In an email to students on Wednesday, Columbia Provost Angela V Olinto announced the University has advised faculty to shift all remaining final exams to a remote format, among several other suggested accommodations.

Earlier this afternoon, University Provost Angela V Olinto announced that all remaining finals should be held fully remote, in addition to all remaining class meetings and review sessions. Further, all instructors must provide an asynchronous option for their final exams to accommodate students who have already left campus. The change was attributed to the “evolving campus situation” after NYPD officers swept campus last night, arresting more than 300 individuals and clearing the Gaza Solidarity Encampments. The full text of Olinto’s email can be found below. 

While the official last day of classes for undergraduates was Monday, April 29, many graduate courses would have had in-person finals, office hours, and review sessions in the coming weeks. In addition to suggesting remote finals, Olinto announced that any final exams scheduled for this coming Friday, May 3, will be automatically rescheduled for the following Friday, May 10. She also advised that courses with papers, presentations, projects, or take-home finals due before May 6 should postpone their due dates to sometime between May 6 and May 10. To accommodate these changes, the deadline for instructors to submit grades for graduating seniors has been shifted from May 10 to May 13, though the final deadline to submit grades for all other students remains May 16.

Additionally, Olinto encouraged faculty to provide further accommodations in their finals, including making finals optional, shifting to a take-home final format, or adjusting the grading policy so that the final has less weight or will not negatively impact the final grade, if not canceling the final altogether. She further encouraged faculty to consult their academic deans for support in making this decision.

According to Olinto’s email, some exceptions may be made if a class cannot be adapted to a remote format, such as practice-based or laboratory-based programs. However, Olinto still advised that instructors of those programs “provide other accommodations generously (including postponed completion)” to any students requesting support. Additionally, she specified that graduating seniors who need to access any specialized equipment to complete a course requirement will need to obtain permission from the dean. For the medical school and Manhattanville campus, final exams will proceed as planned, with the exception of religious and/or disability-related accommodations. 

Columbia’s campus via Bwog Archives