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Office of Academic Administration and Student Affairs

Asst. Dean Stephen D. Sowle

Week of December 5, 2011
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Academic Calendar Reminder. Read period runs from Saturday, December 3 through Wednesday, December 7. Exams start on Thursday, December 8 and end on Saturday, December 17.

Fall 2011 Final Exams.

Exam Schedule. The final exam schedule for the current semester is available here. You can find your personal exam schedule by logging into your Webmail account, clicking on the Web for Students incon, and navigating to the Fall 2011 link under the Schedule heading (it appears below your academic schedule for the semester). You will be notified of the classroom assignments for your exams prior to the start of exam period.

Availability of Professors' Old Exams. Many professors make their old exams available for students to review. Exams after 1992 are available online by going to http://library.kentlaw.edu/Courses/index.htm and clicking on the Exam Database link in the lefthand menu. Exams dating from 1992 and before are bound in volumes available in the 10th floor reading room in the Library.

•Exam Emergencies. If an emergency occurs that may prevent you from taking a final exam, you or someone on your behalf should call me (312/906-5282) or Jenna Abhijeet (312/906-5005) as soon as possible. If you cannot reach either of us, call the Registrar's office (312/906-5080). Do not contact your professor about any problem connected with your exam, as this may compromise your anonymity. Please read Section VII of the Student Handbook, which contains the rules governing exams, exam conflicts, make-up exams, missed exams, and related issues; and review Article II of the Code of Conduct in the Student Handbook.

•Consulting Laptops During Exams. Unless your professor specifically authorizes it, you may not consult materials (notes, outlines, etc.) stored on your laptop computer during an open book or limited open book exam; you are limited to consulting print materials authorized by your professor. Please note: This is separate from the issue of whether you may write your exam on your own laptop. The limitation described above applies whether you are writing your exam by hand or on a lab or laptop computer.

•Cell Phones During Exams. You are not permitted to use a cell phone during any exam, including during any restroom breaks. If you have a cell phone with you during an exam, it must be turned off and stored out of sight.

•Access to Computer Labs During Exams. Because we use the computer labs during many of the exam slots during exam period, access for other purposes (e.g., printing out papers or exam outlines) is limited. Please keep in mind that there is a printer in the 5th Floor Student Lounge that you can use if the labs are all in use.

Exam Method Notices.

Notice about SofTest: Students taking exams on laptop must download and install the SofTest exam-taking program. The Computer Center has emailed information to all students about the procedures for doing this. You may also find this information at http://www.kentlaw.edu/clc/exams/instructions.shtml. Even though you do not need to submit an Exam Method Registration form to use your laptop for exams, you do need to download and install SofTest. In addition, you must download the new version of SofTest even if you have an older version from a prior semester. You cannot use older versions of the program - you must have the new version of SofTest.

Unless a professor specifies otherwise, SofTest is configured to lock students out of other programs and services on their computers for the duration of the exam. This means that, unless a professor specifically authorizes access, students will not have access to notes, outlines, or other materials stored on their hard drive or the network.

Notice About Borrowing Laptops from the Computer Center: The Computer Center has a limited supply of laptop computers reserved for use in emergency situations that arise during exam period. Please contact Dean Sowle if you opt to take an exam on laptop, and your laptop suffers unexpected problems that cannot be remedied before your exam. The Computer Center's laptops also may be used (subject to availability) if your computer has problems immediately before or during an exam, as long as the problem is not due to your failing to properly configure or register your laptop to run the SofTest program. Because of limited supply, the Computer Center's laptops are not available for general loaning purposes during exam period. However, if you have exceptional circumstances that you believe justify borrowing a laptop for an exam, please contact Dean Sowle to discuss your situation.

Notice to Hand Writers: Students who are hand writing an exam will be placed in the same room used by laptop users for that exam. Hand writers will not be put in a separate room.

Spring 2012 Registration. The initial registration period for Spring 2012 classes closed last week. The registration system opened back up on Friday, December 2, for students to see what classes they were admitted into, and to make adjustments to their schedules. You may continue to make adjustments to your schedule until the end of the Spring add/drop period, which will extend through the end of the second week of Spring classes. If you did not register during the initial registration period, you may do so now.

Students graduating at the end of the Spring 2012 semester who need fewer than the minimum number of hours to graduate may take fewer credits without special permission. In addition, if you will be graduating at the end of the Spring 2012 semester, and will be taking more than the 87 credits required to graduate, you may receive a 50% discount on each credit you take over the required 87 credits. If this affects you, please contact me by email no later than the end of the Spring add/drop period in January, and I will arrange for the credit to be applied to your account.

Changes to the Spring 2012 Schedule:

-Criminal Litigation Externship (596-01): The meeting time for this externship has been moved to Wed. 4:00-4:55pm.
-Graduate (LL.M.) Int'l I.P. Law (681-81): This seminar has been moved to Thurs. 1:55-3:45pm.
-International Patent Law (269-51 &687-51): This class has been canceled due to low enrollment.
-Law, Markets & Globalization: The course number was inadvertently omitted from the schedule. The course number is 917-01.
-Patent Office Practice: Prerequisite for this course is Patent Law completed, or permission of instructor (not Patent Law completed or taken concurrently).
-Semester Law Firm Associate Program: This class will meet Wed. 5:00-5:55pm (not Wed. 4:00-4:55pm).
-The Corporation & the Constitution: This class may be taken either as a regular course, or as a seminar. The listing for the regular course version was inadvertently omitted from the schedule. The course number is 203-51, and the class meets Wed. 7:35-9:25pm (2 credits).
-The U.S. Supreme Court: The course number was inadvertently omitted from the schedule. The course number is 915-81.

Spring 2012 Initial Reading Assignments and Course Materials. A list of initial reading assignments for Spring 2012 courses will be posted no later than Monday, December 19. It will be linked to this page, and will be available on the Spring 2012 Term Information page (also available by going to the Current Students Portal page and clicking on the Spring '12 link).

You may ask the bookstore to hold your Spring course materials for you when they arrive, or for an extra fee you may request that the books be mailed to you over the summer. If you would like to take advantage of either of these options, stop by the bookstore before you leave, or call the bookstore at 312/906-5605. In addition, you may order your course books over the Internet by clicking on the Bookstore link on the Current Students Portal page.

New Business Law Certificate Program. On Tuesday, November 22, the facutly approved a new Business Law Certificate Program. Details are available here. Current students are eligible for the certificate if they meet the requirements by the time they graduate. If you plan to pursue the certificate, please submit a Notice of Intent form; if you are entering your last semester and wish to apply for the certificate, please submit an Application for the certificate. Please contact Prof. Howard Chapman (hchapman@kentlaw.edu) if you have questions.

Illinois Bar Exam: Informational Sessions. The Illinois bar examiners will be holding informational sessions for first-year students, and for third-year and fourth-year students approaching graduation, at Chicago-Kent on Thursday, January 19, 2012. The sessions will run as follows: (1) 11:30-12:20 pm for first-year day students; (2) 5:00-5:50 pm for first-year evening students; and (3) 4:00-4:50 pm for graduating students. The room assignmenst will be announced later.

You should plan to attend the appropriate session for your status if (1) you are a first-year student and you have questions about the first-year bar registration process (see my Record archives for August 29 for more information about this process); (2) you are a third-year or fourth-year student planning on taking the February 2011 or July 2011 bar exams and you have questions about the application or character and fitness process; or (3) you are a student at any stage of your studies and you have questions about the character and fitness process. If you are unable to attend one of the sessions, you may contact Vanessa King at the bar examiners' office (217-522-5917) to discuss the information provided in the sessions.

Joke of the Week. Did you hear about the two antennae that got married? The ceremony was pretty boring, but the reception was great.

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