Wednesday’s final exam cancellations due to inclement weather may have affected many as 800 students on the Evanston campus, according to the Northwestern Office of the Registrar.

University registrar Jaci Casazza said finals have not been called off during Spring Quarter in her nearly 10 years at NU. The decision came after forecasts of severe thunderstorms that had already led to the closure of most city offices in Evanston.

(Evanston facilities close in preparation for storm)

“It was a decision that was not made lightly,” Casazza said.

About 50 finals were scheduled for Wednesday evening and likely impacted by the cancellation, according to the exam schedule made before the quarter. However, Casazza said that number was subject to change because not all courses scheduled to hold a final at the time were having in-class exams.

Affected professors were emailed prior to the announcement of the cancellation to the the NU community late Wednesday afternoon, Casazza said.

“Since this was an academic decision, we felt it was best to leave it up to the faculty,” Casazza said.

Some professors rescheduled their exams for Thursday or Friday, and the registrar’s office offered to proctor the finals for professors Thursday afternoon and Friday. Some professors who felt they had enough material graded students based on work already completed. Casazza said her office assisted with about a dozen make-up exams.

Any scheduling conflicts students had with make-up finals were handled on a case-by-case basis, she said. Many professors provided students with multiple options for making up their exams.

In addition to affecting exam schedules, Wednesday’s storm also led to the cancellation of evening classes on both campuses.

— Cat Zakrzewski