Assistant Dean Sowle’s Announcements, August 16 - August 20, 2021
General Announcements:
COVID-19 Policies and Procedures for Fall 2021. The Law School's current policies and procedures for addressing the pandemic are available by clicking here. If you have any questions, please email me at ssowle@kentlaw.iit.edu.
To Entering Students:
Welcome to Chicago-Kent! For those of you starting your first year, you chose a terrific law school and we are pleased that you are joining our community. You have an exciting several years ahead of you.
What My Office Does. In my capacity as Assistant Dean for Academic Administration and Student Affairs, I have responsibility for a number of areas that affect your life as a student. I supervise the Registrar's office on scheduling your courses, administering your exams, and maintaining your academic records. I'm also in charge of academic and personal counseling of students, and applying the school's academic regulations. More generally, my job is to make sure that your life at the Law School remains as free from administrative hassles as possible. If you think I can be of help, please call me at (312) 906-5282 or e-mail me (ssowle@kentlaw.iit.edu). If I'm not the right person to help you, I should be able to point you in the right direction.
To Continuing Students:
Welcome Back! I hope you had an enjoyable summer and that you have a successful and productive year. If you hve any questions, please email me at ssowle@kentlaw.iit.edu.
Fall 2021 Semester Information. The Fall 2021 Quick Guide page has most of the information you will need in advance of the start of the Fall semester, or go to the Current Students Portal page and click on the Fall 2021 Quick Guide link under "Academics."
•Initial Reading Assignments. Initial assignments are now available on the Fall 2021 Quick Guide page. Not all professors submit initial assignments, so do not be concerned if there is no listing for one or more of your Fall courses. Even if a course is not listed here, materials for the course should be available in the Bookstore (now located on the third floor). Initial reading assignments for first-year courses are not included in this list.
•Add/Drop Period. The add/drop period for Fall 2021 ends on Wednesday, September 8, at 9:00pm. You may add an open course without special permission until the end of the first week of 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, September 8, at 9:00pm.
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 Section 3.10(c) of the Student Handbook). There is no tuition penalty if you drop a course by the add/drop deadline of Wednesday, September 8, at 9:00pm. You will not receive a tuition refund, however, if you drop a course after that date.
•Revised Schedule of Classes. The final Fall 2021 class schedule is available on the Fall 2021 Quick Guide page by clicking here, or by going to the Current Students Portal page and clicking on the Fall 2021 Quick Guide link.
•Canceled Classes. The following classes have been canceled due to low enrollment:
-Entrepreneurial Law Clinic
-Legal Writing 4 (432-81 section, Prof. Strzynski)
-Litigation Technology (254-51).
•Other Changes to Fall Schedule. Please note the following changes:
-Bankruptcy (Prof. Mason): some class sessions will be held online.
-Criminal Procedure: Investigative Process (day section, Prof. Bailey): this class will be taught online.
-Legal Writing 3 (431-01 section, Prof. Nawrocki): this section will be taught online.
-Professional Responsibility (Prof. Gross): this class will be taught online.
•Wait Lists. Although we normally do not keep wait lists, we are keeping them for: Prof. Heyman's section of Constitutional Law section; Business Entity Formation and Transactions; Mediation; and Pretrial Litigation. If you were not admitted into any of these classes at the end of the initial registration period, you are automatically on the wait list. If you did not try registering for the class during the initial registration period, but would like to be added to the wait list, please email me at ssowle@kentlaw.iit.edu.
•Exam Information. Information about exams -- which exams will be fixed, self-scheduled, and take-home, and the dates of fixed exams -- will be provided before the end of the Fall add/drop period. We anticipate that exams in most upper-level courses will be self-scheduled or take-home.
•Graduating Students: Reduced Loads and Tuition Discounts. J.D. students graduating at the end of the Fall 2021 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 Fall 2021 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 Wednesday, September 8. Important note: Financial aid is not available for any courses you take that are not necessary for you to reach the required 87 credits.
•Consortium Arrangement: Chicago-Kent has a consortium arrangement with certain other Chicago law schools under which students can take selected courses at the other schools. Under the consortium arrangement, students pay tuition to their home school, and grades transfer (not just the credits) and are counted in your GPA. Courses offered to Chicago-Kent students for Fall 2021 are posted on the Fall 2021 Quick Guide page.
•Pass/Fail Policies. Certain upper-level electives may be taken pass/fail, subject to the limitations described below; required courses, however, may not be taken pass/fail. To sign up for a course pass/fail, go to the local Web for Students page, click on "Take Class Pass/Fail," and submit your selection. (NOTE: The form is not yet online; it should be available shortly.) The Registrar's Office will review your request and inform you if there is any problem with your request.
Although there is no overall limit on pass/fail credits, there are two types of limits to the pass/fail credits you can take:
(1) Pass/fail election: Students may elect up to 6 credits pass/fail during their entire time at Chicago-Kent. This pass/fail election applies to upper-level elective courses that normally are letter-graded; classes that are only offered pass/fail do not count toward this 6-credit limit. The following classes may not be elected pass/fail: (1) required courses, including any course taken to satisfy the Professional Responsibility graduation requirement; (2) seminars, whether or not being taken to fulfill the graduation seminar requirement; (3) courses that have been designated by instructors as ineligible for the pass/fail election (these courses are indicated on each semester’s schedule of classes); (4) Financial Services LL.M. courses; (5) Trial Advocacy and Appellate Advocacy courses; and (7) courses taken to fulfill the requirements of any certificate program. Fall pass/fail registration will open shortly before the start of the Fall semester (keep your eye on my section of the Record). A student taking a course on a pass/fail basis must earn at least a C to receive a P (Pass). If you pass the course but fail to earn at least a C, you will receive a grade of LP (Low Pass).
(2) Clinic limitation: You may take no more than 24 credit hours toward graduation for the following courses combined: in-house clinical courses, externships, and Business Entity Formation & Transactions. (Students in the Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Program (LADR) and the Criminal Litigation Program are exempt from this limitation.)
•Experiential Course Requirement. Students must complete a total of six credits from an approved list of experiential courses (click here for the list). Most students will already satisfy four of these credits through the required sequence of Legal Writing 3 and Legal Writing 4. However, students who opt for the Legal Writing 4 Equivalency Class (see below) should consult the list of approved courses to determine whether the qualifying activity counts toward the experiential requirement. Law Review does not count toward the requirement.
•64-Credit Classroom Course Requirement. At least 64 of the 87 credits required for graduation must be in courses that require attendance in regularly scheduled classroom sessions or direct faculty instruction. Clinical coursework counts toward the 64-credit requirement, but externships, extracurricular activities (including credits earned for participation in a law journal, moot court competitions, trial advocacy competitions, or as a Teaching Assistant), and courses taken in another academic unit (e.g., the Stuart School of Business) do not count toward the 64 credits.
•Applications for Graduation. J.D. students who plan on graduating at the end of the Fall semester must submit an online Application for Graduation form no later than Wednesday, September 8, at 9:00pm. To complete the form, go to your Web for Students page and click on "Application for Graduation" under "Online Forms." 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.
Academic Calendar for 2021-2022. The academic calendar for 2021-2022 is available by clicking here.
Spring 2021 GPAs, Class Ranks, and GPA Cut-Offs. Cumulative GPAs through the Spring 2021 semester, and Spring 2021 class ranks for J.D. students, are available through Web for Students (click on the "Spring 2021" link under "Grades and Rank" in the leftside menu). Students who graduated in the Fall or last Summer will find their final class rank under the Fall 2020 or Summer 2020 links. Class ranks are based on cumulative (not just Spring semester) GPA. The GPA cut-offs as of the end of the Spring 2021 semester are available by clicking here. For J.D. students who just graduated, this information constitutes your final GPA and class rank.
For students who completed their first year in Spring 2021, 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 using an alternate GPA calculation 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.
For J.D. 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.
Spring 2021 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 2021 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 heard from the professor. Congratulations to all of you who received an award -- you should be proud of your achievement.
Counseling Services. This is a reminder that the university provides counseling services free of charge for students. Click here for details on the available resources, including individual counseling through Skylight Counseling Services. In addition to resources available through the university, the Lawyers Assistance Program also provides assistance to law students. LAP provides free and confidential assistance to members of the Illinois legal community, including students, and can help you with issues of addiction, stress, anxiety, depression, focusing, worries about the character and fitness process, and having a successful first-year transition. Click here for more information about LAP and the services it provides.