic Class Schedule. The Scheduling Officer in the University's Provost’s office, responsible for examinations, ensures the proper entry of venue bookings into the University scheduling system (currently 25live).
General Rules for all Course Examinations
Students must complete all course examinations to meet course requirements and earn a final course grade. If a student completes only part of an examination (e.g., Part 1 but not Part 2 of a two-part examination), then the completed part of the examination is invalidated, no score exists, and the examination is considered missed.
Students are expected to take all regular Examinations, Completion or Make-up Examinations as scheduled.
All students are expected to adhere to the Code of Conduct for all University-administered examinations. All students are responsible for knowing and complying with the University’s Code of Conduct.
Students must be above suspicion in all testing situations. When cheating is suspected, it is not the University's obligation to prove a violation of this Code beyond a shadow of a doubt, but rather by a preponderance of credible evidence submitted.
In case of a suspicion indicating that the integrity of an examination might have been compromised, the Course Director, in consultation with the faculty and the administration, may nullify the examination and announce a new date for a replacement examination within a period of seven working days after the original.
An examination announcement will be posted on the course website prior to each examination. It will outline the specific policies and procedures governing this examination and will indicate when the last student will be allowed into the examination venue. After this time, no latecomers will be admitted.
An SGU student ID must be presented to gain entry to an examination. In the absence of a valid student ID, entry to the examination is not allowed, and the student must follow the procedure for a missed examination. Photos, copies, or anything other than the original student SGU ID card is not suitable, as these cannot be scanned and verified.
Students who fail to appear for an examination without an approved excused absence (Medical/Non- Medical) or who are denied entry into the examination venue because of late arrival or inadequate ID, have to contact the Office of Student Affairs immediately to receive further guidance and to complete a missed examination report. A Faculty Panel on Academic Professionalism will be convened to determine course penalties. After the FPAP ruling, a penalty can be appealed to the SGS Dean by sending an email to (deangraduatestudies@sgu.edu)
The Office of Institutional Advancement is responsible for the administration of all electronic examinations for the SGS programs. Students must use a computer with the appropriate specifications for their examinations (see https://myuniversity.sgu.edu/pages/oia-examination-services).
All electronic examinations at SGU SGS are sequestered and are not available for individual review after the exam. To get feedback on their strengths and weaknesses in the electronic examinations, students will receive an individual Examination Mastery Report via the ExamSoft portal.