Assistant Dean Sowle’s Announcements, January 31 - February 4, 2022
COVID-19 Policies and Procedures for Spring 2022. The Law School's current policies and procedures for addressing the pandemic. If you have any questions, please email me at ssowle@kentlaw.iit.edu.
Fall 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 winners for Fall 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 yet heard from the professor. Congratulations to all of you who received an award -- you should be proud of your achievement.
Fall 2021 GPAs and Class Ranks. Cumulative GPAs through the Fall 2021 semester, and class ranks for upper-level J.D. students, are available through Web for Students (click on the "Fall 2021" link under "Grades and Rank." Please note: Class ranks are published only for students who have been at Chicago-Kent for at least two semesters. First-year students, and students who transferred into Chicago-Kent at the start of the Fall 2021 semester, will receive their first class ranks at the end of the Spring 2022 semester. LL.M. students do not receive class ranks. The GPA cut-offs as of the end of the Fall 2021 semester.
Spring 2022 Semester Information.
•Revised Spring Schedule. The revised schedule includes classroom assignments and exam information. In addition, please click here for a list of all changes since the original schedule was issued last month.
•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 1. To complete the form, go to Web for Students at 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 contact the Registrar's Office at regq@kentlaw.iit.edu.
•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 1, 5:00pm.
You may withdraw from any course except a required course, a clinical course, Law Review, Moot Court, or an intersession class 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 1, 5:00pm.
•Pass/Fail Elections. Pass/fail elections for the Spring semester must be made online no later than Tuesday, February 1, 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:
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Log into Web for Students.
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Select the "Take Class Pass/Fail" option under the "Online Forms" heading
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Select the course you would like to take on a pass/fail basis
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Submit your selection
The Registrar's Office will review your request and inform you if there is any problem with your request.
•Classrooms for Remote Use. We have reserved rooms at the Law School for you to use if you won't have sufficient time to travel from home to school (or vice versa) in between your remote class and an on-site class you have the same day. These rooms will remain the same throughout the semester. Click here for the list (by course). Please note: You will each connect to class individually in Zoom and should have earphones or headphones with you.
•Legal Writing 4 Equivalency Class. Students this semester who take Criminal Litigation 2 or are doing a Judicial Externship in the Spring semester may satisfy the Legal Writing 4 requirement either by taking a regular Legal Writing 4 class, or by taking the Legal Writing 4 Equivalency Class (0 credits) this semester. Important note: You must register for the Legal Writing 4 Equivalency Class this semester (listed on page 2 of the Schedule of Classes), in addition to participating in the qualifying course or activity, in order to place out of taking a regular Legal Writing 4 class -- it is not sufficient just to participate in the qualifying course or activity. The Equivalency Class must be taken in the same semester as the course or activity that qualifies you to take the Equivalency Class -- you may not defer the Equivalency Class to a later semester.
•Academic Calendar for Spring 2022. The academic calendar is available here.
•Graduating Students: Reduced Loads and Tuition Discounts. J.D. students graduating at the end of the Spring semester who need fewer than the minimum number of hours to graduate may take fewer credits without special permission. Taking a reduced load may affect your eligibility for financial aid; please contact the Financial Aid Office if you have questions about this.
In addition, if you will be graduating at the end of the Spring semester, and you 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 Tuesday, February 1, and I will arrange for the credit to be applied to your account. Please note: Financial aid is not available for any courses you take that are not necessary for you to reach the required 87 credits.
•Experiential Course Requirement. All J.D. students are required to 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 page 2 of the schedule for information about Legal Writing 4 Equivalency) 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.
Building and Library Hours. The building and library hours for Spring 2022, starting Monday, January 24, are available by clicking here.
Public Safety Escort Service. In the evening hours, a Public Safety officer will be available to provide a walking escort for those with concerns about their personal safety. This service applies to any location within a two block radius of the Conviser Law Center, including Union Station and many adjacent parking locations. Please see the officer(s) on duty at the front desk, or call the Public Safety number, 312-906-5030.
Legal Writing Ethics Guidelines. This is a reminder that the Chicago-Kent Legal Writing Ethics Guidelines apply to all Chicago-Kent students and all courses, 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.
Dean's Certificates for February 2022 Illinois Bar Exam. We will mail a Dean's Certification form to the Illinois bar examiners for every Fall J.D. graduate prior to the deadline later this month. We compile the list of graduating students from the list of those who submitted Applications for Graduation listing Fall 2021 as their final semester. Important note: University policy does not allow the certification of any student to the bar examiners if the student has an outstanding balance owed to the school.
July 2022 Illinois Bar Applications. Applications for the July 2022 Illinois bar exam are due by February 15, 2022. You may file a late application up to May 15, but penalty fees apply. The forms and instructions are available on the bar examiners' web site: www.ilbaradmissions.org. 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 “Certification of Juris Doctorate” 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.
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 (by email to regq@kentlaw.iit.edu).
MPRE: Registration Information for 2022 Test Dates. The Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) is required for admission to the bars of most jurisdictions, including Illinois. Students planning on taking the Illinois bar exam may take the MPRE at any time during or after law school. Click here for a list of 2022 test dates and deadlines for applying. The first 2022 test administration is March 23 or 24, with an application deadline of January 21, 2022.
Employment Limitation. Subject to the limitation for full-time first-year students mentioned just below, students may work more than 20 hours a week if they take 13 or fewer credits in a regular semester (Fall or Spring). Students are prohibited from working more than 20 hours a week if they take 14 or more credits.
Full-time first-year students are prohibIted from working more than 20 hours a week even if they take 13 or fewer credits (e.g., full-time summer-start students, who take only 13 credits in the Fall, are still limited to working no more than 20 hours a week).
Academic Counseling. I am available for counseling about course selection, certificate programs, bar preparation, academic rules and regulations, and other academic matters. If you are interested in a particular area of law, I can also arrange for you to meet with a faculty member who specializes in that area. You may contact me by email (ssowle@kentlaw.iit.edu) or by phone at (312) 906-5282.
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.
FERPA Rights and Notification of Access to Education Records. The Student Handbook outlines student rights and responsibitilies regarding access to educational records. Please review sections 14.4 and 14.5, which are available by clicking here. Please pay particular attention to section 14.5, which lists the types of information that Chicago-Kent classifies as "directory information" (which Chicago-Kent may release at its discretion) and the information published in the online Student Directory (available only to members of the Chicago-Kent community). Section 14.5 also explains how you may request that directory information, including the information published in the Student Directory, not be published or released.
IIT Political Activity Policy. (From the IIT General Counsel's Office:) As a tax-exempt entity, IIT is legally prohibited from directly or indirectly participating or intervening in any campaign of behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for elective office and has an affirmative 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. To this end, an individual should not identify himself or herself as an employee of IIT, and if he or she is identified as such, he or she should, prior to any speech or as part of any writing, indicate that his or her 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 to participate or intervene in 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 IIT 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 the IIT General Counsel's office at 312.567.8821.