VI.3.1  General Scheduling Information

It is the responsibility of each department chair to file with the relevant dean a two-year schedule of departmental course offerings and to see that it is kept revised and up to date. As a general policy, course offerings should reflect this schedule. Ideally, section sizes in Linfield Curriculum and introductory courses should average 25 students and not exceed 30 students. Laboratory facilities will place constraints on the size of some lab sections. Final decisions on faculty assignments for course offerings and sections are made by the relevant dean on the advice of department chairs. Scheduling of class times and rooms will take into account, insofar as possible, the preferences of individual faculty members. The registrar will have final responsibility (in conjunction with the deans) for preparing a class schedule that will minimize conflicts in scheduling which prevent students from taking courses because they are offered at the same time.

VI.3.2  Final Examination Period

A maximum of four days will be set aside as a final examination period at the end of each semester. One day will be set aside for reading day after the final class day and before the first day of final exams. The registrar will prepare a schedule for the examination period, setting a two-hour block (e.g., morning, afternoon, or evening of each day) for each course. This schedule will be designed to minimize conflict and congestion for most students. A final in-class exercise, scheduled during the final examination period, is normal for regular courses. Faculty members are expected to conform to the schedule unless a variance is granted by the registrar. Normally, students should not be scheduled to take more than two examinations in one day.

No university activities that would take students away from the campus overnight or longer during the last week of the academic term shall be scheduled. Special consideration will be given for unusual non-scheduled events.

VI.3.3 Field Trips, Activities, and Scheduling Conflicts

Student life at Linfield includes a variety of intellectually, socially, and personally enriching activities, the core of which consists of formal academic course work. Field trips and class-related activities outside of regularly scheduled class hours are an important and integral part of this course work. Officially sanctioned trips and paracurricular activities wherein students represent the university also constitute a legitimate component of Linfield’s overall educational program. Participation in a variety of such endeavors, however, may sometimes result in scheduling conflicts—defined as “any situation in which a student’s obligations in two such endeavors are incompatible.” These conflicts include instances in which students would miss regular class meetings (regardless of whether exams or special activities are scheduled).

As a general principle, faculty and students should adopt a spirit of good will, mutual respect, and sensitivity as they work to avoid such problems, to resolve them in ways that minimize negative impacts on classes, faculty time and energy, and the overall educational experience of Linfield students. Discussion, negotiation, and compromise form the heart of this policy.

Given the differing relationship of a wide range of curricular and extracurricular endeavors to the central goals expressed in Linfield’s mission statement, certain general categories of activities can be identified.

• Regularly scheduled academic course work (including laboratories) and academic course work outside of scheduled class time (field trips, departmental retreats, public lectures, and other campus events that are required assignments for courses);
• Academic paracurricular and co-curricular activities in which students (either individually or as members of groups) represent or prepare to represent Linfield University. Examples include academic conferences, seasonal and post-seasonal athletic events, band or choir trips, forensic tournaments, and the study abroad orientation;
• Other elective non-course-related events and activities in which students (either individually or as members of groups) participate as representatives of Linfield University. Examples include academic conferences, Greek/ASLU Club events, and club sports;
• Strictly elective campus events and activities not required for any course, in which students participate as individuals and not as representatives of Linfield University. Examples include campus lectures, religious observances, recreational activities, and dances.

In all cases involving officially sanctioned trips and activities, instructors whose classes are missed by participating students must allow those students to make up any missed assignments, in accordance with the principles outlined in this policy. Faculty discretion regarding conflicts associated with other kinds of trips and activities should, however, also be informed by the same spirit of goodwill, mutual respect, and sensitivity.

Faculty, field trip/activity organizers, and students should take the following measures to help avoid scheduling conflicts and to lay the groundwork for dealing with them when they arise:

• Instructors should indicate in their syllabi and call to their students’ attention at the beginning of the semester any plans for field trips and other activities outside regular class hours;
• When and where possible, instructors and trip leaders should avoid scheduling field trips and other off campus activities during the first week of classes;
• Instructors should also make clear to their students early in the semester the relative importance of those field trips/activities to the course and the consequences of missing them;
• Field trip/activity organizers (instructors, coaches, choir directors and the like) should notify all students at least three weeks in advance and faculty via e-mail at least one week in advance of any such activity, including in their message a list of participants and the times of absences. In cases where such advance notice may not be possible (e.g., postseason competition tournaments for which students must qualify), organizers should notify faculty colleagues at the first opportunity;
• Students should acknowledge that they bear primary responsibility for identifying scheduling conflicts, alerting their instructors and field trip/activity organizers to them, and initiating prior to departure procedures for resolving them.

A student who has identified a scheduling conflict should immediately and fully inform all directly involved parties (by e-mail, note, or in person) and initiate movement toward a resolution. In some cases, instructors may be able to suggest a relatively simple way for missed classroom activity to be made up. In other cases, the most problematic being those occasions when the field trip/activity conflicts with such crucial events as a scheduled examination or class presentation, resolutions will be more difficult to find. Direct contact and exchange of information and ideas among faculty colleagues often facilitate this process. Students should assume a pro-active role, recognizing that the organization and evaluation of make-up assignments constitutes an additional burden on the instructor and may create troublesome issues of equity in regard to the class as a whole. Therefore, students must be willing to make an extra effort to balance their multiple responsibilities, to establish priorities, and to live with the consequences of their decisions.

A student who feels that the solution is not fair and satisfactory should refer the matter to the relevant dean for an attempt to negotiate a fair and satisfactory resolution.

VI.3.3.1     Policy on Proctoring Examinations for Students Participating in University-Sanctioned Off-Campus Activities

Linfield University recognizes that, at times, a student participating in university-sanctioned activities will be off campus at the time they are required to take a scheduled examination. In such cases, the course instructor will need to make alternative plans for the examination for such students or may provide copies of the examination to a qualified proctor to administer during the period of the activity. In the latter case, the proctor will receive, administer, and return the examination in accord with written conditions specified by the course instructor. These conditions will be detailed on the relevant form available from the Registrar’s Office. It is each student’s responsibility to obtain this form and see that it is completed in a timely manner prior to the departure from campus.

The proctor will be the person in charge of the sanctioned activity or their designee (e.g., Athletic Director, Coach). If the person in charge of the activity is not able to proctor the exam, they must assure that the eventual proctor receives a paper copy of the form and agrees to carry out its provisions, which include instructions to the proctor.