At Sage, the semester is 15 weeks, including a final examination week. The academic calendar is set by the Registrar’s Office in consultation with the Provost’s Office. The semester start and end dates are selected to insure the minimum number of days of every course offered. The 2-hour final exam period is counted as part of the contact-hour requirement. The policy for the final exam period requires that the session be utilized whether or not an examination is given. The final exam time can be used for student presentations, writing, or other forms of scholarly practice. The schedule of graduate course exams varies, but all are in compliance with the credit hour policy. For every contact hour in class, there is an expectation of two hours of student work in preparing for the class through reading, studying, completing scholarly research, or other appropriate work.