According to the university’s publication, Harvard Magazine, Harvard may be bidding farewell to final exams.

On May 11, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences adopted a motion saying that “unless an instructor officially informs the Registrar by the end of the first week of the term” that they intend on giving their students a final exam, “the assumption shall be that the instructor will not be giving a three-hour final examination.”

The motion comes after many Harvard faculty members ignored the assumption that classes would end with final examinations. As the magazine reports, while there were 1,137 undergraduate-level courses this spring term, only 259 finals were scheduled.

Although most of the faculty members have embraced the motion, some, including James Engell, Gurney professor of English literature and professor of comparative literature, have spoken out on the motion saying, according to the magazine, “How are we assessing students?”

Students, no doubt, will be excited by the possibility of forgoing a final. Final exams were certainly one of the most dreaded experiences of my college career, and one of the more the stressful, as well.

And the possibility of bidding them adieu got me to thinking about some other long-standing college staples and experiences that should also go by the wayside. If it was up to me, colleges across the country would start purging the following from their campuses:

The never ending buying/selling textbook cycle:

Although the Internet has made it easier to find required texts for far less than your bookstore sells them, it’s still a hassle and a waste to purchase books—especially for a class that has nothing to do with your major or your area of interest.

And, unless you want to hold on to your college textbooks for the rest of your life, your options for getting rid of them are pretty limited. Either you sell them back to the bookstore for a meager sum or you go out of your way to sell them for a little more online.

Sure, professors optimistically assume you’re going to fall in love with all of the texts you study, but we all know that that is never the case.

Colleges should forgo selling textbooks and simply offer students the opportunity to rent them at a reasonable price. Otherwise, students will keep searching for better deals online and hurt the bookstore more.

Requiring students to purchase class equipment and supplies:

It goes without saying that you, as a student, are expected to invest in supplies for your classes, especially if you are majoring in art or a similar area of study. If, however, you are simply taking a Tae Kwon Do or a photography class to simply fulfill a requirement, it’s a waste of money for you to invest in such equipment.

Not unlike the textbook rental system, colleges would do well to offer students the opportunity to rent required equipment rather than purchase it, since students can’t always turn around and sell them again. I have a Tae Kwon Do ghi in my closet at my parents’ house to prove that.

Entrance/exit interviews with dean:

What’s more awkward than meeting with the Dean of Women or the Dean of Men? Why, it’s meeting with them twice to simply discuss your college career, of course!

I’m not sure if this is standard with most colleges, but it, unfortunately, was with mine. Not only that, but after ignoring her request once, the Dean of Women called me demanding I meet with her and fill out the survey she sent to me.

Yes, you heard correctly. And the survey asked me such earth shattering questions as, “What is your favorite book and why?” I realize the meetings are, supposed to, build relationships between the deans and the students, and figure out what they could do to improve the college experience, but I have yet to meet anyone who ever benefited from such a meeting.

Class evaluations:

These fun little questionnaires always rear their ugly heads at the end of the semester. Professors and department heads alike always like to try and emphasize how important they are. They want you to be completely honest and tell them how effective you thought the professor, the exams and the course were during the semester, but I have a secret to tell you.

Ready? No one pays attention to them! That’s right! Even though everyone wants you to believe that they are potentially curriculum changing, they truly aren’t. I once had a horrible professor who taught badly, gave terrible presentations and was a bigot. No one in the class liked him and we all gave him a poor review.

And what did it change? Nothing. Students had been giving him poor reviews for his entire stay at the college and no one cared. Why require students to fill out such a questionnaire when it will hold no influence? It’s best just to get rid of them.

Strict off-campus housing policies:

If college authorities think that regulating off-campus housing will cut down on the amount of partying and drinking that occurs, then they are sorely mistaken. Requiring students to attend an off-campus housing meeting and making them live in only campus owned buildings does nothing to deter partying. One of the goals of college is to prepare students for the real world. If this is the real goal, then campuses should allow students to live, make mistakes and deal with the consequences like adults.

Strict attendance policies:

Though this may not be an issue at larger colleges and universities, smaller institutions, like my alma mater, continue to have attendance policies that resemble those we had in high school. I cannot count how many professors I had who allowed students a specific number of excused and unexcused absences, and if you exceeded those—for any reason—your grade would suffer, even if you had perfect test and assignment scores.

How ridiculous is that?! I’m sorry, but if I am the one paying to take a course, and if I would rather skip or schedule a doctor’s appointment during a class, then I have the right to do so. Obviously never attending class is irresponsible and stupid, but dropping a full letter grade because you were sick for three days? That’s unacceptable.

What do you think? Are there any college staples that you think are absurd and outdated? Would your campus do well to disregard them? Share them with us!