News | Academics
All final exams, ‘academic activities’ on Morningside campus will be remote for rest of semester
University Provost Angela Olinto wrote in a Wednesday email that exams and assignments this week will be rescheduled for the week of May 6.
By Wyatt King / Columbia Daily SpectatorFaculty are “encouraged to provide accommodations in their final assessments” such as “making the final exam optional, or canceling the final exam,” Olinto wrote.By Emily Forgash • May 1, 2024 at 6:00 PM
By Emily Forgash • May 1, 2024 at 6:00 PM
All final exams, assessments, and other “academic activities on the Morningside Heights campus” will be fully remote for the rest of the semester following the New York Police Department’s Tuesday evening sweep of occupied Hamilton Hall and the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” University Provost Angela Olinto wrote in a Wednesday email to the Columbia community.
For all courses offered through Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of General Studies, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, final exams scheduled for May 3 will be automatically rescheduled for May 10.
Final papers, presentations, projects, and take-home exams that are due through May 5 should be reassigned to a date that is on or after May 6 and before May 10. The new guidelines do not apply to the School of Professional Studies and graduate programs in the School of the Arts.
University President Minouche Shafik authorized the NYPD to sweep campus on Tuesday, leading to the arrests of 109 individuals at Columbia . NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said that “preliminary charges range from trespass to criminal mischief to burglary” in a Wednesday press conference.
[Read more: NYPD sweeps occupied Hamilton Hall, arrests dozens]
“Given the evolving campus situation, we are working hard to provide support and accommodation to our students, particularly those who are in residence on our Morningside campus,” Olinto wrote. “Again, the safety of our community is our highest priority as we strive to support our students’ learning and all the required academic operations.”
Olinto wrote that professors should be in touch with students as soon as possible to explain how their remote exams and assessments will be conducted. Faculty are “encouraged to provide accommodations in their final assessments” such as “modifying the final’s weight, … making the final exam optional, or canceling the final exam,” Olinto wrote.
In addition, professors must provide an “asynchronous option to accommodate students who have left campus and returned to homes that may be in different time zones.”
Olinto wrote that “If a class does not permit adapting to the remote assessment format, we encourage faculty to provide other accommodations generously (including postponed completion) to students who have requested support for virtual assessment.”
Columbia College and SEAS informed students in a Wednesday email that, given the updates to final exams and academic activity, “we strongly encourage students who are able to rearrange their plans to consider departing early.”
“Graduating students are, of course, encouraged to stay on campus through Commencement — as are students either unable to make alternate arrangements or who need to stay through their previously scheduled move-out date,” the email reads.
Students on the Manhattanville and Columbia University Irving Medical Center campuses will take exams as regularly scheduled, but will be granted “accommodations based on religious reasons, or approved disability accommodations,” according to Olinto.
Deputy News Editor Emily Forgash can be contacted at emily.forgash@columbiaspectator.com. Follow her on X @ForgashEmily.
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