Applications for Graduation. J.D. students who plan on graduating at the end of the Spring semester must submit an online Application for Graduation form no later than Tuesday, February 3, 2015. To complete the form, go to Web for Students at https://wfs.kentlaw.iit.edu and click on "Application for Graduation" under "Online Forms" in the lefthand menu. Please complete every field in the form, and click Submit when done. You will receive a confirmation e-mail once a graduation audit has been performed. Please note that any changes you make to your schedule after the audit may affect your graduation requirements. You should check with the Registrar's Office prior to making any changes. Also note that, although the Registrar's Office does conduct graduation audits on all applications, it is your responsibility to make certain all requirements for graduation are met. If you have any questions, please stop by the Registrar's office.
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 Tuesday, February 3, 11:00pm.
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 Tuesday, February 3, 11:00pm.
Pass/Fail Elections. Pass/fail elections for the Spring semester must be made online no later than Monday, February 16, 5:00pm. Please review section 2.4 "Pass/Fail Election" in the Student Handbook if you have any questions regarding your pass/fail elections. In order to make your election, you should:
-
Log into Web for Students.
-
Select the "Take Class Pass/Fail" option under the "Online Forms" heading
-
Select the course you would like to take on a pass/fail basis
-
Submit your selection
The Registrar's Office will review your request and inform you if there is any problem with your request.
Graduating Students: Reduced Loads and Tuition Discounts.
Students graduating at the end of the Spring 2015 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 2015 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 Friday, January 30, 2015, and I will arrange for the credit to be applied to your account.
Changes to Academic Policies. The faculty recently adopted two changes to academic policy:
•Recording of Classes: The policy on the recording of classes has been revised to expand the circumstances in which students may record classes. The new policy is:
"Video and/or sound recording of any classroom activities requires the approval of the faculty in charge of the class and reasonable notice to all those in attendance. The faculty member in charge of the class is permitted but not required to impose additional reasonable conditions on recording, including, but not limited to, consent of the entire class and a prohibition on posting the recording on the internet or through any forms of social media." (Student Handbook §9.3) The prior policy required consent of all persons present before recording was permitted.
•Eligibility of Pass/Fail Students for CALI Award: Students who take a class pass/fail are now eligible for the CALI Excellence for the Future Awards in the professor's discretion:
"Students taking a class pass/fail are eligible for the CALI award, in the discretion of the professor." (Student Handbook §6.16) The prior policy prohibited pass/fail students from receiving the CALI Award.
Academic Support Program. Information about the Academic Support Program for first-year students, including membership criteria for ASP small group sessions and the process for petitioning into the small groups, is available by clicking here. The petition form itself is available by clicking here. Petitions to participate in the Spring Semester are due on Monday, February 2. For more information about the Academic Support Program and study resources, please visit the ASP web site.
Business Law Certificate Program. Students graduating in May 2015 who expect to receive the Certificate in Business Law should submit an Application for the Certificate by February 2, 2015. Other students interested in pursuing the Certificate should submit a Notice of Intent to Pursue a Certificate in Business Law by February 20, 2015. Some courses give registration priority to Business Law Certificate students who have filed a Notice of Intent by that date. (If you have already submitted a Notice of Intent, you do not have to submit another one.) The Program’s requirements and forms are available by clicking here.
Legal Writing Ethics Guidelines. This is a reminder that the Chicago-Kent Legal Writing Ethics Guidelines apply to all Chicago-Kent students, including students enrolled in first-year and upper-level writing courses (Legal Writing 1, Legal Writing 2, Legal Writing 3, Legal Writing 4, and all seminars). The Guidelines, which address a variety of issues, including plagiarism, are available by clicking here. If you have not reviewed the Guidelines recently, please do so.
Counseling Services. IIT's Student Health and Wellness Center provides counseling services at the Law School by appointment. To schedule an appointment, call (312) 567-7550. There is no charge for these counseling services.
Notice to Students in Substance Abuse Recovery (or who want to be). If you are in recovery for a substance abuse problem, or if you are not in recovery but would like help with a substance abuse problem, consider contacting the Lawyers Assistance Program. This confidential program exists to help lawyers, judges, and law students with alcohol abuse, drug dependency, or mental health problems. If you are already in recovery, there are weekly A.A. meetings at LAP's Chicago office on Tuesdays, 12:15-1:15 pm, and Thursdays, 12:15-1:15 pm, , at 20 S. Clark Street, Suite 1820. If you are not in recovery but would like to find out more about what LAP can do for you, call or stop by LAP's office, or go to their web site at http://www.illinoislap.org.
Reminder About IIT's Political Activity Policy. (From the IIT General Counsel's Office:) As a tax-exempt entity, IIT is prohibited from directly or indirectly participating or intervening in any campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for elective office, and IIT has an obligation to refrain from engaging in any partisan political activity. Violation of these prohibitions against such activities could jeopardize the university's tax-exempt status.
While individuals are free to express their opinions and to support political candidates on their own, it must be clear that the individual is acting on his or her own behalf and not on behalf of IIT. No one should identify himself or herself as an employee of IIT when supporting a candidate. If, when speaking or writing on behalf of a candidate someone is identified as an IIT faculty member or other employee, that individual should indicate prior to any speech or as part of any writing that the comments are personal and not intended to represent the views of IIT. Further, no individual or event may use the name, symbols or resources of the university in any way in connection with any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for political office.
Specific examples of impermissible activities include, but are not limited to (i) using university letterhead, campus mail, telephones or email accounts to solicit support or contributions for a candidate; (ii) using university funds to purchase tickets for a candidate's fund-raiser; and (iii) putting campaign posters on university property.
Political candidates may use or rent IIT facilities only if all candidates are allowed the
opportunity to use or rent such facilities on equal terms and conditions.
Subject to certain conditions and restrictions, political candidates may be invited
to speak at events without jeopardizing IIT’s tax-exempt status; however, no such
invitation should be extended without the extending party first discussing the
invitation with the General Counsel’s Office, so as to ensure that the invitation complies
with applicable laws.
Certain voter education activities, including voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, are permissible but only if they are undertaken in accordance with applicable rules and regulations and are conducted in a non-partisan manner. Again, before any such activities are undertaken, the initiating party should contact the General Counsel's Office.
Any questions about this policy should be directed to Anthony D. D'Amato, General Counsel, at 7-8821.
July 2015 Illinois Bar Application. Applications for the July 2015 bar exam are due by February 15, 2015. You may file a late application up to May 31, but penalty fees apply. The forms and instructions are available on the bar examiners' web site: https://www.ilbaradmissions.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.
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.
Dean's Certificate: 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 (see information above for how to file one) at the beginning of your last semester so we will know you plan to graduate at the end of that semester. Important note: We will not certify any student to the bar examiners if the student has an outstanding balance owed to the school.
Civil Procedure Being Added To MBE: Beginning with the February 2015 bar exam, Civil Procedure -- already a topic on the Multistate Essay Exam -- will be added as a topic on the Multistate Bar Exam (the multiple-choice portion of the multistate exam).
Bar Exams in Other States. Students who may practice in another state should familiarize themselves with those states' bar admission requirements, registration procedures, and deadlines.
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 or April, August, and November each year. The next exam will be given on Saturday, March 28, 2015. You may register online by clicking here. The regular registration deadline for applying for the March exam is February 5 (the late deadline, with an extra fee, is February 12). Students planning on taking the Illinois bar exam may take the MPRE at any time during or after law school.
Joke of the week. Did you know that milk is the fastest liquid on earth? Yeah - it's pasteurized before you even see it.