I. The Academic Program

C. Final Examinations

1. Examination Administration Procedures

Scope: Unless the examination instructions for a course indicate otherwise, the following procedures apply to the administration of examinations.

Examination Rooms: Examination rooms are posted in advance of the exam outside the Office of Student Life at least 24 hours prior to the examination period. Exams may only be taken in designated testing areas.

Distribution of Exams: Examinations will be distributed in the exam room. The room will be unlocked by the examination official 20 minutes prior to the start of the exam. When the room is unlocked, students may be seated where an exam has been placed; exams cannot be moved to different seats. If the examination is face down, do not turn over the examination until directed to do so. No law school-related materials may be taken into examination rooms, except for those items specifically permitted under the exam instructions. Proctors will be provided with a list of permitted materials for each exam.

Timeliness: Students must be on time for their examinations. If you arrive more than 15 minutes late, you must get the exam from the Office of Student Life. Except in extraordinary circumstances, an exam that starts late must be turned in at the scheduled conclusion of the exam. The clock in each exam room will serve as the “official” time- clock for each exam.

Conduct: Roving proctors will be monitoring each examination room for every scheduled exam period, and may come in and out of the room at any time during the examination period. During the course of the examination, you may not talk to other students, share any materials or examinations or answers, or otherwise interact or collaborate in any way.

No more than one student may be absent from the examination room at any given time during the course of the examination time, except for those students who have left the exam room to turn in their examinations to the Office of the Dean. During the exam, you may leave the examination room to use the restroom, but you must first sign and indicate the time on the sign-out sheet provided at the front of the room, and again, only one student from each room is allowed to be signed out at a time. You may not, however, go into non-testing areas or leave the building until your examination has been turned in. Returning from the restroom, you must sign back in on the sheet, indicating the time you have returned. Absolute quiet must be maintained in the law building. No conversation is permitted in the testing areas or corridors during the mornings and afternoons that examinations are being given.

Exam Format: All blue books will be furnished by the School of Law. Place your exam number on each blue book. Identify yourself only by exam number. DO NOT WRITE YOUR NAME OR ANY OTHER IDENTIFYING INFORMATION OTHER THAN THE EXAM NUMBER ON THE EXAM OR BLUE BOOK(S). Unless the exam instructions advise otherwise, all exam answers must be written in ink. Pencils and forms will be provided for exams that utilize mechanical scoring.

Do not remove any pages from a blue book that is turned in. At the discretion of the instructor, blue books that have pages removed may not be read.

Number your blue books in the following manner; Book 1 of 1 Books, Book 1 of 2 Books, Book 2 of 2 Books, etc. A stamped space for numbering of the blue books is provided on each blue book.

If you complete your exam more than 10 minutes prior to the scheduled end of the exam, bring your exam and blue book(s) directly to the Office of Student Life. During the last 10 minutes before the conclusion of the exam, do not remove any exam from the exam room. An examination official will be in the exam room for the last 10 minutes. At the conclusion of the exam, you will be directed to stop writing, and the examination official will collect the remaining exams and blue book(s).

When you complete your exam, you must leave the testing areas and corridors IMMEDIATELY.

You may not continue to write after the exam official has directed you to stop writing. Failure to comply will be reported to the Office of Student Life. Grading sanctions may be imposed for late exams at the discretion of the faculty member teaching the course.

Interrupted exams: Circumstances that require an interruption of the exam must be brought to the attention of the Office of Student Life.

Disability Accommodation Requests: Students requesting disability accommodations for exams are expected to register as early as possible and in any event prior to the exam period with the Disability Support Services (DSS) office (located in Room 190,McCannel Hall, 777-3425). Requests for other accommodations must be made through the Office of Student Life. A request for accommodations must be made as early as possible to allow sufficient time for processing the request and implementing any appropriate accommodations.

Failure to comply with the above procedures or exam instructions may constitute academic dishonesty or misconduct.

Adopted November 2005 – supersedes previous policies and procedures
Administratively updated October 15, 2010

2. Computer-Based Examination Policy

Students enrolled in courses in which the professor has decided to allow computer-based examinations may elect to take their examinations using laptop computers. Please note that not all courses in any given semester will offer a computer-based examination option.

Unless otherwise permitted by the professor, computer-based examinations require the use of specific computer examination software (“Examination Software”).*

Therefore, interested students must decide whether to pursue the computer-based examination option well in advance of the examination.

Students who indicate their intent to take an examination via laptop may, at any time, later elect not to take an examination on computer, but to be eligible to take a computer- based examination, students must:

1. Attend an orientation session to obtain all necessary information and policies regarding computer-based examinations (“Orientation Session”). Dates for Orientation Sessions will be determined and distributed by the Office of Student Life.

2. By the date specified in an Orientation Session, notify the Director of Admissions and Records of their intention to take specific examinations using a laptop computer and comply with all policies set forth in an Orientation Session.

3. As specified in an Orientation Session, register for, download, and install the Examination Software, and comply with any start-up requirements of the Examination Software (e.g., completion of a qualification examination).

Students are advised that they are solely responsible for any technical problems that may arise during an examination and that malfunctioning equipment, including (but not limited to) software problems, loss of power, and faulty hard drives, is not grounds for examination relief or additional time. In the event of any serious malfunction, students should complete the remainder of the examination in handwriting using standard bluebooks. The Examination Software automatically backs-up every minute; therefore,answers written prior to the malfunction should be recoverable from the computer's hard drive. As such, students taking examinations on computer must report to the examination room with writing implements (bluebooks will be provided).

On the day of the examination students must:

1. Bring a laptop with the Examination Software already installed, registered, and ready for use.

2. Bring a laptop power cord and charged battery pack.

3. Arrive at least twenty (20) minutes prior to the examination start time to set up the laptop.

4. Be prepared to hand write their answers in bluebooks if they experience problems with the Examination Software or their computer.

5. Upload their completed examination answers before leaving the examination room. If that is not possible, the student must immediately proceed to the Office of Student Life, obtain any necessary assistance, and upload or otherwise submit his or her completed examination answer, or in extraordinary circumstances make other appropriate arrangements for doing so, before leaving the law school building. Administrative penalties for violating this rule include a notation in the student’s file and/or suspension of Examination Software privileges. In addition, the faculty member teaching the course retains the discretion to impose non-administrative penalties.

Operating System Requirements

The Examination Software available at the time of this policy’s issuance runs on the Windows operating system. Windows 2000, XP, and Vista operating systems are compatible with the software. Updates on compatible software are issued by the Office of Student Life. Users with older Windows operating systems should consult with the Director of Admissions and Records.

Apple Macintosh Users

Users with Apple MacBook or MacBook Pro laptops can run Windows XP or Vista through Apple's Boot Camp software. Please note that the Examination Software does not provide support for the installation and configuration of Apple's Boot Camp. VirtualPC, Parallels or other similarly functioning virtualization/emulation software are not permitted as a means to run Windows for using the Examination Software.

Students Lacking the Requisite Technology

Students who wish to take an examination on a laptop but do not have the necessary hardware and/or software required by the Examination Software should contact the Director of Admissions and Records to determine what, if any, options are available to facilitate taking an examination on a laptop.

Adopted by the Faculty Committee October 12, 2007
Amended by the Faculty February 2010
Administratively updated October 15, 2010

* The inaugural Examination Software will be SofTest by ExamSoft.

3. Examination Rescheduling Policy

1. Students are responsible for taking all steps necessary to complete examinations as scheduled. As part of that responsibility, students must consider the examination schedule when choosing classes.

2. For good cause and with the approval of the Assistant Dean (defined as the Assistant Dean or, in his/her absence, a designated dean) a student’s examination may be rescheduled because of:

a. A bona fide emergency or unplanned event affecting the student, beyond his/her control, which makes it impossible or unduly burdensome to take the examination at the regularly scheduled time. Examples include but are not limited to a student’s illness or the illness or death of an immediate family member.

(1) If the emergency or unplanned event occurs before the examination starts, the student must initiate his/her rescheduling request by consulting with the Assistant Dean and completing the Final Examination Rescheduling Request Form at the earliest possible time after the emergency or event becomes known to the student. If the Assistant Dean determines that the examination should be rescheduled, s/he will reschedule it for a time after the regular examination.

(2) If the emergency or unplanned event occurs after the examination starts, any student wishing to stop the examination must go immediately to the Assistant Dean and request that the examination be rescheduled. The Assistant Dean will determine if continuing the exam is impossible or unduly burdensome. If the Assistant Dean determines that the examination should be rescheduled, s/he will reschedule it for a later time.

b. A planned event (such as National Guard or reserve military duty) which makes it impossible or unduly burdensome to take the examination at the regularly scheduled time. At the time of registration or as soon as known, the student shall submit to the Assistant Dean a Final Examination Rescheduling Request Form for permission to take the examination at other than the scheduled time. If the Assistant Dean determines that the examination should be rescheduled, s/he will reschedule it for a time after the regular examination.

3. Good cause for rescheduling an examination does not include having:

a. more than one examination scheduled for the same day
b. a number of examinations scheduled for successive days
c. an examination scheduled after graduation day
d. a final examination schedule that is too spread out
e. job or personal commitments
f. a wish to minimize, or problems with, commuting.

4. Students must not discuss rescheduling examinations with faculty members.

5. In all instances of rescheduling (whether in-class or take-home examinations), the Assistant Dean will inform the faculty member teaching the course of the fact that an examination has been rescheduled as soon as possible after the rescheduling decision has been made. The faculty member shall inform the Assistant Dean whether the regular examination should be continued or administered or whether a substitute examination will be provided. If the faculty member cannot be contacted or cannot supply a replacement examination within the time available, the regular examination will be administered. If a substitute examination is to be given, the faculty member should communicate any necessary instructions to the student through the Assistant Dean. Before permitting the student to take the rescheduled examination, the Assistant Dean will require an assurance from the student (ultimately to be in writing) that s/he has not discussed the examination with anyone else.

6. A rescheduled examination (or accommodation for extra time) must not take place more than one week after the end of the regular examination period unless good cause for the delay is shown to the Assistant Dean.

7. This policy will be read in conjunction with disability, English as a second language, and religious observance accommodations.

Adopted Administratively December 27, 1977
Updated September 5, 2002
Revised by the Faculty Committee March 28, 2008; Effective March 28, 2008

4. Grade Reporting Policy

1.    Anonymous Grading of Examinations.
As a general practice, examinations administered during the School of Law's examination period are graded anonymously. For these types of tests, examination grades must be submitted to the Director of Admissions & Records on forms that list only the examination numbers assigned to the students for that examination period. Each faculty member's syllabus should reflect whether and which examinations, assignments, or other components of the course grade will be graded non-anonymously.

2.    Timelines of Grade Reporting.
Examination grades must be submitted to the Director of Admissions & Records no later than thirty days following the last day of the scheduled examination period. Course grades must be submitted to the University Registrar within the thirty day deadline or no later than five days following the return to the faculty member of any additional information needed for calculation of the course grade, whichever is later. Extensions of these reporting deadlines may be granted by the Dean for good cause in extraordinary circumstances.

3.    Processing Non-Anonymous Course Grade Components.
Faculty members giving anonymous examinations who wish to include non-anonymous grading components in calculating course grades must determine those non-anonymous grade adjustments before receiving the names of their students (unless the faculty member notifies students that this adjustment will be done non-anonymously). The Director of Admissions & Records will consult with the faculty member to determine course grades while maintaining anonymity of examination grades, and as soon as feasible, give the faculty member a grade report showing both examination and course grades so that the faculty member can submit the course grades within the pertinent deadlines established in paragraph 2. As part of this process, faculty members should give the Director of Admissions & Records a copy of the pertinent section of his or her syllabus relating to the adjustment.

Enacted by the Faculty Committee on October 27, 2006; effective January 1, 2007

* For information on final exam policies for Students with Disabilities please refer to:
Section IV. General Policies, A. Students With Disabilities