You've got a paid plane ticket to Calgary at 10 a.m. on Dec. 17, but your Tuesday exam, cancelled due to the snowstorm, is now rescheduled for that morning. What do you do?

Students who, due to irrevocable travel arrangements or religious observations, need to make alternate examination arrangements due to the rescheduling of the Dec. 11 evening and Dec. 12 exams, are advised to apply in person at the registrar's office immediately.

“We're aware that some students may have irrevocable travel arrangements, exam conflicts or religious obligations and there is a process in place so they may be taken care of,” said Granger. “We are counting on students' co-operation to keep these to a minimum.”

Students who need alternate examination arrangements due to the exam changes must apply in person at the Examinations Section in the Office of the Registrar (Room 114, Gilmour Hall) immediately. Rescheduling requests could be for reasons such as conflicts with other examinations or with religious obligations.

Legitimate applications will be rescheduled into the remaining exam period. Any students approved for special examination arrangements that cannot be accommodated within the December examination period will have a make-up exam for the course held by mid January at the latest. Details will be advertised as they become available.

Granger said the University does not have a “designated day” policy that would go into effect because of exam cancellations. (But some other universities, such as Waterloo, do.)

“There's some wisdom to having a designated day but it can also be too restrictive,” he said. “The approach we took at McMaster was to evaluate all the options and pick the one that's best for the students.”

Rescheduling examinations cancelled due to adverse weather this week provided the registrar's office with a number of challenges:
space and invigilators had to be found for the make-up schedules,and there will be extra costs for physical plant and security resources.

Granger said his office will conduct a post-event evaluation to determine if any exam policies and procedures will be revised.

See related story: Cancelled exams rescheduled