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Exam Procedures

All faculty and instructors at the University of Windsor are obliged to follow the Senate's approved Examination Procedures. Please consult the Senate Policy on Conduct of Exams and Tests for explicit rules and regulations.

Alternate Examinations

In accordance with Senate policies, students are permitted to request alternate final examinations for specific circumstances:

  • Students who are unable to write a final examination during the regularly scheduled time slot due to a conflict arising from a religious observance shall be given the opportunity to write an alternative examination during another time slot within the regularly scheduled examination period. Students must submit an application for an alternative examination to the Office of the Registrar in accordance with the deadlines listed in Appendix A." (Senate Bylaw 54 and 55 2.22) (List of Senate Bylaws)
  • "A student who has three or more final examinations scheduled or due in consecutive time slots over a 24-hour period or three or more final examinations scheduled or due in one calendar day may apply to have one of their examinations rescheduled on a supplemental examinationday. The determination of which examination shall be rescheduled and the date of the supplemental examination (normally the last possible day of the examination period) shall be made by the Associate Vice-President, Student Experience. Where permission has been granted, instructors shall provide an alternate examination at the rescheduled time. Where other arrangements cannot be made, invigilation and administration of final examinations held on the supplemental examination day will be managed by the Office of the Registrar. Applications and notification of decisions shall be made in accordance with the deadlines listed in Appendix A." (Senate Bylaw 54 and 55 2.5.2)

The Office of the Registrar collects students’ applications for alternative examinations and contacts instructors as appropriate. While the Registrar is not responsible for invigilating alternative examinations, it can facilitate the process of booking examination rooms when needed. Alternative examinations/evaluations must be equivalent to the original in terms of testing objectives, format (multiple choice, essay), level of difficulty, material covered, length of examination, etc.

Students must submit applications for alternate examinations in the cases above by the end of the fourth week of classes (or the end of the second week of classes for six-week courses). The Associate Vice-President, Student Experience will finalize arrangements for alternate examinations by the end of the eighth week of classes.

Students can also request consideration related to matters:

  • “affecting or shown to affect his/her academic performance, such as, serious health circumstances or bereavement based on medical or compassionate grounds, or unanticipated extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the student (e.g., jury duty, caring for an ill family member, labour disputes, etc.)” (Senate Bylaw 54 and 55, 2.18.1).

Students can make an informal request (to the instructor) or a formal request (through the office of the Registrar). Please refer to Senate Bylaw 54 and 55 for more details.

In the Faculty of Law, the procedures related to academic status appeals as developed by that Faculty, will apply.

Further information:

Note: This site is a living document, the goal of which is to improve, in some small way, the working lives of University of Windsor faculty. We are eager to collaborate with the campus community to better this service over time. If you can identify any knowledge gaps, missing resources, or outdated or erroneous information on this site, please contact Iva Gentcheva, Director, Office of the Provost and Faculty Recruitment, without hesitation.