Scheduling of Online Assessments: Guidance

Background

Online assessments have become more common in all modalities of instruction. Further, each term many Cal Poly students are enrolled in classes with and without scheduled meeting times that are delivered in multiple modalities. This guidance to faculty for scheduling assessments that are delivered and/or submitted online is intended to support students to manage their deadlines and other obligations by doing what we can to reasonably reduce the chances of time conflicts or constraints for students required to complete major assessments (i.e., exams, finals, projects, etc.) online.

This guidance in part is in response to student concerns that they may have been required to complete online assessments outside of the scheduled class meeting time with a short timeline or availability window that results in conflicts with other scheduled class meetings, employment, dependent care responsibilities, school related events, etc. To avoid creating conflicts or unnecessary challenges for students, faculty are encouraged to consider the following guidance when scheduling online assessments.

Definitions

“Availability Window”:

The assessment “availability window” is the time interval during which a student cancomplete and submit an online exam, quiz or other assessment. This does not pertain to the time frame a student has to complete the assessment once begun. (E.g. a student could start an exam with a 50-minute timeline at any time during the availability window but would have to finish within 50 minutes of starting the exam.)

“Major Assessment”:

Major assessments refer to those that are more summative in nature, such as high-stakes exams/quizzes, and final assessments such final exams, term papers, projects, portfolios, etc.

“Formative Assessment”:

Formative assessments refer to those that are lower-stakes measures of student progress, such as short quiz, brief reflection or reply to discussion, etc.

Scheduling Online Assessments during the Instructional Period (not including Finals Week)

Classes WITH a Scheduled Meeting Time:

1. For classes with a scheduled meeting time, more formative lower-stakes assessments administered online should be offered during the regularly scheduled class meeting or have an availability window of at least 24 hours, or for classes that meet on successive days, the interval between class meetings.

2. For classes with a scheduled meeting time, major assessments administered online should be offered during the regularly scheduled class meeting or have an availability window of at least 48 hours. If the assessment availability window includes weekend days, instructors are encouraged to set the availability window for 72 hours.

Classes WITHOUT a Scheduled Meeting Time:

3. For classes without a scheduled meeting time, assessments administered online should have an assessment availability window of at least 48 hours.

4. For classes without a scheduled class meeting time, instructors are encouraged to have an assessment availability window of at least 72 hours for major assessments administered online.

5. For classes without a scheduled meeting time, if the availability window includes weekend days, assessments administered online should have an availability window of at least 72 hours.

Scheduling Online Final Assessments During the Last Week of Classes (for Activity, Lab, and 1-unit Lecture Courses)

Classes WITH a Scheduled Meeting Time:

1. For classes with a scheduled meeting time, final assessments administered online should occur during the scheduled class meeting time or have an assessment availability window of at least 48 hours. The day and time of the final assessment or the assessment availability window for the final assessment should be included in the syllabus provided on the first day of class. Faculty are encouraged to set the availability window for 72 hours if it includes weekend days.

Classes WITHOUT a Scheduled Meeting Time:

2. For classes without a scheduled meeting time, final assessments administered online should have an assessment availability window of at least 48 hours. The assessment availability window for the final assessment should be included in the syllabus provided on the first day of class. Faculty are encouraged to set the availability window for 72 hours if it includes weekend days.

FINALS Week: Scheduling Online Assessments (for Lecture Course of Two or More Units)

Classes WITH a Scheduled Finals Week Meeting Time:

1. For classes with a scheduled finals week meeting time, final assessments administered or submitted online should occur during the scheduled finals week meeting time or have an assessment availability window of at least 72 hours. The availability window should not close before the end of the scheduled finals week meeting time. The day and time of the final assessment or the assessment availability window should be included in the syllabus provided on the first day of class.

2. For classes with a scheduled class meeting time, if the final assessment is a culmination of a term long or weeks long project/paper/etc., or a take home assessment that is to be submitted online, the deadline to submit should be no sooner than the end of the scheduled finals week meeting time. The day and time of the final assessment submission deadline should be included in the syllabus provided on the first day of class.

Classes WITHOUT a Scheduled Meeting Time:

3. For classes without a scheduled class meeting time, final assessments administered online should have an availability window of at least 72 hours during final exam week (Monday – Friday) and the availability window for the final assessment should be included in the syllabus provided on the first day of class.

Scheduling In-Person Major/Final Assessments for Online Classes

1. Departments/Instructors requesting to schedule an in-person assessment for an online class should follow the procedures listed below:

a. Requests to schedule in-person assessments should be submitted during the Planning Phase of the Academic Schedule Production process for that term. Faculty are encouraged to work with their Department Scheduler regarding schedule production timelines and their Department Head/Chair for approval.

b. Online classes that require in-person assessments shall be noted in the published Class Schedule so that students are aware of this requirement when registering for the class.

c. Instructors must provide the date and time of the in-person assessment(s) in the course syllabus on the first day of classes and, if applicable, in the welcome email to students.

d. Instructors should be prepared to make accommodations for students who have a time conflict with the scheduled date/time of the in-person assessment.

e. Online Cal Poly classes that require in-person assessments, and thus, coded as a hybrid modality, will not be available to students through CSU Fully Online.

f. Departments/Instructors are encouraged to limit the scheduling of in-person assessments in online classes to final assessments.

g. Departments/Instructors are encouraged to be mindful that the requirement for in-person assessment(s) in an online class may limit enrollment opportunities for Cal Poly students participating in study abroad, out of area internship/coop/research experiences, 2 + 2 programs, unable to travel to campus, or off campus for that term, etc.

 

Source:

Academic Senate Resolution: AS-1010-26 "Resolution on Scheduling of Online Assessments" (PDF). Approved 28 July 2026.

 

Updated: 7/28/2026