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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Tour RWU Law, We put together a quick tour of the law school for you to make sure you have the chance to meet some of the staff and administrators that you’re going to be interacting with once you join our community. {"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/law/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/yc_To7b-Pbc.jpg?itok=Je8JDagk","video_url":"https://youtu.be/yc_To7b-Pbc","settings":{"responsive…, Tour Bristol, You’ve never been to Bristol, RI? No problem – here’s a quick tour of the place we call home. {"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/law/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/2fsfPOQzum0.jpg?itok=kvFvrGkl","video_url":"https://youtu.be/2fsfPOQzum0","settings":{"responsive":true,"width":"854","height":"480","autoplay":false},"settings_summary":["Embedded Video (Responsive)."]}, Our Clinical Guarantee, Are you interested in learning how the RWU Law Clinical Guarantee can help you advance your career? Hear from our Assistant Dean of Experiential Education and a panel of the RWU Law faculty & staff talk about exactly that. {"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/law/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/D36Tk5d-dv8.jpg?itok=iNW11yxZ","video_url":"https://youtu.be/D36Tk5d-dv8…, Hear from RWU Alums, Take some time to hear from a panel of Alums, and learn how RWU Law set them on their career paths. {"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/law/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/18ZJgfZpQsg.jpg?itok=3zT4W4fG","video_url":"https://youtu.be/18ZJgfZpQsg","settings":{"responsive":true,"width":"854","height":"480","autoplay":false},"settings_summary":["Embedded Video (Responsive…, Student Life, Do you have questions about what being a law student is really like? Hear from our current students about their experiences at RWU Law. {"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/law/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/Gf2o7sXdENs.jpg?itok=ss7xGXiY","video_url":"https://youtu.be/Gf2o7sXdENs","settings":{"responsive":true,"width":"854","height":"480","autoplay":false},"…, Pro Bono Opportunities at RWU Law, Learn about one of our most popular Pro Bono opportunities: Alternative Spring Break. Hear directly from RWU Law Students that used their Spring Break to help communities in need from all around the United States. {"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/law/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/hYCywqs0V_E.jpg?itok=x6-YUuEn","video_url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=…, RWU Law & the Marine Affairs Institute, Learn about the opportunities that the Marine Affairs Institute brings to our students. {"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/law/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/bgxVfUTM3SM.jpg?itok=I6kopSDr","video_url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgxVfUTM3SM&feature=youtu.be","settings":{"responsive":true,"width":"854","height":"480","autoplay":false},"settings_summary":["…, Sit in on a 1L Torts Class, We know that many of you have not had the opportunity to sit in on a law school class – feel free to visit a pre-recorded first-year class with Professor David Logan. {"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/law/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/9z60Xvpn7Ik.jpg?itok=HSda7o9P","video_url":"https://youtu.be/9z60Xvpn7Ik","settings":{"responsive":true,"width":"854","height":"480","…, Learn about the Providence Experiential Campus, The experiential campus gives our upper level students the opportunity to participate in at least one substantial clinical experience, with a home right in the heart of Providence, RI. {"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/law/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/n00s-fORQCY.jpg?itok=hJtF2bVN","video_url":"https://youtu.be/n00s-fORQCY","settings":{"responsive":true,"width":"854…, Rhode Island's Only Law School, RWU Law’s unique position gives our students real access and connections to the RI legal community – learn what that means for you. {"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/law/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/gxvZYm32tpg.jpg?itok=Slr0Ajsp","video_url":"https://youtu.be/gxvZYm32tpg","settings":{"responsive":true,"width":"854","height":"480","autoplay":false},"settings_summary…
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In a 1996 article , Dean Michael J. Yelnosky wrote, “because baseball is central to our culture, it is a presumptively appropriate source of metaphorical references.” One could imagine that he would agree that it is also an appropriate source for a law library blog post. Baseball and the law has many intersections. There are many court cases about baseball as seen on this podcast and this blog…, Green Bag’s, Supreme Court Sluggers . These baseball cards present “interesting information about the work of the Supreme Court of the United States” and are immensely “entertaining by providing small, amusing-but-respectful links between the world of law and the world of sport.” An interesting fact is that “many of the paintings by John Sargent and Alec Spangler that are featured on the front of every…
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Read FAQ #1, Read FAQ #2, INTRODUCTION: Dean Michael J. Yelnosky, Ordinarily, a meeting with graduating 3Ls in April would be cause for a tremendous celebration. Though circumstances are obviously going to change the tenor of this meeting, I do want to congratulate you on your upcoming graduation and encourage you to do the best that you can to hang in over these last several weeks of classes and exams. Because there is a diploma, and a career, on the other…, We’ve been receiving a lot of questions about issues specific to graduating students, and so, for this week’s Town Hall, we’ve assembled some people who can answer those questions and talk to you about some other things that you may or may not yet have considered., * * * * * * * * * *, How will final exams be administered?, You will be receiving exam information shortly for all of your classes. All exams will be take-home, open book exams that will be administered through the online ExamSoft platform. This online system does not lock your entire system as with in-class exams. We expect faculty to provide more time to complete each exam, with some flexibility as to when a student must begin the exam. These changes…, What are the GPA standards for graduation honors?, The GPA standards for graduation honors have been modified for the May 2020 graduating class, recognizing the fact that, on average, 3L grades go up over the final semester. If we kept the same standards we apply under normal circumstances, many fewer students would receive graduation honors than usually would. So we have changed the standards for, cum laude, to 3.15, for, magna cum laude, to 3.4, and for, summa cum laude, to 3.65 to congratulate and celebrate our students’ academic accomplishments., When will we celebrate Commencement?, UPDATE: Since the Town Hall Meeting of April 2, RWU Law has come to the difficult decision to postpone an in-person celebration. Instead, we will hold a virtual commencement celebration at 12:30 p.m. on May 15, 2020. We remain committed to an in-person celebration when it is safe to do so and will seek input on both the rescheduled date and format of the celebration. Please look for more…, Graduates:, I regret to inform you that because of the continued public health emergency we need to postpone the in-person commencement ceremonies that had been scheduled for May 15th at 12:30 on the Bristol campus. We will have an in-person commencement when it is safe to do so, and we will be sure to solicit your feedback on where and when that ceremony should take place., I know that this is a bitter pill to swallow. Your graduating class is joining those across the country in mourning the loss of a final semester of law school and gatherings with your classmates, friends, and family to celebrate your accomplishments. That day of in-person celebration with all those who mean the most to you is coming, but I am afraid it will not be on May 15, 2020., However, on May 15, 2020 at 12:30 we will host a virtual commencement ceremony. The details will be forthcoming but it will likely feature addresses from our commencement speaker, the class valedictorian, and the university president. The highlight, as always, will be a roll call of the graduates with content provided by each one of you, and there will be messages of congratulations from the…, I know it is not the real thing. We do not think of it as a substitute but as a supplement to the in-person commencement that is coming. We just all thought it was important to mark the day and the time of what would have been commencement here on campus. We want to set aside time to think about your time here and dream about your futures, and we want you to have the time to do the same. , Be and stay well., Best,, Michael, What is going to happen with the July 2020 bar exams?, Bar examiners around the country are evaluating whether they will administer a July bar exam. Already, several UBE jurisdictions including Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut have deferred their exams to the fall. As of today, Rhode Island has not made an announcement of their plans. Rhode Island and other jurisdictions will likely announce their plans in the next two weeks. Students should…, How has the current crisis impacted the job market?, The short answer is that, right now, we just don’t know. We have been in frequent contact with law schools and employers across the country, and employers are generally hoping that everything’s going to get back to some level of normalcy by the fall. For now, their more immediate concern is adapting to working remotely, getting their employees up to speed, and handling their client crises.…, Will the COVID-19 crisis impact the job market as disastrously as the Great Recession of 2008 did?, We don’t know for sure yet, yet but it probably will not. The 2008 crisis that so severely impacted the employment market was really a financial crisis. Right now, we’re in a health crisis. Yes, it’s a health crisis with financial and market implications, but the economy was strong going into this. As it stands now, attorneys are still working on behalf of their clients. There are still a lot of…, What can I do now to better position myself for job prospects?, Everything feels sort of out of our hands right now, but you have more control than you may think. One thing is for certain: this definitely isn’t the time to do nothing. It’s a time to be strategic and proactive, because people who are proactive in environments like this show the sort of persistence and resiliency that employers like to see. RWU Law’s Career Development Office recently sent…, Does the mandatory pass/fail policy apply to the one-credit, six-week courses that began in January and were scheduled to end prior to the health crisis?, We haven’t decided that question yet. It’s on the agenda for the next faculty meeting and an announcement will come soon., Will students still be able to get CALI awards?, We haven’t decided that question yet. It’s on the agenda for the next faculty meeting and an announcement will come soon., Does the grading policy apply to experiential classes, wherein much of what is being graded has already happened?, Yes, the pass/fail grading policy applies to all courses this semester, including experiential courses., Will grades from our joint degree programs count toward our School of Law GPAs, where those are still being graded?, Although credits from master’s level work appear on your JD transcript, those courses are not included in GPA calculations. Additionally, course work toward the Master of Studies in Law (MSL) at RWU is included in the pass/fail policy., When will we receive our refund for parking?, The University is working through room and board and parking refunds. They know that there are law students and others impacted, and they’re working through their refund policies, but they aren’t quite there yet., What is the timeline for refunds of money on student dining and printing cards?, Graduating students have received direct deposit refunds of all law school points on their ID cards over $5.00, which is the usual process after graduation. Returning students will have their dining dollars roll over to the following semester. Printing points carry over but are not refundable. For those students who have purchased a meal plan, we are still awaiting details from the University on…, Is there a plan for 3L students who need to clear out Law Review or Moot Court cubicles, SBA offices, etc.?, Not currently, but we will develop a plan for students to get books and other materials that are still in the law school building., Will RWU residence halls be available for students doing summer bar study?, At present, it seems unlikely that we’ll be offering housing for this summer. However, we will likely explore a summer sublet program. * * * * * * * * * *, CONCLUSION: Dean Michael J. Yelnosky, We understand that there are still a number of questions that are very important to you that remain unanswered. We are going to do our best to get answers to those questions as soon as possible. In the meantime, you should feel free to reach out to any members of RWU Law’s administration or faculty to the extent that you think they can be helpful. They are anxiously awaiting your call or email., We have also made plans to hold the Town Hall Meetings regularly, because we understand there are a lot of questions coming up. The next one will be held on 12:30 p.m., on Thursday, April 9.,
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