Finals week is being restructured

Finals week at Minnesota State is undergoing changes in its structure, moving away from a system that presented difficulties in scheduling times and locations for each class and section. 

According to the president of the Student Government, Roshit Niraula, changes to the finals week were discussed with administration at Meet and Confer last year. 

“Finals week is changing in a way that is new to students. In previous semesters, a student would go into a PDF on the website, where they would check what time and where their class meets,” said Niraula. “It’s being changed to reflect that students will now have finals during the time of their class meeting date and class meeting time, and that final would happen on the first day that the class (would) meet (during finals week).”

When the change to finals week was discussed with the Student Government, students generally accepted the new approach. However, some concerns were raised.

“The topic was in conversation for about a year in our open town halls. When we talked with students, we heard positive feedback, although there were concerns,” said Niraula. “The concerns have been centered around students who need accessibility, and we are advocating for students to make sure that those who need accessibility still continue to get accessibility resources and that this stays a priority.”

“What has helped with the scheduling is that the exam timing changes accelerate finals week. With the original plan, exams were often spread across the week. So, if you were dealt with a Friday exam, you are forced to stay on campus until that Friday,” said sophomore Andrew Colleran. “Now, the first classes of the week naturally happen on the earlier days of the week. I think this is an overall good change as it allows students to leave campus and be done with school a couple of days earlier than they most likely would if they had not been under the new exam system.”

Colleran believes there might be a disadvantage of taking an exam in a condensed time but does not think it outweighs the advantages of the new system. 

Junior Emily Dittrich said the change does not benefit her as much as it does students living outside of the Mankato area, as she preferred having exams spread out throughout the week to allow for preparation.

“My class section had our exam on Friday and I was extremely happy to have had the extra studying time. Which for me ended up paying off a lot when it came to actually taking the final,” Dittrich said. “I think more than anything, I’m curious to see how this will all work out. If the majority of people end up loving it, then I’m fine with it, but if the opposite is true, I think I would be wise to reconsider the policy in the future.”

The ability to reschedule the exams if there are more than two exams in a day for a student remains. The policy implies that students can communicate concerns with their faculty members to reschedule the third and consequent exam sessions to eliminate the overload.

Write to amal.sharafkhodjaeva@mnsu.edu