LBCC is one of the few, if not the only school, that does not have a finals week for final exams at the end of the semester.
Surrounding community colleges such as Cerritos College and Rio Hondo College have a finals week in place.
Cerritos College is on an 18-week semester which might seem like it allows time for a finals week however, Rio Hondo College has a 16-week semester and still has time for a finals week.
Finals week at LBCC can be a stressful time for students with final exams taking place on the last day of their classes. In addition, there are awards ceremonies scheduled for departments to honor students that have done well throughout the semester.
Having events such as awards scheduled during the last week of the semester is inconvenient for students that are busy studying for their final exams. These events should be scheduled at another time as to not disrupt students study time, in order for them to succeed on their final exams.
According to Curriculum Committee Chair Wendy Koenig, when LBCC compressed the semeter down from 18-weeks to 16-weeks it became problematic to devote an entire week for final exams.
However, if most of the exams are already being taken on the last day of class during the final week of the semester, there is potential to make that finals week. If Rio Hondo College can devote an entire week for finals with a 16-week semester, then LBCC should be able do the same.
Other concerns include, non-full term sessions not having the time to devote an entire week for finals since there are many 12 and eight-week sessions during the semester. For these courses it is simple to have them continue to conduct final exams on the last day to not disrupt the non-full terms.
A solution for avoiding overlapping blocks and exams would be to schedules time for the exams separately.
For example, for Monday and Wednesday classes if the class time normally meets between 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. the final exam would be conducted on Monday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in order to have two hours for the final.
The schedule would continue on the same for Tuesday and Thursday classes as well. For example, if the class normally begins on Tuesday between 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. the final would be taken that day at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and so on.
If LBCC can make time for a finals week, students can focus more on exam preparation without having other school events disrupting them during this crucial time in the semester. There are multiple factors to consider when attempting to devote an entire week for final exams, but the most important factor to consider is the students, and what can benefit the students as a whole.