Finals week can be one of the most stressful times of the year for both students and faculty. Every test, paper and project needs to be turned in and graded, and many students face the added stress of moving out of residence halls and apartments. It鈥檚 a situation that leaves many people wishing they had a little bit more time to wrap up the semester. This past spring semester, the University of Northern 黑料社区 (UNC)鈥檚 Faculty Senate came up with a solution.  

After much discussion and voting, the senate voted to adopt a four-day final exam schedule starting in the fall 2025 semester, replacing the previous five-day schedule.  

鈥淭he regular final exams will be scheduled on Monday through Thursday, and Friday will be a day that people would have available open space to reschedule an exam if they need,鈥� said Britney Kyle, Ph.D., professor of Anthropology and the Faculty Senate chair. 

Kyle says several factors led to this decision, with both student and faculty input on the matter. One of the biggest reasons was the unpredictable nature of 黑料社区 weather.  

鈥淚f, for some reason, there was an inclement weather event and we had to cancel classes that day, that exam would then be moved to Friday,鈥� Kyle explained.  

Lauryn Benedict, Ph.D., a Biological Sciences professor and member of the Faculty Senate, was a key player in implementing the changes and says even without closures or delays, the new finals schedule will still benefit all of UNC. 

鈥淲e needed a backup policy, and as we had these discussions, we realized the current schedule hadn鈥檛 been revised since some time in the 1980s,鈥� said Benedict. 鈥淚t had a lot of scheduled exam slots that didn’t make sense.鈥� 

Several of the timeslots on the existing finals schedule were not being used by any classes, especially for the evening and night classes that aren鈥檛 taught at the university frequently.  

An overhaul of the schedule will also redistribute the finals more evenly across the week, instead of grouping them up on the same day, easing students鈥� stress during the exam-packed week. 

鈥淪tudents are now allowed to reschedule an exam to Friday if they have more than two exams on the same day 鈥� Friday provides time for that,鈥� Benedict said. 

Many of UNC鈥檚 students are happy to hear that their finals week will be a little bit easier. 

鈥淢y last semester was the worst,鈥� said Arlo Hudson, a third-year Public Health student. 鈥淚 was super stressed, balancing my coursework with my job. I had finite time to work on multiple exams and papers, it was kinda gnarly.鈥� 

According to Hudson, the finals schedule itself was due for an update. 

鈥淭rying to read the master list of all the final exam times is near impossible,鈥� Hudson said. 鈥淚 end up needing to rely on my professors to post the exam times to Canvas.鈥� 

Victoria Palokangas, a third-year transfer student at UNC, was excited to hear that the decision was made with student input.  

鈥淭his is my first semester here, so I鈥檝e never actually had finals here yet,鈥� said Palokangas. 鈥淚鈥檓 not exactly sure how it all works here yet, but I would hate to have all of my finals on one day.鈥� 

The new schedule will help all kinds of students, from undergraduates all the way through to postgraduate students.  

鈥淚 want students, especially graduate students, to feel like they鈥檝e really finished their work before they graduate,鈥� Benedict said, referring to the fact that Graduate Commencement is always held the Friday evening of finals week. 鈥淎llowing Friday to be a potential free day gives them a day between finishing their exams and graduation if they want to have some time to see family or celebrate.鈥� 

The Faculty Senate made sure to coordinate with on-campus housing and dining services to ensure that essential services were still open through the last days of the semester. 

鈥淭here have been policies in the past that students have to move out of their housing within 24 hours of their last scheduled exam, and that鈥檚 no longer an issue because housing is letting students stay a little bit longer,鈥� Benedict said. 

Anything to ease the time spent studying and finishing up projects is a change well-accepted for students getting through their final exams. 

鈥淚鈥檓 excited to have more free time at the end of the week,鈥� Hudson said.