Members of University of Wisconsin’s student government addressed proposals for establishing a two-day midterm policy that would closely resemble current rules for final exams as well as a freshman alcohol advising requirement in a meeting Wednesday.

Currently, if a student has three finals within 24 hours, that student is able to approach their professor to have one of those finals rescheduled. The student must be able to provide evidence
of their finals schedule through the Student Center in order to be considered for exemption.

Associated Students of Madison Vice Chair Maria Giannopolous said the midterm legislation would similarly allow students the opportunity to rearrange their
midterms should they have three during the span of two school days. Like the finals
legislation, the decision would ultimately be based on professor discretion, but requests
may have more sway with this legislation backing them, Giannopoulos said.

Giannopoulos proposed the time stipulation be made longer than the 24 hours placed
on finals legislation because students are also still attending class during the time they
are taking their midterms.

“I think there’s a really solid case for having the time requirement at two days,”
Giannopoulos said, noting during finals, students have more time to study and prepare
without the imposition of classes.

The two-day midterm legislation was originally proposed under the condition that each
midterm must be worth 15 percent of the student’s grade in order to be considered.

Rep. Libby Wick Bander questioned whether or not this policy was necessary, noting it is a
decision that can be left up to professors on an individual basis.

Faculty would still be able to use their discretion when granting students’ midterm
modification requests, Giannopoulos said. She stressed enacting a policy, however,
would help students realize they have the opportunity to have a say in their schedule in
the first place.

“This policy would help students that don’t realize they can have their exams changed,”
Giannopoulos said, noting she personally encountered an issue of “crammed, back-to-back midterms,” and hopes to help students avoid the same situation in the future.

The legislation passed with a 17-1 vote and one abstention.

Many committee members approved the decision with enthusiasm, noting the
excessive stress and time constraints students endure daily.

“I think nowadays we’re really expected to do more and with that comes a lot of
restriction in our time,” Rep. Nikolas Magallon said. He added he supports the legislation
because of its fairness and the amount of time it allows students to continue their out-of-classroom
pursuits.

At the meeting, University Affairs Chair Becca Buell also introduced a piece of legislation requiring a general
education requirement for first years about alcohol. Buell said her committee has been
collaborating with University Health Services and the Dean of Students office to create
strategies for tackling excessive alcohol consumption on campus.

Buell said the university wants to hold students accountable for drinking and make sure
students understand the implications of their actions.

Press Office Chair David Gardner requested the legislation be tabled until March 20 to allow the committee more time to work out some more of the technical
policy details behind it.