Student Handbook Update
To: All College of Law Students
From: Carin Crain, Associate Dean of Students
Re: Update of Student Handbook
Date: November 5, 2009
With course registration and final examinations approaching, it would be a good idea to take a look at the College’s Student Handbook. It is available online at http://www.law.uiowa.edu/students/handbook.php. Although most of the content remains the same, I have enhanced some sections and removed some information that no longer seemed relevant or was available on the College of Law’s website. This memo highlights the changes.
The biggest change to the Handbook is organization. The Handbook has been reorganized into numbered sections and subsections for greater ease of use. It is now organized into sections on Registration, Examinations, Graduation Requirements, Academics, University and Building Polices, Emergency Information, Student Services and Support, Organizations and Activities, and an Appendix including the College’s writing requirements, Policy on Accommodating Students with Disabilities and Polices on Academic and Non-Academic Misconduct.
I have removed other items from the Handbook because the information is either outdated or available at another location, such as the website. The following information no longer appears in the Handbook:
Guide to courses, available at http://www.law.uiowa.edu/academics;
- Focused study, curriculum by subject area, and unique opportunities for courses of study, available at http://www.law.uiowa.edu/academics;
- Alumni and Iowa Law School Foundation, available at http://www.uifoundation.org/law/;
- Bar examination and admission information, available at http://www.law.uiowa.edu/careers/barexam.php;
- Iowa City-things to do;
- Mail; and
- Telephones.
A couple of the policies have also been rewritten. In September, each of you received a copy of the updated Policy on Accommodating Students with Disabilities. This policy is also located in the appendix to the Handbook.
I have also reformatted and expanded the examination policy to include administrative policies. The following list summarizes the additions by subsection heading:
- Anonymous grading: describes the anonymous grading process in greater detail.
- Laptop test taking: discusses permissible use of ExamSoft test taking software.
- Examination times, locations, and procedures: lists times of examinations and procedures for dealing with computer malfunctions.
- Scheduled absences from examinations: includes the policy for rescheduling examinations in the event of a conflict with a religious holiday and the procedure for petitioning to reschedule examinations for other scheduled events.
- Make-up examinations: states that students who will be taking make-up examinations are forbidden from discussing the examinations with anyone prior to completion.
- Missed examinations: states the consequences of missing an examination.
- Materials permitted during an examination: specifically lists the materials allowed for closed-book, partial-open-book, and open-book examinations.
- Communication prohibited: disallows communications between students about an examination during an examination.
- Late arrival to an examination: states that no extra time is given to late arrivals unless the instructor expressly permits.
- Academic misconduct: encourages students to report examination related misconduct.
- Departure from the examination room: outlines guidelines for students leaving the room during an examination, both for breaks and when finished with the examination, and generally discourages departures because they disrupt other examination takers.
- Failure to return examination materials: calls for students to return examination materials before leaving the exam room.
Other minor changes include rewriting or renaming sections. For example, the copy center section has been rewritten and the co-curricular limitations section was renamed the co-curricular credit hours rule.
If you have any questions, please contact Rene Arps in the Deans’ suite to schedule an appointment with me.
Depositon Practice class for spring will not be offered
The Deposition Practice class that was listed in the intersession and registration packet that you just received in your student mailboxes has been cancelled for the spring semester. We are sorry for the late notice.
3L Orientation – November 12
On November12, Dean Crain will conduct an informational meeting for 3Ls. Topics covered will include graduation requirements, bar exam information, Career Services Office assistance after graduation, financial aid requirements, Graduation Ceremony Committee, etc. The meeting will take place at 4 p.m. in Room 295. Pizza will be provided. Please RSVP to rene-arps@uiowa.edu by Nov. 11.
Upper class students–deadline to apply for the January/March intersession courses is Thursday, Nov. 11
You can find the handout for the January and March intersession classes at http://www.law.uiowa.edu/students/courses/ A copy of this was also placed in each students mail folder.
If you are interested in taking anyof the intersession courses, you must submit the lottery forms at the end of this document by Thursday, November 11, 4:00 p.m. The intersession courses in January and March must be added to your spring registration. Reminder, if you are taking 12 hours of credit in the spring semester, there is no additional tuition charge for these classes.
L1 deadline to turn in registration elective sheet is Friday, Nov. 6
Don’t forget to turn in your 1st year elective preference sheet by Friday, 4:30 p.m., Nov 6 to the administrative suite. You may revise your preference up until the deadline as well.
Summer 2010 Janet D. Steiger Fellowship Project
The American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law will offer 2010 summer fellowships to 20 L1 and L2 law students. The fellowships are for a minimum of eight weeks in the consumer protection department of the participating State Attorneys General in states such as Florida, New York, California, Texas and Kansas. Each selected student receives a $5,000 stipend for the summer and a housing/travel allowance. Applications will be accepted from November 15 to February 5, 2010. The application form is available at www.abanet.org/antitrust.
McAndrews, Held & Mallow, Ltd. Fellowship
Each year McAndrews, Held & Mallow, Ltd. offers a $5,000 fellowship and a paid summer clerkship to a qualified first-year law student who has a diverse background, possesses a degree in science or engineering, and is committed to pursuing a career in patent law in Chicago. As a summer associate, the fellow will gain experience in a wide range of intellectual property law and will be eligible to receive an offer to return for a second summer. Applications will be accepted from December 1 through January 15, 2010. More details can be found at www.mcandrews-ip.com.
Section of Litigation Judicial Intern Opportunity Program
The American Bar Association Section of Litigation will begin accepting applications for its Summer 2010 Judicial Intern Opportunity Program on December 1 for first-year law students. The program is a full-time, six-week minimum summer internship program open to all minority and disadvantaged law students. Participating judges are located in Illinois, Texas, Miami, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Students may choose geographic location and law interest on the application. Interns will receive an award of $1,500. Additional informatin and application are available at www.abanet.org/litigation/jiop. Application deadline is December 31.
Child Care Programs for Students
FREE Finals Child Care Study Program – Two Weekends Prior to Finals
Prior registration required: http://www.uiowa.edu/hr/famserv/childcare/index.html#exams. Service is based on first come first serve basis.
| Dates & Times | Saturdays, December 5 & December 12 | 10:00 am to 5:00 pm |
| Sundays, December 6 & December 13 | 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm | |
| Location | Little Angels Learning Center Child Care Program, one block from campus | 335-1371/3341-9757 |
| Children Served | Infancy through school-age. |
13 Child Care (centers) Programs On and Near campus
For a listing of centers, see http://www.uiowa.edu/hr/famserv/childcare/index.html#currentprog
Many of the centers have openings: http://www.uiowa.edu/hr/famserv/childcare/index.html#partners
Well Back-up and Mildly Ill Child Care plus UI Students Wanting To Do Babysitting
A program to help when your usual child care arrangements are disrupted.
- Back-up Care – A professional child care service. http://www.uiowa.edu/hr/famserv/childcare/index.html#backup
- Babysitting – Over 70 UI students interested in doing babysitting. http://www.iowa4cs.com/parents/occasionalcare
For information on all of the above plus other programs, see http://www.uiowa.edu/hr/famserv/index.html or contact Jane Holland at familyservices@uiowa.edu or 335-1371.
AAP Exam Planning Calendars Available
Exam planning calendars are now available outside the AAP office (Room 189). These calendars conveniently show the period from November 8 to December 19 on one page and are extremely useful for planning out reading, outlining, studying, and other tasks in the busy weeks to come. Feel free to contact Brian at 335-8273 or brian-r-farrell@uiowa.edu for advice on time management.