Following the Oct. 23 meeting of the General Faculty and Academic Senate, students will now have two hours and 50 minutes to complete all final exams and may be limited in the number of credit hours they can register for during Phase I of registration.  

According to the addition to the exam guidelines approved during the meeting, students will have a consistent amount of time to complete exams, unless it is otherwise stated in the syllabus. Students must be notified of any changes to the duration of a final exam at least two weeks prior to the first day of finals week. 

This change was made so that students would always know how much time they have to complete an exam, explained Chuck Parsons, chair of the Student Regulations Committee.  

With the change pertaining to Phase I registration (the first opportunity students have to register for classes for a given semester), undergraduate students may register for a maximum of 18 credit hours for fall and spring terms, while graduate students may register for a maximum of 21 hours, depending on the needs of the program or school. 

“This change was necessary to give all students the best chance at constructing a workable schedule for the next term,” said Registrar Reta Pikowsky. “A registration task force that included students and academic advisors concluded that having this option available would benefit all students by ensuring that the Phase I schedules would be constructed around courses that were deemed necessary to meet degree requirements.” 

In addition, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Rafael L. Bras asked Pikowsky to examine the issue further to determine if a better way could be found to address the concerns with Phase I registration.

In other meeting news: 

• Bras announced that a second town hall focused on online learning would be held on Dec. 6 at 11 a.m. in room 1116, Klaus Advanced Computing Building. RSVP for the event at http://provost.gatech.edu/town-hall/rsvp.
• The Georgia Tech Charitable Campaign will run through Nov. 30. For more information about how to make a donation, visit www.charitable.gatech.edu. 
• An online policy library is now available at www.policylibrary.gatech.edu. 
• Standing committees of the General Faculty and Academic Senate presented their annual reports and pending minutes.

Future meetings will be held on Nov. 27, Feb 19 and April 23 at 3 p.m. in the Student Center Theater. To view the meeting agenda and supporting documents from the October meeting, click here.