Students will no longer face the possibility of a 9 a.m. exam the day after Dean’s Date, following discussions between USG academics chair Ben Lund ’10 and University Registrar Polly Griffin.
Lund met with Griffin in April 2008 to discuss the idea, he explained in an e-mail.
“The fact that Dean’s Date is at 5 p.m. and is followed by the first testing session at 9 a.m. the next morning has been a source of displeasure to the student body for as long as I’ve been at Princeton,” Lund said.
The Registrar uses an algorithm to ensure that most students do not have more than one exam on the same day, Lund noted, adding that Griffin manipulated the algorithm so that the first testing block on Jan. 14 is at 1:30 p.m. instead of at 9 a.m.
“It was pretty easily accomplished, but it will make a big difference for those who had 9 a.m. exams and could use those extra four hours for studying, sleep and de-stressing,” Lund said.
Lund said he had asked Griffin about eliminating any possibility of exams the day after Dean’s Date, but because of the number of exams — which Lund estimated to be about 300 — students had too many permutations in their schedules for this to be feasible without extensive changes to the algorithm used to schedule finals.
Griffin noted in an interview that the Registrar is also subject to the constraints of scheduling fewer exams on Sunday and ensuring that the exam room size is twice that of the class enrollment, to permit for space between seated students.
Upon examining the options, Griffin said the best course of action would be to remove just the 9 a.m. exam time block.
“Revising the rules and revising the academic calendar … to accommodate this change wasn’t going to happen and also wasn’t necessary,” she explained.
Having a 9 a.m. exam the day after Dean’s Date has affected Lund in the past. “In the past, large lecture classes have been typically scheduled at 9 a.m.,” Lund noted.
“Although I have always had an exam the 9 a.m. after Dean’s Date, I don’t think that [this initiative] ... was necessarily a personal push, but rather something that would undoubtedly benefit those members of the student body who will no longer have those 9 a.m. exams,” he said.
Charles Wright ’11 had a final for POL 230: Introduction to Comparative Politics the day after Dean’s Date in spring 2008.
“I definitely didn’t study as much as I would have if I had [had it on] a different day,” he said, noting that students might do better if there were a day between Dean’s Date and the first day of finals.
Anthony Cheng ’10 said he did not have any issues with having his economics exam on Jan. 14, since he has no assignments due on Dean’s Date. Cheng noted, however, that he does not like evening exams, and under this new system all exams the day after Dean’s Date are either in the afternoon or evening.
“Maybe pushing [the exam period] back a day is better,” he said.
Michele Capece ’11, who has a computer science exam the day after Dean’s Date, said she thought it was enough to just have no 9 a.m. exams that day.
“I think it’s a good idea. My exam is at 7:30, so I have that whole day to do more studying,” she said.
“We were able to give everyone some breathing room … without having to revise the academic calendar,” Griffin said.
“I think it … was a very reasonable request and I’m thrilled that we were able to make it work,” she added.
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