SFU’s new exam scheduling system better for students and instructors

The new exam scheduling means a better experience for students and instructors.

If we all work together, SFU’s new exam scheduling system can help make finals more manageable for students and instructors.

“Before this new model, we saw thousands of cases of students having back-to-back exams or even conflicting exams. This number is now much lower, which means that students don’t have to experience the additional stress of managing tight timelines or intensive schedules … and instructors don’t have to make as many arrangements to accommodate students with exam conflicts, such as writing a second exam,” says Tom Nault, registrar and executive director of student enrollment.

The new exam scheduling system, launched in Fall 2020, takes the course registration of all students into account, along with information submitted by departments to create the best possible exam schedule for all.  

This means that it depends on getting good, timely information from academic units. Also, any changes requests made by instructors will, in most cases, decrease the quality of the schedule for both student and faculty members.  

Nault notes that while his team is committed to working with instructors to address any concerns they may have with the time or location assigned to their exams, he urges them to limit these requests to legitimate issues such as a pre-scheduled specialist appointment or Return to Work accommodation and not for preferences. 

For questions or concerns about SFU’s exam scheduling system, please contact Tom Nault at sfu_reg@sfu.ca.