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Dear Black-Ops,

You’re gonna think that this is a stupid question, but why is that all of tests and quizzes seem always be either on the same the day or during the same week for all of my classes?  Are the professors conspiring against the students to make their lives a living hell or what?  Is there any way to stop this from happening or are students everywhere doomed for all eternity?

-  Tested Out

Dear Tested Out,

I’m glad that you asked this question Tested Out.  No question is ever too stupid to ask.  The only stupid question is the one not asked.  Of course there are always exceptions to every rule, but that’s a can of worms for another time.  I have had many complaints to me recently about quizzes and tests in different classes of the same day.  This issue is a common concern of all college students.  Contrary to popular belief, professors do not collaborate to have the tests during the same week or day.  Before you write your hate mail and send it to me, please read on to understand the reasoning.  (If nothing else it will give you some more ammunition to through at me J)

Now that I’ve dug myself into a nice deep hole, it’s time to make a ladder and climb out:

Universities are divided into different Colleges or Schools (i.e. School of Business, College of Nursing, etc…).  These Colleges or Schools are then further divided into departments.

          Ex: College of Science (this is the College or School)
                    Physics, Biology, Chemistry (These are the different departments.)

Then each department can be broken down into different fields of study, but this isn’t really relevant to the current topic, so we’ll put this on the back burner for another time.  Each department has policies that govern how the professors must teach or instruct their classes.  Most departments also have schedules made for certain courses (classes) that are written in proverbial stone in order to cover all of the material in a semester.  (This happens most often in science and math courses.)

Since departments are separated they tend not to communicate with the other departments about scheduling issues, especially with those in other buildings.  This can be seen by simply opening up a course catalog, doesn’t matter from where, and comparing class times between departments in different buildings.  At first it doesn’t seem like a big deal, until you need to take a class for your major/minor but can’t because of a schedule conflict between classes in different buildings.  It can get really frustrating.

Now that the background is taken care of, back to the question.  Since departments do not care what other departments are doing, they tend to make things easier for themselves.  This may include anything from making a policy about all tests being on Friday, to not having Friday classes at all.

This however, is not the end of it.  The University also has policies that each College/School must follow.  But since a College/School is just a collection of departments, the policies are directed toward each department.  An example might be that all midterm tests/paper be done be a certain date or week during the semester.  This would account for midterms being during the same week, which they usually are.  Also, it’s the University not the departments that set the final exam schedule.  (The departments just nod and smile.)

As hopeless as this sounds most professors are sympathetic and try very hard to put theirs tests on a different day than the rest, even if they can’t chose the week.  Believe it or not, the professors teaching right now had to go through the same test nightmares that you’re going through right now.

The only way to stop tests from being on the same day is to get the different departments to work together.  But lets face it; the science departments and the language departments will NEVER get along.  Just like the Music and Math departments will NEVER get along.  So put a big smile on your face, study your ass off and take one test at a time.  Besides, maybe the professors just like to see students squirm under pressure every once in a while.  One day it could be YOU handing out the tests.

Always,

If you have a question you want answered send it to - silverbone01@yahoo.com or MU – senior_wills@yahoo.com or Nez – nicholaeus@hotmail.com or DarB - tmh_n_co@yahoo.com  All email addresses sent to this site are confidential, and will not be shared with anyone...EVER.

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