College freshman Kevin Davenport could not fly home to Texas until Thursday, Dec. 22 -- the day after final examinations ended at Penn.
While his case was similar to many of his classmates', Penn's exam schedule -- one of the last to end among the Ivy League universities -- had repercussions beyond Davenport's travel plans.
One consequence of the late end to the fall semester, according to Assistant University Registrar Janet Ansert, is a delay in the posting of some students' grades to their transcripts.
Ending exams on Dec. 21 meant that professors and teaching assistants continued grading--------- over break.
As of last Friday, not all grades had been entered into Penn InTouch, the University's grade reporting system, according to Ansert.
Ansert added that her office set last Tuesday as the deadline for instructors to turn in fall semester grades.
"We were expecting all the grades" by the deadline, Ansert said. "We just [didn't] get them on time."
While she could not estimate the number of professors who posted their students' grades late, Ansert said, "We never get all the grades" on time.
Exams began on Dec. 14 and ended on Dec. 21. Students with exams toward the end of the period had to stay on a campus with seemingly deserted dormitories.
"It seemed like everyone had left by Friday, Dec. 16," Davenport said.
Most other Ivy League universities ended their exam weeks earlier than Penn did. Cornell's exams ended on Dec. 16, and Yale's ended on Dec. 17. Only Penn and Columbia required exams on the 21st.
College sophomore Lindsay Brine, who had a Spanish exam on Dec. 21, said she did not receive all her grades until last Wednesday.
"It's frustrating, but you deal with it," Brine said. "The registrar shouldn't have to work over [break] either."
Brine said that the delay did not inconvenience her, however.
"It didn't cause problems for me, but I'm sure it did for other kids," she said.
Ansert said that her office will close the grade posting system on Friday, Jan. 13. No instructor will be able to post grades after that date.
Until then, her office is scrambling to review and enter grades into Penn InTouch. Last Friday, her office received the grades for all 680 students in Psychology 001. Ansert said the date her office receives grades depends on what the final exam entails and how long it takes instructors to grade it.
Student requests for transcripts via Penn InTouch will be processed immediately. If a student's transcript is still missing a grade, he can select the "hold for grades" option, Ansert said.
Penn's exam schedule is a result of the fact that classes begin after Labor Day in September. Most other Ivy League schools began their fall semesters at the end of August, allowing students to leave campus earlier.
Wharton sophomore Alex Nussbaum said he would rather have his winter break at the same time as other college students.
Nussbaum said he "stayed [at Penn] a week longer than most people [at home] in the Midwest."
"You take the [exam] schedule they give you," Nussbaum said. "You really don't have an option."
Communications professor Kathleen Hall Jamieson -- whose political communications class had a final exam scheduled for Dec. 21 -- chose to cancel the test and assign her students a final paper instead.
"I [knew] the scheduled exam time posed hardships for students," Jamieson wrote in an e-mail interview. "I learned of the scheduled date when I received e-mails before the first class from students asking if there would be a substitute final assignment that would permit them to get home sooner."
Jamieson said that she will always check the "date of the scheduled final" now and that when it is late, she will "set an alternative that assesses overall learning and is due earlier."
