Fall 2024 Final Exams and Grading

Posted in Faculty Communications

December 11, 2024

Dear Faculty,

As final exams week approaches, I write today to provide information regarding Georgetown’s final grading policies and deadlines. This email will cover:

  • Detailed Exam Times
  • Grading Deadlines
  • Guidelines for Administering Exams
  • Conflict Exams
  • Grading Policies
  • Privacy in Posting Grades

Detailed Exam Times
Please refer to the updated exam time assignments schedule by section. On study days, no assignments should be due, allowing students uninterrupted time for final exam preparation. We urge you not to modify the examination schedule or designate a final assessment outside of the assigned schedule, as this may deprive students of study days and may create unintended conflicts. 

As you may recall from my message at the beginning of the semester, per the Final Examination Policy, the final substantive assessment in a course (exam, take-home exam, project, paper, etc.) must be administered/due during the final examination period (Dec 13-21) in accordance with the exam time schedule. 

Grading Deadlines
Final grade rosters are now available in GU Experience. Please see our website for information regarding how to enter final grades. 

Final grades are generally due 72 hours after the time your course was scheduled for a final exam. All grades should be submitted in GU Experience by the following deadlines:

  • Grading deadline for Graduating students: 10 a.m. Dec 23
  • Grading deadline for undergraduates: 5 p.m. Dec 27
  • Grading deadline for graduate students: 5 p.m. Jan 3

Grades will be available to students in GU Experience. 

Guidelines for Administering Exams
As you prepare to administer your final exams, please adhere to the following guidelines:

  • Final exams must be scheduled AFTER the study days during your assigned exam time, in accordance with the Final Exam Policy. 
  • Papers may be due in the last week of classes, as long as there is also a final exam.
  • Papers may not be due during the last week of classes, if there is no final exam and should be due after the study days if no final exam is scheduled.  This will allow students the benefit of using the study days to complete the remaining work of the semester.
  • Assignments that are not cumulative, such as interim exams, or project presentations, can be given during the final week of classes prior to study days, provided a final exam is also given during the final exam period.

Conflict Exams
At times, students will encounter conflicts in the examination schedule. Each student’s dean’s office will handle the rescheduling of an examination in the following cases:

  • Two examinations scheduled at the same time.
  • Three examinations on one day or three examinations in a row (in three successive time slots).

Arrangements to schedule an alternate conflict exam schedule will be made by the student’s dean. If a student has a conflict, the dean will contact you. If a student informs you of a conflict, they should be referred to their dean for resolution.

Grading Policies
Please review the following grading policies:  

Pay particular attention to the grading system for each group of students and the grade change policies. If you have questions, please email facultygrading@georgetown.edu.

The only provisional grades are “N” (for undergraduates) and “I” for graduate students. “N” grades MUST be approved by the dean. Unauthorized “N” grades will be recorded as “F” (FA). “I” grades for MSFS students must be approved by the director.

Please note the undergraduate and graduate policies that provide students the option to choose pass/fail (S/U). The deadline for students enrolled in full session classes to make this choice was November 21, 2024. Additional dates by module are listed here.

Privacy in Posting Grades
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA, a.k.a. Buckley Amendment) provides that a student’s grades (and other academic and identity information, including social security number) may not be disclosed without the student’s written permission. Please do not post grades using any personally identifiable information. Also, please do not keep student information in an unsecured location or make such information available through the web outside of a University supported system.

Thank you very much for your attention to these important policies and reading this lengthy email. Please do not hesitate to contact me or facultygrading@georgetown.edu if you have any questions or concerns.   

Sincerely,
Annamarie Bianco
Associate Vice President and University Registrar