NEXT: Read COVID-19 UPDATE FAQ #2 from March 30, 2020., , What is RWU Law doing to deal with the COVID-19 crisis?, In what seems like the blink of an eye, we have gone from enjoying Spring Break to being in the middle of a worldwide public health crisis. Like law school communities across the country, RWU Law is preparing to deliver course content and support services to our students remotely. Please be assured that we are doing and will continue to do our best to get you through this semester by creating, the safest learning environment possible, . This was our implicit promise to you when you chose RWU Law, and circumstances have now made that promise explicit: our first priority is safe and effective teaching and learning., What is the timeline for the remainder of the semester?, We are going remote with instruction and all support services effective Monday, March 23. Law classes and exams will remain remote for the remainder of the semester. Students cannot and will not be coming to the law school until Monday, April 20, at the earliest (we’ll let you know for certain by Monday, April 13). Even if we are able to invite you back for the 20th – and we hope we can –…, How has RWU Law prepared for online classes?, Certainly when we began the semester, neither students nor faculty were planning a sudden move to online instruction. So this is a big transition, but we are all committed to getting it right – not just in terms of academic classes, but also support services and extracurriculars such as student groups – all with the goal of actively maintaining our vibrant law school community. Professors have…, How should I prepare for online learning?, Professor Kathy Thompson and the Academic Support team, which includes Brittany Raposa and writing specialist Justin Kishbaugh , are putting together resources to help students transition to online learning. They will be available by email and on meeting platforms, both individually and in groups, to provide the support that you need. Professor Thompson’s RAs and TAs will also remain available to…, What if I need additional help?, Professor Thompson ’s team will continue to work with individual students through the Academic Success Program but will also be expanding that assistance to any students having difficulty or needing extra support in transitioning to online learning. Students with unique concerns should contact Dean Lalli , Dean Goldstein or Professor Thompson, especially if academic or personal accommodations are…, What should I do if I have financial concerns?, If you’re facing additional, unanticipated expenses related to the current healthcare crisis or the transition to online learning, you should contact Tina Bacon or Kate Politano in the Financial Aid office. They will be working with RWU Law administrators to identify and address individual concerns., How do I find out more about my individual classes?, Professors will communicate directly with students in their courses on how to access the course, their instruction plan, and how they will keep office hours or otherwise communicate with students. Some classes will be conducted through one platform and others through another (primarily Zoom and the Meetings tool within Bridges )., How will class and exam schedules be impacted?, Just as all classes will be held online, all exams will also be administered online. How this will play out in practice is currently being discussed. For example, all exams will probably be open book. We will also be working hard to arrive at a fair set of grading policies, as we recognize that we’re operating in very unusual circumstances., Will attendance be taken in online classes? What if I miss an online class?, We anticipate that faculty will be taking attendance for live classes – which can be done electronically – so please let your professors know if you are unable to attend as scheduled. We want to know that you’re out there, that you’re okay, that you’re still listening and learning and getting your money’s worth, and that you’re still a part of our law school community. We understand that some…, I don’t have my textbooks. What should I do?, Students who need ebook versions of their texts should consult the "Obtaining Access to Books" tab in the Law Library's Guide for Remote Learning . You will be able to obtain the majority of books without library mediation. , Are other School of Law services still available?, All offices are open for business and are operating remotely , from Financial Aid , to Career Services , to Academic Support . Please reach out with your questions. Students who need to contact the Law Library should use this email for fastest service., Will we still go forward with Commencement?, We are committed to Commencement ceremonies for the graduating class. If we get the all-clear for April 20, as noted above, then Commencement will likely proceed as scheduled . If we don’t, we may have to push it back a bit. But it, will, happen, and it, will, be fun, we promise. We will communicate an update as soon as information becomes available., How can I be sure that I’ve completed all my graduation requirements?, We are committed to helping all 3Ls graduate, which includes reviewing and revisiting all graduation requirements (such as the pro bono requirement). If we must adjust graduation requirements due to the circumstances, then we will do that. We’re in communication with other law schools and with the ABA to be sure that any decisions we make are consistent with best practices, and that we are…, Are summer classes still going to happen?, We anticipate that all summer classes will move forward on schedule. However, registration has been pushed back to Monday, March 30., Will 2020 Summer Stipends still be available?, Yes. However, in order to address current challenges being faced by students, we have made the following changes: (1) If you have already secured a public interest internship for the summer but have not yet submitted your stipend application, please do so by Sunday, March 22, at 11:59 p.m. Apply through Symplicity, job posting #8339. The Stipend Committee will review these applications and will…, Am I entitled to a refund?, We are not issuing tuition refunds or discounting; we are committed to fulfilling our obligation to you. However, students unable to complete the semester should contact Deans Lalli or Goldstein regarding our Leave of Absence policy, which may be adjusted under special circumstances. Also, we will be issuing prorated refunds or credits for parking (more details about this later )., How will COVID-19 impact bar exams?, Brittany Raposa will be gathering information about the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on bar exams and bar applications, and she will send updates as information becomes available between now and July, assuming that the exams are administered as scheduled.
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PREVIOUS: Read COVID-19 FAQ #1 from March 20, 2020., “Hi everyone. I hope you’re all doing well. We really miss you. I’ve got to say, the thing that that is really striking – in talking to other faculty and to staff through meetings that we’ve been having remotely – is how much we miss the students. We miss having you in class, miss seeing you day to day. It was great being able to see members of my Con Law class today. But it’s of course not the…, So we really want to make sure that everyone is doing okay and that any issues that you’re having, please get in touch with, me, or, Dean Yelnosky, or Dean Lalli , or with any of your professors, because we’re determined to continue fulfilling our mission as a law school. We really care about our students. We want to make sure that everything is okay with you and that you are health and well. And to the extent that we can, that’s what we’re trying to do. Stay well and thank you for your patience and your hard work. It turns out there’s no…, ~, Professor Jared A. Goldstein, , Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Virtual Town Hall Meeting, Thursday, March 26, 2020, “I encourage you to respond to the survey instruments that Dean Yelnosky has shared with you via email. It’s helpful in that it gathers all your comments and feedback into one place. This is important, especially considering that we share these documents with our faculty to help them prepare for some of the decisions they’ll be making. And certainly, if you as students are experiencing any…, be in touch with me, .”, ~, Lorraine Lalli, , Assistant Dean of Students, Virtual Town Hall Meeting, Thursday, March 26, 2020, ========================================, Will the RWU Law campus reopen this semester?, It is now official that campus will remain closed for the duration of the spring semester. As of 6:00 p.m. on Friday, March 27, the building was locked, and it is now inaccessible. If there is some unique circumstance and you need to retrieve something from the building, please contact Dean Lalli ., How are online classes working out so far?, Online classes, as you know, began on Monday, March 23, and – although the new format will definitely take some getting used to – the experience has been technically quite good. There have been a few audio and video problems, but they seem to be anomalous. The RWU Law administration and staff is working with the faculty to continually improve the online class experience. (If you experience any…, How will grading be handled?, The faculty overwhelmingly adopted a change to our grading process for this semester, under which all classes will be graded on a pass/fail basis. This standard will apply to all courses, including clinics. This decision means that there will be no change in the cumulative GPA of any student based on spring grades., Why didn’t you allow students to choose grades or pass/fail?, We appreciate that there are those of you who – for various and quite legitimate reasons – would greatly prefer to receive grades for the spring semester. However, we were concerned that those grades could also reflect, in ways that we could not predict, a number of inequitable circumstances that ultimately led us away from applying our ordinary grading policy. The faculty is continuing to…, What was your rationale for choosing pass/fail grading?, We looked closely at and considered: (a) what other schools are doing; (b) the results of the survey instrument Dean Yelnosky sent to students last weekend; and (c) other messages received from students by members of the faculty. The faculty engaged in vigorous discussions via email. A brief summary will undoubtedly not capture all the nuances, but broadly, the following factors played a role:, Equity., Not all of our students are similarly situated in their ability to transition successfully to online learning. Much of this inequity is caused by circumstances beyond their control (such as economic, health, family, housing, and other challenges). Since we first began to take steps to respond to the pandemic, the physical and mental health of all of our students has been our first priority, and…, COVID-19 Circumstances., We also considered the possibility that faculty or staff may themselves become ill or need to care for ill family members in late April or May, and we tried to make a plan that would allow us to ensure that students could be evaluated at the end of the term even if there were faculty or staff unable to complete the ordinary grading process., Student Preferences., A supermajority of the 400 responses to our student survey (70%) answered “Yes” to the question of whether they preferred some alternative to the ordinary grading policy for spring 2020. The faculty discussed at length their concerns about whether a mandatory pass/fail system would not give students sufficient incentive to do their best work. However, ultimately most felt that concern was less…, Best Practices., The faculty were aware that a plurality of law schools across the country (26 at the time of their decision) had adopted a mandatory pass/fail grading system for Spring 2020. Since their decision, another 10 law schools have moved to mandatory pass/fail for this semester. , How will the graduation writing requirement be affected by this decision?, For those of you who are working in seminars or through directed research to satisfy your graduation writing requirement, the policy requiring that the paper must be of a minimum quality to earn a C grade will still apply. Any paper that would have received at least a C will satisfy the writing requirement, and the student’s transcript will display a “pass” for the seminar or directed research., What will be the basis for determining pass/fail in a course?, The standard for passing remains the same: that is, a pass under the grading system is any grade above D-, and a fail is anything below that. There is no curve that will prohibit faculty from giving passes to all students if the work that they see merits that., How will Law Review and Moot Court membership be determined in these circumstances?, There are conversations underway with the leadership of moot court. These talks are pretty far along and contemplate running something like a mini-moot competition for selection to moot court. However, details have not yet been finalized. Law Review will most likely do something similar, probably administering the writing competition remotely., How will we explain this to potential employers?, Employers will understand that these are very unusual circumstances, and not unique to RWU Law. Every law school in the country has shifted to remote learning this semester. Many of them have also adopted a pass/fail system this semester, so that will not be an anomaly either. The country is going through a crisis that has affected education in a variety of ways, and having a pass/fail on your…, How will the pass/fail decision impact 1Ls hoping to matriculate into the Honors Program?, This is still under discussion., How will the pass/fail decision be affected by ABA rules requiring a certain number of letter grades?, The ABA has made it clear to RWU Law and to all American law schools that they are willing to waive many of their regulatory requirements under the present circumstances. RWU Law has also lifted its own limitation on pass-fail grades to accommodate the situation., I need special accommodations for my final exams. How should I proceed?, Requests for academic accommodations are still being received. Typically, there is a 30-day deadline for accommodation requests; however, we are attempting to be as liberal and flexible as possible. If you have not yet reached out, please contact Dean Lalli as soon as possible. Students who have already been granted non-standard testing accommodations will soon be receiving further information by…, Will all exams be open-book and done online at home? Will they still be three-hour exams, or are extensions possible?, Yes, all exams will be taken remotely. They will all be open-book and open-note. Time will almost certainly be extended, not just for those students who request accommodations but for any number of reasons (for example, bad Wi-Fi, using a shared computer, or other reasons). We recognize that these exams will have to be administered with compassion, and that not all students will be able to take a…, Will exams be graded or scored?, Every faculty member will decide how to administer their exams and how to grade them. Faculty members will still, of course, view final exams as an opportunity to give you feedback, in addition to the binary choice of Pass or Fail. And as with all assessments, you should be hearing from them in one way or another about where you did well and how your performance could have been better. Your…, What if I need additional academic support to make the most of online learning?, The Academic Success office is up and running, so you should continue to take advantage of its resources. If you have questions, contact Professor Thompson or Brittany Raposa by email. Also, Professor Kishbaugh is having open-door meetings to work with students around their writing. Every student has also been added to a Bridges class , where the Academic Success department is sharing additional…, National Jurist, ’s “Coronavirus Survival Guide” ; a PDF version is here ., I can’t complete this semester and I want to take a leave of absence. Can this be arranged?, Dean Lalli and Dean Goldstein stand ready to discuss the possibility of a leave of absence, if find that you are unable to complete this semester. We are currently making modifications to the leave of absence policy , which will be more favorable than it would otherwise be to students, on account of the extreme circumstances., I am running into financial difficulties. What should I do?, RWU Law has established the COVID-19 Emergency Fund to help students facing unexpected emergencies due to the pandemic. The law school is committed to helping students facing food Insecurity, loss of income due to the pandemic, emergency travel needs, and other challenges that could impact academic success. If you are facing financial difficulties due to the pandemic, please fill out the…, by clicking here , and we will do our best to assist you during this time. We are grateful for the generous contributions of SBA, faculty, staff, and administrators to help members of our community succeed during this difficult time. If you would like to donate to the RWU Law COVID-19 Emergency Fund, please contact Kathy Massa , Assistant Dean of Business Affairs. The City of Providence has compiled a useful guide…, Are my student groups still active?, Dean Lalli and SBA President Kelvin Santos met recently to discuss the impact of the pandemic on student groups, and how RWU Law can continue to support student groups. There will be a email communication on this soon. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate if you want to plan virtual events or get-togethers., Will there be a commencement ceremony?, No final decision has yet been reached about commencement. This delay is due largely to a reluctance among RWU Law’s faculty and administration to give up on it until we absolutely have to. But whatever the outcome, we are committed to letting you know before April 13, to ensure that you and your families will have time to plan. , If commencement is cancelled, what happens then?, An in-person commencement would not be cancelled; it would, more accurately, be postponed. RWU Law is committed to having some sort of live commencement ceremony at some point in the future. Exactly when, it is too soon to predict. But in case it turns out that an in-person ceremony is delayed for any significant period of time, we are also looking into the possibility of a virtual ceremony in…, Are summer classes still going to happen?, Yes. Summer registration starts on Monday, March 30, and should proceed as normally as possible under the unusual circumstances. We’ve updated the summer schedule and added several new courses. You can find the updated schedule here . The staff of Student Finance & Records is available for any questions you may have about registration., Will summer classes be online or in person?, A few courses are already listed on the summer schedule as being online. This means that they will be held online regardless of whether we have returned to in-person classes. It is, of course, possible that we won’t have returned to in-person classes before the summer semester starts, in which case all courses listed on the summer schedule will be provided online (at least initially, until we’re…, Will I be able to get into the classes I need? , Summer classes have usually been held in Providence in the evening, for convenience, since a lot of students generally work there. This summer, by contrast, we may end up moving some classes back to Bristol, which will have the effect of raising the caps in those classes since we have bigger rooms in Bristol. And some courses may be offered during the day. We hope this will provide enough spots…, Will summer classes also be pass/fail?, No. At present, we anticipate that summer classes will proceed as normal, under a graded system., Because many students have lost their internships due to the pandemic, will scholarships be extended into summer classes for full-time students?, We haven’t yet come to any conclusions, but we have begun exploring how financial aid and scholarships might be worked into the increased demand for summer classes., Where does the 2020-21 academic year stand at this point?, The draft Fall 2020 schedule is here . We’ve also posted a draft Spring 2021 schedule, which can be found here . Although it’s a work in progress and bound to change, it should give you a decent idea of what courses are in store, which should assist you in making enrolment decisions. Several of the new courses have “TBA” listed for days, times, or location, but these will be updated in coming…, How and when will my fees be refunded?, Refunds for parking will be made by direct deposit. The date upon which you can expect to see the refund remains uncertain, but it is coming. Students with money left on their dining cards or printing cards should contact Student Finance & Records , and they will explain how to get a refund if you are a graduating student or how to have that money rolled over into future semesters if you are…
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