Important information about School of Law class cancelation and continuation plans

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Dear School of Law community,

By now, you probably have seen President Miller’s announcement that classes will be canceled for the remainder of this week and next (effective at 5:00 pm today), with classes resuming in primarily online format after Spring Break.  This email contains important information about plans at the School of Law.  Please read it carefully and let us know if you have questions.

Classes canceled.  All classes (face-to-face and online, synchronous and asynchronous) are canceled for the remainder of this week and all of next week (Friday, March 20th).  The building and other UA facilities will remain open until further notice.  Students may continue to use the library and other facilities.  School of Law faculty and staff will continue to be available for questions and issues.

Events and travel.  All on-campus events are canceled at least until April 20th.  All travel by student competition teams or other student travel on behalf of the School of Law is canceled through April 20th.  We are evaluating off-campus School of Law-sponsored events and will have more information on this soon.

Graduation fair.  The graduation fair scheduled for next week will be rescheduled or moved to an online format.  Please stay tuned for more information.

Fall mandatory advising.  The live mandatory advising sessions scheduled for next week are canceled.  Fall advising information will be posted to Brightspace and Student Affairs staff will be available for one-on-one advising.  More information will be provided soon.

Course delivery.  We will be ready to continue our curriculum in distance learning format once the semester resumes on March 30th.  Each faculty member will work with the administration to complete the semester in the way that works best for their course.  Undoubtedly there will be some hiccups along the way, but we are confident that every course can be completed satisfactorily so that students can earn appropriate credit.

Change in academic calendar.  The cancelation of classes for the remainder of this week and next will pose some scheduling challenges.  To comply with ABA accreditation standards, it is likely that we will have to extend the semester by one week in May.  Classes will be extended from April 26th through May 6th and final exams will begin on May 7th and go until May 15th.  We recognize that this schedule change may create difficulties for some of you; we will work with you to resolve or mitigate those problems.  In the meantime, please take account of this likely schedule change in your plans to the extent you can.

Graduation.  For those of you who are planning to graduate this May, don’t worry.  You will be able to complete your requirements in time.  As of now, we are still planning to hold the commencement ceremony as scheduled on May 17th.  Be aware that this could change, however, depending on facts that are outside our control.  We will keep you all informed.

Accreditation requirements.  We are working with the ABA to ensure that these measures will comply with accreditation requirements.

The facts are changing rapidly, so please stay tuned for additional information.  We will keep you all informed.  If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Dean Janoski-Haehlen (ejanoskihaehlen@uakron.edu), Dean Oldfield (cwo@uakron.edu), or me (cpeters1@uakron.edu).

Thanks for reading and stay safe and healthy.

Best,

CJP