Chicago-Kent home page Student portal Faculty portal Staff portal About The Record Current Record headlines Publication deadlines The Record archives

Office of Academic Administration and Student Affairs

Asst. Dean Stephen D. Sowle

Week of January 21, 2008
Student Portal Page
Student Health Insurance FAQ

U-Pass FAQ
Law School Survival Guide
Joke of the Week Archives
Poem of the Week Archives

Click here for Dean Sowle's Record Archives

Welcome Back! Congratulations to all first-year students on completing your first semester of law school, and to upper-level students for making it one semester closer to graduation. I hope everyone had a restful holiday break.

U-Pass Distribution. Distribution of Spring 2008 U-Passes will take place as follows:

*Thursday, January 17, 2:00-3:30pm, Front Lobby
*Friday, January 18, 12:00-1:30pm, Front Lobby
*Tuesday, January 22, 11:30-1:00pm and 3:00-4:30pm, Front Lobby

After Tuesday, January 22, you may pick up your U-Pass from the Registrar's office. For more information on the U-Pass program and which students qualify for participation in the program, see the U-Pass FAQ.

You will not receive a U-Pass during the initial distribution period if you registered for classes late or do not have a picture in our ID system. In either of those cases, please contact Jenna Moroney (jmoroney@kentlaw.edu) to explain your situation, and we will put you on our supplemental order list after we confirm your status.

Spring 2008 Semester Information. The Spring 2008 Term Information page has most of the information you will need in advance of the start of the Spring semester - click here, or go to the main Student Portal page and click on the Spring '08 link under "Academic term information." Print copies of many of the documents described below are available outside the third floor cafeteria.

Initial Reading Assignments.
Initial reading assignments for the first week of the Spring semester are available on the Spring 2008 Term Information page. The list of assignments has been revised from its initial version as follows:

*New entries added 1/16/08: Civil Procedure (Prof. Laser); Evidence (Prof. Bailey); Evidence (Prof. Kling); International Business Transactions (Prof. Birdthistle); Introduction to Islamic Law (Prof. Shawamreh); Resolving Environmental Liabilities in Bankruptcy (Prof. Prewitt); Securities Regulation (Prof. Birdthistle).

*Revised entry 1/16/08: Work and Family (Prof. Shapiro).

Not all professors submit initial assignments, so do not be concerned if there is no listing for one or more of your Spring courses.

Course Information Updates. Course information updates for Spring classes are available on the Spring 2008 Term Information page.

Revised Spring Schedule (with Classroom Assignments). A revised copy of the Spring 2008 Schedule of Classes, including classroom assignments, is available on the Spring 2008 Term Information page. Classroom assignments are also posted in the front lobby.

Adding and Dropping Classes. You may add an open course without special permission until the end of the first week of Spring 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.

Trial Advocacy Section Assignments. If you are registered for Trial Advocacy 1 or Trial Advocacy 2 for the Spring semester, a list of section assignments is available on the Spring 2008 Term Information page. Note: If your section meets at the Daley Center, please be sure to bring your Kent ID card with you, as you will be required to show it before being allowed to enter.

Exam Schedule. A copy of the Spring 2008 exam schedule is available on the Spring 2008 Term Information page. Please note that you are permitted to register for courses with exams scheduled at the same time; one exam will be rescheduled for you.

The Student Handbook requires that you take your finals at the times scheduled unless you have an exam conflict (as defined below), or you have a "serious illness or other extraordinary or compelling reason" beyond your control. A Final Exam Reschedule Form will be posted later this semester through Web for Students.

A student is deemed to have an "exam conflict" if he or she has two exams at the same time, or has two or more exams within 24 hours (e.g., exams at 8:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., or at 6:00 p.m. and 1:15 the following afternoon). A conflict does not exist if two exams are scheduled exactly 24 hours apart (e.g., exams at 8:30 a.m. one morning and 8:30 a.m. the next morning).

Bookstore Hours. The bookstore's hours are available by clicking here.

2007-2008 Academic Calendar. The academic calendar for the Spring semester is available on the Spring 2008 Term Information page.

Bar Registration for First-Year Students. First-year students who plan to take the Illinois Bar Examination after graduation should register with the Illinois bar examiners. The registration materials must be submitted by March 1, 2008. The forms and instructions are available on the bar examiners' web site: http://www.ibaby.org.

Although you are not required to register as a first-year student, the advantage of doing so is that you will avoid paying additional fees of $350 or more if you apply to take the bar at any point after March of their first year. If you are uncertain whether you intend to practice in Illinois, you may want to consider waiting to register and paying the late fee should you eventually decide to take the Illinois bar exam. The application form is very comprehensive and requires you to provide a significant amount of background information, some of which may be difficult to remember or obtain. I suggest that, if you do plan to register by the March deadline, you begin working on the materials sooner rather than later. If you have any questions about the application materials, you may call the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar at 217/522-5917.

All information you disclose on the bar registration application should be consistent with answers to questions on your Application for Admission to the law school. Please note, however, that the bar registration application asks for a considerable amount of information that you were not asked to provide on our Application for Admission. You only need to be concerned about the consistency of your answers for questions asked on both forms. You can amend your Application for Admission, if necessary, by addressing a letter to me setting forth the details of the omission or misrepresentation and the reason for it.

First-year students who think they may practice in another state should contact the bar examiners office in that state as soon as possible to determine their registration requirements. Booklets with the addresses and phone numbers of state bar examiners offices are available for you to consult in the Registrar’s office and in my office.

July 2008 Illinois Bar Applications. Applications for the July 2008 bar exam must be submitted by February 1, 2008. You may file a late application for the July bar up to May 31, but substantial penalty fees apply. The forms and instructions are available on the bar examiners' web site: http://www.ibaby.org. Please note: Even if you registered with the bar examiners as a first-year student, you must still file a final application. If you have any questions about the application materials, you may call the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar at 217/522-5917.

The law school sends a “Certificate of Dean of Law School Proof of Legal Education” to the Illinois bar examiners for every student who graduates in December or May. Please be sure to file an Application for Graduation so that we will know you plan to graduate in either December or May.

All information you disclose on the bar application should be consistent with answers to questions on your Application for Admission to the law school. Please note, however, that the bar application asks for a considerable amount of information that you were not asked to provide on our Application for Admission. You only need to be concerned about the consistency of your answers for questions asked on both forms. You can amend your Application for Admission, if necessary, by addressing a letter to me setting forth the details of the omission or misrepresentation and the reason for it.

Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE). The MPRE is required for admission to the bars of most jurisdictions, including Illinois. The exam is administered in March, August, and November each year. You may take the exam after you have completed two-thirds of the credits required for the J.D. degree (at Chicago-Kent, this means you must have completed 58 credits). You may register online by going to http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-tests/mpre. The deadline for applying for the March exam is January 29, 2008 (the late deadline is February 14).

Academic Calendar for 2008-2009. The academic calendar for next academic year (2008-2009) is available here.

Weather Closing Information. Flyers with information about emergency weather closings are available on the table outside the third-floor cafeteria. As explained in the flyer, you may find out whether the Law School is closed due to severe weather in any of the ways listed below. Please note: Information for the Law School will be listed under "IIT-Chicago-Kent College of Law."

Radio: WGN 720 AM; WBBM 780 AM.
TV: CBS 2, NBC 5, ABC 7, WGN, Fox News Chicago, CLTV News.
Phone: 847-238-1234 (use Kent's phone number, 312-906-5000, as the school ID).
Online: http://www.EmergencyClosings.com. (You may also sign up for personalized e-mail notifications at this site.)
Joke of the Week. Question: How many gorillas does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: Only one - but it takes a lot of light bulbs.

Poem of the Week. This week's poem is "To Judgment: An Assay," by Jane Hirshfield.

Student Portal Page
Student Health Insurance FAQ

U-Pass FAQ
Law School Survival Guide
Joke of the Week Archives
Poem of the Week Archives

CALENDARS

.: Main Chicago-Kent event
   calendar

.: Academic calendar

.: CLE calendar

.: Alumnae/i event calendar

.: Admissions calendar

Chicago-Kent home page Student portal Faculty portal Staff portal About The Record Current Record headlines Publication deadlines The Record archives