Final exams are upon HC students, and the stipulations for using incentives are not equitable to all, leaving some deserving students without the opportunity to exempt their final exams.

Traditionally at HC, the fall semester’s closing is marked by the distribution of final exam exemptions and opportunities to drop lowest summative grades. These rewards have been given to students who took the ACT or KSA last spring, and the levels of compensation vary based on the student’s assessment achievement. While incentivizing students can be effective, the stipulations for using these exemptions and summative grade drops are not equitable to all students. Some of the highest achieving students at HC will not get the opportunity to use these earned incentives at all.

University guidelines prohibit students enrolled in dual credit courses from using final exam exemptions and summative grade drops. While there is nothing HC can do about these stipulations in terms of dual credit courses, some classes that are not primarily dual credit courses have fallen into this category; students in certain AP courses at HC have been given the opportunity to enroll in dual credit courses through Midway University as a sort of “safety net” in the event that they do not pass their AP exam in the spring. This would allow students to still receive college credit for passing the class. However, enrolling in the dual credit course through Midway is optional, and not all AP students taking these courses chose to do so. These students still have to abide by the stipulations of dual credit courses, despite their clear lack of enrollment.

Additionally, there is a limit of one incentive used per class, meaning students cannot use a final exam exemption and summative grade drop in the same class in a semester. Due to the fact that high achieving students enrolled in dual credit courses are already limited in their utilization of these incentives, it is unfair to not let them find alternative ways of using these rewards such as using multiple earned incentives in a singular course.

Furthermore, these rewards are only usable in the semester that they are received. This means that if students do not get the opportunity to use all of their earned incentives this semester, they will not be able to roll them over to the spring semester. This is especially jeopardizing seniors who will not receive any final exam exemptions or opportunities to drop their lowest summative grades next semester.

Administration has said that they are looking into making revisions to the current guidelines for next semester. In doing so, it is imperative that the revised stipulations aim to ensure equitable use for all students at HC.