UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 10, Page 2
November 4, 1993
Faculty Senate accepts new final examination guidelines

     Revised guidelines for final examination week were accepted by the
University Faculty Senate on Monday.
     Except in unusual circumstances, faculty are now expected to give the
last examination in a course during final exam week. Evaluation of clinical
experiences, student teaching and other special situations will not be
restricted in this way.
     As revised, the Examinations and Tests section in the Faculty Handbook
reads: "Faculty exercise academic judgment in determining appropriate
methods of evaluation in courses. However, the University sets the academic
calendar and includes an examination week as the final week in a semester.
Except in unusual circumstances, faculty are expected to use the
examination week for evaluation and instructional purposes.
     Faculty should give the last examination in a course during that week
according to the printed schedule issued by the Registrar's Office. Courses
following very different instructional and evaluation formats, e.g.,
clinical experience, individual research, laboratory or student teaching,
will not be restricted in this regard. If unusual circumstances exist, the
department chair or dean will be informed of the method and timing of the
final course assessment."
     The revisions passed by the senate also state that no examination,
hourly exam, test or quiz counting for 25 percent or more of the semester's
grade for any class (except laboratory exams) shall be given during the
last five class days of any regular semester. Previously, exams given
during this period could not exceed 33-1/3  percent of the final grade.
     A break of at least 24 hours before finals week is also designated.
The revised guidelines are expected to become effective by the spring
semester. Some discussion was sparked by another resolution calling for the
disestablishment of any program that adopts a policy violating the
University's "published principles" as outlined in its equal opportunity
statement. Michael Keefe, chairperson of the Committee on Undergraduate
Studies, said the resolution arose following a discussion of the Air Force
ROTC program's upcoming permanent status. The measure failed, with a vote
of 40 against, 7 in favor and 5 abstentions.
     Earlier in the meeting, Margaret L. Andersen, vice provost for
academic affairs, discussed preliminary findings from the 1992 faculty
survey. Some 531 University faculty responded to the survey, sponsored by
the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute. Questions were included on
faculty perceptions of work and the institution, instructional practices,
job satisfaction, sources of stress and academic attitudes.
     Andersen pointed out that Delaware faculty were more likely to have
taught an honors course or attended a teaching enhancement workshop than
the national average, and their goals for the institution include promoting
intellectual development, increasing prestige, recruiting more minority
students and creating a more multicultural environment.
     Advising the senate that more complete results would be published
later in UpDate, she presented one optimistic conclusion: When asked if
they still wanted to be professors, 50.6 percent of the University faculty
said "definitely yes" and 33.7 percent answered "probably yes."
                                                  -Cornelia Weil