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Office of Academic Administration and Student Affairs

Asst. Dean Stephen D. Sowle

Week of August 16, 2004
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General Announcements:

Student Organization Fair.
The annual Student Organization Fair will be held on Tuesday, August 24, from 12:00-2:00 (for day students) and from 5:00-6:00 (for evening students) in the second and third floor atriums. All students are invited.

CTA U-Pass Program. Chicago-Kent is a participant in the Chicago Transit Authority's U-Pass program. The U-Pass is a discount fare card allowing unlimited rides on all CTA buses and trains. The U-Pass also qualifies holders for discounts of up to 50% at over 750 merchants throughout Chicago. All full-time day students (determined by your official division status, not by the number of credit hours you take in a particular semester) will be issued a U-Pass card valid from August 23 (the first day of classes) through December 18 (the end of Fall exams). New cards will be issued at the start of the Spring semester. The charge for the card will appear on the semester bill for each full-time student. Due to restrictions imposed by the CTA, the program is not currently available to evening students or part-time day students. For more details, see our U-Pass FAQ, and visit the CTA's U-Pass web site. We will also distribute informational brochures along with the U-Pass cards. Details about when and how the cards will be distributed will be sent to students by e-mail, and will appear in next week's Record.

To Entering Students:

Welcome to Chicago-Kent!
For those of you starting your first year, you chose a terrific law school and we are pleased that you are joining our community. You have an exciting several years ahead of you.

What My Office Does. In my capacity as Assistant Dean for Academic Administration and Student Affairs, I have responsibility for a number of areas that affect your life as a student. I supervise the Registrar's office on scheduling your courses, administering your exams, and maintaining your academic records. I oversee the Student Services office on Orientation, academic and personal counseling of students, and applying the school's academic regulations. More generally, my job is to make sure that your life at the Law School remains as free from administrative hassles as possible. If you think I can be of help, please call me (906-5282), come by my office (Suite 320C), or e-mail me (SSOWLE). If I'm not the right person to help you, I should be able to point you in the right direction. My door is open without appointment, so long as I am not otherwise occupied when you drop by.

Orientation Week. The final schedule for Orientation week will be distributed in the packets you receive when you arrive on August 16. In addition, the Admissions Office has created a special web page for entering students with links to lots of useful information.

To Returning Students:

Welcome Back! I hope you had an enjoyable summer and that you have a successful and productive year. If you would like to see me with a question, problem, or suggestion, please call me (906-5282), come by my office (Suite 320C), or e-mail me (SSOWLE).

Fall 2004 Semester Information. You may access initial reading assignments, course information updates, Trial Advocacy section assignments, and other Fall semester information by following the links provided below, or by going to the Fall 2004 Term Information page. (Permanent links for term information pages appear on the Student Portal page, under "Academic term information").

Initial Reading Assignments and Course Materials. Reading assignments for the first week of the Fall semester are linked to this page. (Please note: The list of initial assignments has been updated since it was first posted, and may be updated again if we receive additional assignments.) If you have not yet returned to school, you may ask the bookstore to hold your Fall course books for you until you arrive, or for an extra fee you may request that the books be mailed to you. If you would like to take advantage of either of these options, stop by the bookstore or call 312/906-5605. In addition, you may order your course books over the Internet through the Follett's Bookstore web site.

Course Information Updates. Changes to the Fall 2004 class schedule are linked to this page. Some of these changes have been previously announced; further changes may be made before the start of Fall classes. A revised version of the Fall class schedule incorporating these changes is available outside the third floor cafeteria; an online version is linked to this page.

Adding and Dropping Courses. You may add an open course without special permission until the end of the first week of classes. During the second week, however, you may add an open course only with permission of the instructor. You may not add a course after the second week of the semester. You may withdraw from any course except a required course, a clinical course, Law Review, Moot Court, or Intensive Trial Advocacy at any time prior to the date of the final exam or final paper (see § 3.10(c) of the Student Handbook). There is no tuition penalty if you drop a course during the first two weeks of classes. You will not receive a tuition refund, however, if you drop a course after the second week of classes.

Classroom Assignments. A revised copy of the Fall 2004 Schedule of Classes, including classroom assignments, is linked to this page. Classroom assignments will also be posted in the front lobby.

Exam Schedule. A copy of the Fall 2004 exam schedule is linked to this page. The Student Handbook requires that you take your finals at the times scheduled, even if you have two exams in a row, or one at 6:00 p.m. and another at 8:30 a.m. the next morning. Absent extraordinary circumstances, the only exception is if you have three exams scheduled consecutively (which rarely happens) or two exams scheduled at the same time. Please note that you are permitted to register for courses with exams scheduled at the same time; one exam will be rescheduled for you. If you believe you have an exam conflict or other circumstance justifying the rescheduling of an exam (see Student Handbook sections 7.2 and 7.3), please contact Jamie Lake, the Director of Student Services (312/906-5247; e-mail: JLAKE).

Trial Advocacy Section Assignments. If you are registered for Trial Advocacy 1 or Trial Advocacy 2 for the Fall semester, a list of section assignments is linked to this page.

Bookstore Hours. The Bookstore's hours for the Fall semester are linked to this page.

2004-2005 Academic Calendar. The Academic Calendar for 2004-2005 is linked to this page.

Spring 2005 Preliminary Schedule. The preliminary class schedule for the Spring 2005 semester is linked to this page. Please note: This schedule is only preliminary – there will be additions to the class list (in particular, we anticipate adding several seminars) and other changes made before the schedule is finalized.

At this point, we anticipate adding the following courses to the preliminary Spring schedule: E-Commerce (in the day); Education Law; Energy Law (in a 4:00 slot); and Intellectual Property & Technology Licensing.

In addition, the following courses listed on the preliminary Spring schedule will not be offered: Civil Procedure 2; Computers & Legal Reasoning; Law, Economics & Justice seminar; and Topics in E-Commerce seminar. The final Spring 2005 schedule will be issued later this semester, when registration for Spring 2005 classes will also take place.

Spring 2004 CALI Award Winners. The CALI Excellence for the Future Award, sponsored by the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction, is given to the student or students who receive the highest grade in each section of each course. The CALI award winners for Spring 2004 courses are linked to this page. If a section or a course is not listed, that means the professor elected not to give a CALI award. Congratulations to all of you who received an award -- you should be proud of your achievement.

Joke of the week. "You can't have everything. Where would you put it?" (Steven Wright)
Dean Sowle's Record Archives
Joke of the Week Archives
Law School Survival Guide
Student Health Insurance FAQ
U-Pass FAQ
Student Portal Page

CALENDARS

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