Student Government is taking new measures this semester to protect students from excessive testing during dead week.
In an effort to educate students about the concentrated study period, the SG Department of Academics began a campaign to advertise the dead week policy in such places as The Daily Reveille and the Union.
Kirbie Pillette, Department of Academics director, said students do not know how the policy works and said SG wanted to change that this year.
The policy states that the five days prior to finals week is a concentrated study period in which professors are prohibited from assigning graded work that counts for more than 10 percent of the final grade, said Jeannine Kahn, assistant vice chancellor of the Office of Academic Affairs.
The period began yesterday and will end on Sunday. Kahn also quoted from the general catalog that “no extracurricular activities, such as social and athletic events, will be held on or off campus” during this time.
“There are usually not many complaints from students just because students aren’t very informed about the policy,” Pillette said. “Basically our goal is to get the word out.”
SG is encouraging students to report any violations, but most department heads said they have no problem adhering to the policy.
“I know this department is pretty much in compliance with the policy,” said Emily Batinski, foreign language department chair. “As long as an assignment is on the syllabus, everybody has a fair amount of flexibility.”
The only exceptions to the policy are if the graded course work counts for less than 10 percent of the grade, the assignment was placed on the syllabus during the first two weeks of the semester or if the course work is for a laboratory class.
The policy was designed to help freshmen get into the rhythm of finals, said Bruce Jenny, dairy science department chair.
Once a student issues a complaint with Pillette, she reports it to the Office of Academic Affairs.
“I wouldn’t expect to get many because of [Hurricane] Katrina,” Pillette said. “But we do want students to know that they have a right to report anything.”
Pillette said, students are probably more concerned with other things, including finishing the unusually long semester, she said.
Audra Boone, advertising freshman, said finals are not the only things she worries about.
“If you’re living on campus, you’re trying to get everything packed to go home,” she said.
Boone is one of many students who did have a final this week.
“I actually really liked having my final this week,” she said. “It took some of the stress off for next week.