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Office of Academic Administration and Student Affairs

Asst. Dean Stephen Sowle

Weeks of July 3 and July 10, 2017
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Spring 2017 CALI Awards. 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 recipients for Spring 2017 courses are available by clicking here. If a section or a course is not listed, that means the professor elected not to give a CALI award, or we have not yet heard from the professor. Congratulations to all of you who received an award -- you should be proud of your achievement.

Spring 2017 GPAs and Class Ranks. Cumulative GPAs through the Spring 2017 semester, and Spring 2017 class ranks for J.D. students, are now available through Web for Students -- go to https://wfs.kentlaw.iit.edu and click on the "Spring 2017" link under "Grades and Rank" in the left hand menu. (Students who graduated in the Fall or last Summer will find their final class rank under the Fall 2016 or Summer 2016 links.) Class ranks are based on cumulative (not just Spring semester) GPA. For those students who transferred into Kent in January, please keep in mind that you will not receive a class rank until you have been here for two semesters.

GPA Cut-offs: The GPA cut-offs as of the end of the Spring 2017 semester are available by clicking here

Note to Spring graduates: For J.D. students who just graduated, this information constitutes their final GPA and class rank. Graduating students should wait until later this week if they wish to request transcripts reflecting their class rank and/or graduation honors, as the Registrar's office will be entering that information early this week.

Note to first-year full-time students: If you are a first-year full-time student, the cumulative GPA for you in Web for Students includes all of your coursework through the end of the Spring semester. However, as previously announced, class ranks were determined by excluding Legislation or any elective course taken, in order to ensure that all first-year full-time students were assessed on a common set of courses for purposes of class rank. Likewise, probation and dismissal decisions, eligibility for Law Review, and eligibility for merit scholarships are based on first-year performance excluding Legislation or any elective course taken.

Fall 2017 Loyola/DePaul Exchange. Chicago-Kent has an arrangement with Loyola (Chicago) School of Law and DePaul University College of Law that permits students from each school to register for selected courses at the other schools. Students will pay tuition to their home school, and grades will transfer (not just the credits) and be counted in your GPA. Click here for a list of Loyola classes open to upper-level Chicago-Kent students for the Fall 2017 term; click here for a list of DePaul classes. If you are interested in taking one of these classes, please contact me. Please note: These courses may count toward a Chicago-Kent certificate program only with permission of Dean Sowle and the director of the relevant certificate program.

Summer 2017 Pass/Fail Revocations. The deadline for revoking pass/fail for all elective Summer courses is Thursday, July 13, at 5:00pm.

Summer 2017 Exams.


•Exam Schedule and Exam Numbers. The final exams for the Summer term are listed in the Schedule of Classes available here. To find your personal exam schedule, go to your Web for Students account and navigate to the "Summer 2017" link under the "Schedule" heading in the lefthand menu. Your exam number is also provided there, along with exam room assignments.

Availability of Professors' Old Exams. Many professors make their old exams available for students to review. Exams after 1982 are available online by clicking here. Exams dating from 1982 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 Dean Sowle (312/906-5282) 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/Tablet Computers During Exams. Unless your professor specifically authorizes it, you may not consult materials (notes, outlines, etc.) stored on a laptop computer, iPad, or other tablet computer or electronic device 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.

•Exam Method Notices.


Notice about SofTest: Students taking exams on laptop must download and install the SofTest exam-taking program. You will receive information from the Information Technology Services department about when and how to do this. 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.

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.

The Information Technology Services department (ITS) will provide detailed information on the use of laptop computers and Lab computers during exams. For now, please make a note of the following items:

· All students have to download the latest version of the SofTest software. Previously installed SofTest versions may not work for Summer 2017 exams.

· Windows 10, 8.1, 8, and 7 are the only supported Windows platforms for exams.  Windows 8 RT  is not supported.

· Alternate versions of Windows 10, such as Windows RT, Windows 10 S and Windows 10 Creators are NOT supported. (Note: For computers with Windows 10 Creator, there is a workaround. These instructions can be found by clicking here. Despite the available workaround it is advised NOT to update to Windows 10 Creator until after the exams.)

· Windows Surface Pro requirements: Surface Pro 1, 2, & 4 (Non-Pro Surface devices are NOT supported). Surface 3 (Pro and Non-Pro devices ARE supported).

· Mac Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, and Mavericks are the only supported Mac OS X platforms for exams.

· A native Mac version of the SofTest exam-taking software is available for Mac users to download. "Virtualized" Windows operating systems via products such as Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion will not function for exams.

· Any individual found to be running an unlicensed or "pirated" operating system on their computer may be declined technical assistance.

To avoid any technical or computer difficulties, please make sure you bring the following items with you to the exam.

· The contents of your ExamSoft Registration confirmation email

· Your laptop power cord

· Note: Use of a standard Ethernet network cable is encouraged in areas where there are ports available.

 
Notice About Borrowing Laptops: The Information Technology Services department has a limited supply of laptop computers reserved for use in emergency situations that arise during exam period. These laptops 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 ITS department'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.

Notices to May 2017 Graduates. If you graduated in the Spring, please read the information below about your Kent email and network accounts, and your locker. If you have any questions, please let me know.

•Email, Network, and Print Accounts. Email accounts: Your Kent email account is for life. You can continue to use your Chicago-Kent email as long as you chose to do so. Network accounts: Your network account will be deactivated on Monday, July 31 (the first Monday after the July bar exam). Print accounts: Your free printing quota was reset to zero on Monday, May 15 (the first Monday after Commencement).

•Clearing Out Lockers. Please clear your lockers out no later than Monday, July 31. Anything left in lockers after that date will be removed. If you are unable to clear your locker out by that date, please contact me to make arrangements for your locker contents to be set aside for you. Note: This applies only to graduating students. If you are not graduating, you do not need to clear your locker out; you will keep your current locker until you graduate. 

•Student Health Insurance. If you have student health insurance through IIT, your coverage will end on August 11, 2017.

Dean's Certificate for Illinois Bar. We have provided a Certification of Juris Doctorate certificate to the Illinois bar examiners for every May 2017 graduate (except for those with outstanding balances owed to the school).

Bar Exams in Other States.  If you plan to take a bar exam outside of Illinois, you should provide the Registrar with appropriate forms for the Law School to complete as soon as possible.

Joke of the Week. The invention of the shovel was groundbreaking, but the invention of the broom swept the nation.


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