Teaching this fall? You should know . . .

. . . the Faculty regulates examinations and assignments for all subjects.

View the complete regulations at https://facultygovernance.mit.edu/rules-and-regulations - term-regulations-and-examination-policies. Select requirements are provided below for reference. Contact Faculty Chair Susan Silbey at exam-termregs@mit.edu with questions or requests for exceptions.

No required classes, examinations, oral presentations, exercises, or assignments of any kind may be scheduled after the last regularly scheduled class in a subject – whether full-term or half-term – except for final examinations scheduled through the Schedules Office. The last class day for all subjects is Wednesday, December 13, 2017.

Undergraduate Subjects

In both full-term subjects and half-term subjects, faculty must provide by the end of the first week of classes:

• a clear and complete description of the required work, including the number and kinds of assignments
• the approximate schedule of tests and due dates for major projects
• an indication of whether or not there will be a final examination, and
• the grading criteria and procedures to be used

In full-term subjects, by the end of the third week, faculty must provide a precise schedule of tests and major assignments.

In half-term subjects, this information must be provided by the end of the second week.
Regularly scheduled academic activity between 7 pm and 10 pm always takes precedence over evening review sessions or exams/quizzes. Hence:

• Evening review sessions should be optional, and should be described as such. It is good practice to announce them explicitly as being for those students who do not have classes on the evening in question; some instructors schedule two review sessions to provide alternate times.
• In the case of an evening exam/quiz, you must make available an alternate time for any students with such a conflict. (Note: Evening exams/quizzes may be scheduled only on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.)

When held outside scheduled class times, tests must:

• not exceed two hours in length
• begin no earlier than 7:30 p.m. when held in the evening, and
• be scheduled through the Schedules Office

In addition, during the same calendar week, either a regularly scheduled class session must be cancelled or no assignment will be due.

In all full-term and H2 half-term undergraduate subjects, there may be no tests after Friday, December 8, 2017. Unit tests may be scheduled during the final examination period. For each undergraduate subject with a final examination, no other test may be given and no assignment may fall due after Friday, December 8, 2017. For each subject without a final examination, at most one assignment may fall due between December 8 and the end of the last regularly scheduled class in the subject.

For H1 half-term undergraduate subjects, the final week of the class is considered to be the Half-Term Final Examination Period. There may be at most one assignment due or one exam held during this final week of the class.

Graduate Subjects 

In full-term subjects, faculty must provide by the end of the third week:

• a clear and complete description of the required work, including the number and kinds of assignments
• the schedule of tests and due dates for major projects
• an indication of whether or not there will be a final examination, and
• the grading criteria and procedures to be used

In half-term subjects, faculty must provide this information by the end of the second week.

For each full-term and H2 half-term graduate subject with a final examination, no other test may be given and no assignment, term paper, or oral presentation may fall due after Friday, December 8, 2017. For each full-term and H2 half-term graduate subject without a final examination, no more than one of the following may be given or fall due between December 8 and the end of the last regularly scheduled class in the subject: in-class test, assignment, term paper, or oral presentation.

For all H1 half-term graduate subjects, with or without a final examination, the final week of the class is considered to be the Half-Term Final Examination Period. There may be at most one exam held or one assignment, term paper, or oral presentation due during this final week of the class.

Student Holidays

There are no classes on the following dates: Friday, September 29 (Student Holiday and Fall Career Fair); Monday, October 9 (Columbus Day), and Tuesday, October 10; Friday, November 10 (Veterans Day); Thursday, November 23 (Thanksgiving) and Friday, November 24.

Collaboration Policy and Expectations for Academic Conduct

Due to varying faculty attitudes towards collaboration and diverse cultural values and priorities regarding academic honesty, students are often confused about expectations regarding permissible academic conduct. It is important to clarify, in writing, expectations regarding collaboration and academic conduct at the beginning of each semester. This could include a reference to the MIT Academic Integrity Handbook.

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