Exam Policies and Procedures

Instructors should never be contacted regarding any exam matter.

Written final examinations are graded on the basis of anonymity, only using a four digit number as the identity of the student.  Instructors do not know what exam belongs to what student, nor can they answer questions about exam reschedules or exam administration (e.g. using a bluebook instead of ExamSoft). Professors should also never be contacted for any reason after the last class session (or review session).

1. Students are required to be in attendance throughout the entire exam period.
2. Students are expected to sit for exams as scheduled (including rescheduled and accommodated exams) absent medical documentation or approval from the Office of Student Affairs.
   
3. Collaboration with other persons on an exam (including take-home exams) is strictly prohibited and is a violation of the Academic Integrity Policy unless clearly authorized in the written examination instructions.
4. Students are expected to follow the directives and requests of examination proctors, Records and Registration staff, and the Vice Dean for Student Affairs, or any other Law School employee involved in the administration of examinations, projects or papers before, during and after an exam. Failure to do so may be considered a violation of the Academic Integrity Policy.
5. Unauthorized devices are not allowed in the exam rooms unless specifically allowed by the instructor. If a family emergency is pending, students should direct callers to the Records & Registration Office phone number (716-645-2060). Failure to do so will be considered a violation of the Academic Integrity Policy. Students are prohibited from bringing phones or backpacks into the exam room unless permitted by accommodation provision. Please store these items in your lockers during the exam. It is suggested that you bring a watch if your laptop is not allowed in the room.
   
6. Students must not write their name or otherwise indicate their identity or make personal comments about their performance anywhere on the examination (e.g., "I ran out of time"). Doing so violates the Academic Integrity Policy.

Students who experience illness or an emergency before or during an examination should contact the Office of Student Affairs immediately.

Students are expected to sit for examinations as scheduled (including rescheduled and accommodated exams) absent medical documentation or approval from the Office of Student Affairs. Circumstances resulting in automatic exam rescheduling are limited to the following:

• two examinations scheduled on the same day;
• three or more examinations on consecutive calendar days;
• four or more examinations to be completed in one calendar week (Mon. – Fri.)

Examination rescheduling is administrated by the Office of Records and Registration and may not be negotiated absent truly exceptional circumstances.

1. The Records and Registration Office will reschedule all conflicting exams, per the examination conflict policy, automatically. Our office will email a student's buffalo.edu email address after the resignation deadline for the 12 week session has passed. If you do not wish to have an exam rescheduled, contact the Records Office at law-records@buffalo.edu.
   
2. It is not unusual for the last week of the term or the last week of exams to be the deadline for papers or projects. In no event will the overlap of papers and projects and examinations provide a justification for rescheduling examinations.
3. Flexible exams are not included in the criteria for rescheduling exams since they are scheduled at the convenience of the student.
4. Absent the written documented permission of the Office of Student Affairs, all examinations, papers, and projects that have been rescheduled for personal or medical reasons must be taken no later than two weeks after the end of the examination period.
5. Examination rescheduling is administrated by the Office of Records and Registration and may not be negotiated absent truly exceptional circumstances.

A student who picks up an examination is expected to complete it during the scheduled examination period. A student who does not complete an examination will be graded on what they submit during the examination period.

Students are able to receive Law School final examination accommodations after having received an official memo from the Office of Accommodation Resources (OAR). In order to receive Law School final exam accommodations, students MUST follow the instructions included in the email provided by OAR. Pertinent instructions contained in that email follow:

*Upload your memo here 

*For any examination accommodation, you must also email your memo to law-records@buffalo.edu by the following deadlines:

• Bridge Courses: At least seven (7) business days prior to any midterm or final exam
• Fall/Spring Courses: At least thirty (30) days prior to the first day of final examinations (and for midterms, at least five (5) days prior to the exam). These deadlines should be seen as an absolute last date by which to seek an examination accommodation. 

Failure to upload your memo AND notify Records & Registration prior to the deadline may prevent the administration from being able to provide your accommodations.

Students receiving exam accommodations will receive an informational email prior to the start of any midterm exam/final exam period including specific accommodation details.  Each email is tailored to the individual accommodation for each student. Emails will be sent at least 24 hours prior to any midterm exam and one week prior to any final exam. This timing is contingent upon prompt memo submission to R&R.

Click here to visit the OAR webpage.

A. UB Statement of Principle on Academic Integrity

The University has a responsibility to promote academic honesty and integrity and to develop procedures to deal effectively with instances of academic dishonesty. Students are responsible for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources, and for respect for others' academic endeavors. By placing their name on academic work, students certify the originality of all work not otherwise identified by appropriate acknowledgment.

B. General Policy

1. Academic dishonesty is a serious breach of the atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence that is necessary for productive academic work. It also may cast serious doubt on the ability, character, and fitness to practice law of the individual who commits such acts. Students who have reason to believe that academic dishonesty has occurred are encouraged to report the facts promptly to the Law School Administration and/or to the course instructor. Instructors shall report to the Law School Administration any incident in which there is probable cause to believe academic dishonesty has occurred.
2. The instructor has the obligation to make clear to students, preferably in writing, the rules and conditions under which course work will be evaluated. The student has the obligation to inform themselves about the rules applicable to grading or performance evaluation, and to seek clarification from the instructor or the law school administration in case of doubt. Basic, widely-shared premises and understandings about what constitutes dishonest conduct need not be provided in writing or orally.
3. Absent written permission for cooperative or collaborative preparation of responses to any examination, take-home or in class, common understanding leaves no doubt that collaboration on all examinations is strictly prohibited. It will be treated as a serious breach of academic honesty and integrity.

C. Definition

1. It is difficult and unnecessary to provide a definition for every act of academic dishonesty. The generic term covers a multitude of wrongful acts and derives content through usage, custom, and a commonly shared understanding of integrity and responsibility. All of these sources of standards are particularly important in the profession and practice of law.
2. "Academic dishonesty" includes, but is not limited to:
   1. PLAGIARISM: the use of source materials in a writing assignment without sufficient citation or attribution;
   2. Submitting the same, or substantially the same, written work for academic credit in more than one course without the prior unequivocal written permission of BOTH instructors;
   3. Violation of rules established by the instructor, the Law School, or the University regarding the completion of student assignments or exercises which are to be used in evaluating academic performance;
   4. Unauthorized interference in or tampering with the process of assigning and recording grades, including intentional breaches of anonymity.

D. Examples

1. Examples of plagiarism would include (a) submission of a seminar paper or brief containing extracts from law review articles or other published sources which are not identified as such by quotation marks, footnotes, or other standard indicators, and (b) appropriation and use of lines of argumentation or analysis which are taken from another source but are presented as the student's own (i.e., not attributed to the source, even if presented in the student's own words).
2. Violations of rules relating to the completion of student assignments used in evaluating academic performance would include (a) use during an examination of notes or reference sources not permitted in advance by the instructor, (b) unauthorized collaboration with another student in preparing an examination answer or written course work, and (c) misrepresenting work done for academic credit, such as passing off work done by another person as one's own, or assisting another student in such passing off.
3. Unauthorized interference in the grading process would include (a) theft of or tampering with copies of examination, bluebooks, answer sheets, grade report forms, permanent record cards, computer files, or other records used in the grading process, and (b) revealing one's identity on an anonymously graded examination.

E. Penalties

Except for highly unusual extenuating circumstances, the minimum penalty for an act of academic dishonesty is the recording of a grade of "F" for the course in question and the placement of a letter in the violator's file setting forth the facts of the incident. If a different grade for the course has already been recorded, the grade may be changed to an administrative "F" without review by the full faculty. Subject to applicable laws, the letter in the violator's file or its content normally would be disclosed to a state bar committee inquiring into the character, fitness, or academic standing of the student seeking admission to the bar. The maximum penalty for an act of academic dishonesty is expulsion from the Law School.