Mia Magnan | Staff Writer | mmagnan2@mail.smcvt.edu
For most students at St. Michael’s College, their weekends are precious and free from immediate school responsibilities. It is a time when they can finally catch up on sleep, socialize with friends, and do laundry that has been ignored all week. But for some people on campus, that will not be the case the first weekend in May. Instead of Saturday being a day of rest, it is a day of final exams.
“I feel a bit frustrated with how the finals schedule is in the spring. Having finals on a Saturday can mess with many people’s last weekends on campus or even work schedules,” said Callahan Towle, ’27, a student who has a final on Saturday. “Mainly, I have accepted the fact that it is happening, but I feel empathy for those who are more affected by this schedule.”
When it comes to scheduling, this Saturday annoyance is logical. The last day of classes was Wednesday, with Thursday being a study day. Finals start on Friday and continue on Saturday of that week. Then there is another pause on Sunday for a study day, and exams resume on Monday through Wednesday. These Saturday finals may feel unexpected because the schedule differs from the finals schedule in the fall semester.
“The timing of final exams is structured to ensure faculty have enough time to grade and submit final grades for graduating seniors ahead of Commencement,” said Marnie Owens, registrar and assistant dean of Academic Affairs “Our final exams conclude on the Wednesday before Commencement Sunday, a timeline that is already compressed and challenging for faculty and the Registrar’s Office. Since we don’t have a fall Commencement, we have more flexibility in the fall academic calendar.”
Saturday finals occur on the same day that is informally known as “Derby Day,” where the majority of students gather and celebrate the end of the school year and people dress in derby attire. The day culminates with a horse and jockey race towards the end, where one student is the horse and another a jockey. This is a major campus event that coincides with the finals schedule, resulting in many students being unable to attend.
“I am very much looking forward to Derby Day on Saturday, but I now don’t have the full day to enjoy with my friends and peers,” Towle said.
Students aren’t the only ones who are facing inconvenience when it comes to Saturday finals. “I cannot think of any advantage to Saturday finals beyond the college’s need to avoid scheduling more than two exams a day for any student or professor while also ensuring that the exam period is not too long,” said Michaela Tiller, assistant professor of Philosophy and Ethics who has a Saturday final for one of her two sections of Philosophy of Religion (PH-207A).
Having a final on a Saturday can impact your life in many different ways, especially if you’re a student with a job on the weekends or you are a professor with a family and other obligations. “I lose a day which I might otherwise be spending time with my partner or attending a conference virtually. However, that’s solely because of my luck in being a full-time employee whose familial obligations are flexible: I do not believe it is as easy for others. I expect that faculty with children find it much more difficult to proctor an exam on a day when they wouldn’t normally have childcare,” Tiller said.