7.1 Academic Calendar and Activities Policies

Designations of Days on Academic Calendar

On the academic calendar, Mines has the following designations for various types of days:

  1. No-Class Days: No academic activities or assessments
    • Spring - Spring break, President’s Day, Friday of E-Days, Review Day, Snow Days
    • Fall - Fall Break, Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Review Day, Snow Days 
  2. No-Assessment Days: No proctored or high stakes assessments but classes continue as usual
    • Spring - Career Days, Thursday evening of E-Days, Monday after E-Days
    • Fall - Career Days
       
  3. Last Week of Class (week prior to Finals): No exams. Laboratory exams and quizzes, permitted. Classes conducted as usual
    • Spring - M-W of Last Week of Class
    • Fall - M-W of Last Week of Class
  4. Finals Week: Only final exams or final project
    • Spring - Only one major assessment per course
    • Fall - Only one major assessment per course
  5. Non-Restrictive Days: Operations as usual
  • Spring - Class operates as usual
  • Fall - Class operates as usual

Note that quizzes are short, low stakes exercises worth a small percentage of the overall course grade that take place on a regular basis, whereas exams are major exercises that take place only a few times a semester.

Definitions

  • Quizzes are short, low stakes exercises worth a small percentage of the overall course grade that take place on a regular basis.
  • Exams are major exercises that take place only a few times a semester.

No-Class Days

No-Class Days are days when campus is open, but no academic instruction is taking place.  Snow days are called in the event of inclement weather which would pose a danger to students and faculty in route to campus. No required class meetings, examinations or activities may take place on these days. Faculty members may hold additional office hours or provide extra help and resources, provided these activities are strictly optional. No academic activities or assessments worth any type of credit may be due on these days. This includes make up or take-home exams. No-Class Days should be treated as “holidays” and weekends with no academic participation required.

The Testing Center, although open, will not be providing any types of proctoring services for any type of assessment on these days.

No-Assessment Days

On No-Assessment Days faculty cannot schedule any kind of high-stakes assessment or assessment that requires live proctoring. Academic activities take place at the same time as other significant activities demanding a student’s attention.  The purpose of No-Assessment Days is to allow students to participate in university-sanctioned activities and/or events. Formal assessments needing live participation of any kind which will impact a student’s grade in the class should not be scheduled on these days.

Academic activities which are permitted by this policy:

  • Introducing new course content and materials during scheduled class time.
  • Conducting laboratory sessions.
  • Requiring homework assignments that are low stakes and do not need to be turned in during class, or in-person.

Academic activities that are explicitly disallowed by this policy include:

  • Scheduling examinations or quizzes, including laboratory exams.
  • Scheduling make-up exams.
  • Assigning a take-home exam that is due on a No-Assessment Day.
  • Assigning a major assessment (any effort worth more than 15% of the overall course grade) to be due on a No-Assessment Day. Projects with their corresponding presentations can count as one major assessment.
     

The Testing Center, although open, will not be providing any types of proctoring services for any type of assessment on No-Assessment Days.

Last Week of Class

The last week of class is the Monday-Wednesday prior to Finals. During these days, classes are running as scheduled and students and faculty are beginning to wrap up the semester.

Academic activities that are permitted by this policy:

  • Introducing new course content and materials.
  • Conducting laboratory finals.
  • Requiring homework or in-class assignments.
  • Giving in-class quizzes (see definitions at top).
  • Requiring major course assignments such as projects (paper with presentation) to be due during the last week of class or Finals Week, provided there is only one major assessment due during Finals Week. All major course assignments (anything worth over 15% of the overall course grade) must be assigned or announced at least 4 weeks in advance. Presentations must not be scheduled in conflict with other courses.
  • Assigning take-home finals due anytime during Finals Week. Students must be allotted at least 48 hours for a take-home exam.
  • Conducting make-up exams during the last week of class for students who miss (with an excused absence) a scheduled exam prior to the last week of class.

Academic activities that are explicitly disallowed by this policy include:

  • Scheduling an examination (other than a laboratory exam), including an in-class final examination or a take-home final examination that is due during the last week of class.
  • Assigning any type of assignment, project, or examination with a due date after the last day of Finals Week.
  • Assigning more than one major assessment (any effort worth more than 15% of the overall course grade) to be due during Finals Week. Projects with their corresponding presentations can count as one major assessment. For classes with both a major project and a final exam, the project must be due before Finals Week.
  • Scheduling make-up exams to begin before 7 AM or end after 10 PM.

The Testing Center will be open and providing proctoring services in accordance with the policy stated above during this week.

Finals Week

Finals week is the week dedicated at the end of every term for final exams. Final examinations are scheduled by the Registrar. Except for courses requiring a common time, all finals will be scheduled based on the day and the hour the course is offered.

All examinations during Finals Week will be given only during the stated final examination period and are to appear on the Registrar’s schedule. For classes with both a major project and a final exam, the project must be due before Finals Week.

Students with more than two exams or more than 6 hours of testing on the same day may request a make-up exam (to be provided by the course indicated in campus guidelines).

Faculty wishing to create exceptions to this policy should obtain permission from their Department Head. Students looking for clarifications on exceptions to this policy should speak with their instructor first. If need be, students can then reach out to the Department Head. Any situation that cannot be resolved by the Department Head can be referred to the appropriate Dean who will make the final decision.

Last revision:

September 29, 2023