Students now havea new way to appeal violations of the University’s dead week period committed by professors.Student Government created a form so students can appeal the transgressions.”Doing something about dead week was one of Stuart and Martina’s main initiatives as far as academics go,” said SG Assistant Director of Academics Krista Allen. “This is because at the end of every semester the SG e-mail account is flooded with students complaining of dead week violations.”Allen said she received more than 150 e-mails in a matter of hours last semester complaining about violations.”The biggest complaint is teachers are doing tests and projects during the period,” Allen said. “So instead of being able to settle down and study, students are having to complete major assignments right before finals week.”Dead week — officially called “concentrated study period” — stretches from Wednesday, Dec. 2 to Sunday, Dec. 6, according to the University academic calendar.During this period, required course work, which includes exams, quizzes and homework, may at most count for 10 percent of a student’s final grade in the course, according to the University general catalog.Assignments scheduled on the syllabus within the first two weeks of the semester are exempt from the 10 percent limit assuming the work on the project will be done throughout the semester, according to the catalog.Laboratory courses are also exempt from the policy.If students feel that their professors have violated the policy, they can fill out an appeal form on the SG Web site or at the SG Executive Offices on the first floor of the Student Union, Allen said.Allen said SG will help students find solutions to alleged violations with the forms. Allen said along with helping individual students with their concerns, the overarching goal of the new appeals form is to give the provost a better idea of which departments are responsible for the violations to establish a more refined process of dealing with future issues.—-Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected]