Policies

Exam policies

If you are not able to come to campus to sit for the midterm or final exam, you must find a qualified proctor to administer the exam in absentia in a proctored setting. These exams, which are referred to as distance exams, must be taken within a 24-hour window that begins with the start time of the on-campus exam (i.e., sometime between 5:40 pm Tuesday and 5:40 pm Wednesday, Eastern time).

More information about distance exams – including suggestions for finding a qualified proctor and submitting the necessary information to the Distance Exams office – can be found here, in the section entitled Distance Exams with a Qualified Proctor.

Please note that it is not possible to take an online exam. Rather, you must take an in-person, paper exam – either the on-campus exam, or a distance exam with a qualified proctor whom you find and submit for approval to the Distance Exams office.

Students planning to take a distance exam should email the necessary proctor information to the Distance Exams office no later than one week before the exam, and you should typically hear back from them within four business days. The Distance Exams office will send a copy of the exam to your proctor by the morning of the exam. Your proctor must monitor your exam and return the completed exam to the Distance Exams office within 24 hours of the end of the exam. He or she will not interact with the course staff.

Any questions about proctors or proctored exams should be emailed to distance_exams@extension.harvard.edu

Academic conduct

Unless otherwise stated, all work submitted as part of this course is expected to be your own.

You may discuss the main ideas of a given assignment with other students (provided that you acknowledge doing so in your solution), but you must write the actual solutions by yourself. This includes both programming assignments and other types of problems that we may assign.

Prohibited behaviors include:

• copying all or part of another person’s work, even if you subsequently modify it
• viewing all or part of another student’s work
• showing all or part of your work to another student
• consulting solutions from past semesters, or those found in books or online
• using tools that automate and/or assist with the writing of code or the completion of other types of solutions; in particular, you may not use ChatGPT or any other generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools
• posting your work where others can view it without your permission, even after you complete the course
• receiving assistance from others or collaborating with others during an exam, or consulting materials except those that are explicitly allowed
• having access to an electronic device (including a phone or watch) during the exam; all devices should be powered off and put away before the start of the exam.

If we believe that a student is guilty of academic dishonesty, we will refer the matter to the appropriate administrative committee. Penalties for this type of behavior are typically severe.

Other policies

Please consult the syllabus for other course policies.

Last updated on September 2, 2025.