Academics

Exams

Exam Central

If you have questions or need assistance during the Fall 2024 exam period visit Exam Central (2nd Floor Klein Hall) or email lawexams@temple.edu.

Monday to Thursday – 8:30AM – 10:30PM
Friday – 8:30AM – 6PM
Saturday – 9:30AM – 6PM

Two scheduled in-class exams that begin within a 30-hour period will be considered a conflict. A student with an exam conflict must take one of those exams at its scheduled time and may elect (unless otherwise specified) to take the other exam during a free slot after its scheduled time. Having a scheduled exam on each of three consecutive calendar days is also a conflict. To resolve this type of conflict, the exam scheduled for the middle calendar day will be deferred to a subsequent date.

A take home exam will be considered for the purpose of determining whether a conflict exists only when the deadline for its return is fixed on a specific calendar day that conflicts with a scheduled in-class exam and the exam is made available to the students within 24 hours or less of that deadline.  If you believe that you have a conflict between take home exams which are due on the same date, you should inquire in the Office of Student Services about the possibility of relief, which will depend on when each exam will be made available. Both take home exams would have to be available to you for a relatively short period of time for a conflict to exist.

If you have an exam conflict as defined above and wish to reschedule an exam, you must fill out an Exam Conflict Form and return the completed form to Barrack Hall Room 103 no later than the date specified each semester. Evening students may leave completed forms in the Office of Academic Records’ Box in Barrack Hall.

When a conflict exists, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs will determine which exam(s) must be taken as scheduled and which exam(s) is to be deferred. You will have an opportunity to state your preference on the Exam Conflict Form. You will be informed of any scheduled exam that is not allowed to be deferred. A deferred exam must be taken in a subsequent free slot of your choosing. Free slot periods are clearly marked on the exam schedule. No exam can be taken in advance of its scheduled administration.  If within the two week exam period you cannot arrange your overall exam schedule to avoid taking exams on successive calendar days, you may discuss the possibility of individualized relief with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.

Download the Exam Conflict Form 

Students are expected to be available during the entire examination period. The dates of the examination periods for the fall, spring, and summer semesters are available well in advance of the school year. Please do not plan travel or family obligations during the examination period. If you have a compelling personal circumstance, either as an emergency or with advance notice, please contact the Associate Dean for Student Affairs to determine whether a scheduled exam may be deferred.

During the fall and spring exam period, the second floor of Klein Hall just past the elevators is renamed “Exam Central” and is used by the staff who administer exams. It is where you go to pick up a free slot or deferred exam, or if you forget your exam number, or for any questions you may have during the exam period.

During the exam period, Exam Central is open Monday through Thursdays from 8:30 am to 10:00 pm (but will close at 9:00 pm if no one is taking an exam ending after 9:00 pm). On Fridays, Exam Central is open from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm. Exam Central is NOT OPEN on Saturdays and Sundays.

Scheduled exams must be taken on the date and time specified on the examination schedule. Students who arrive late for a scheduled exam, or who have a problem or emergency during the exam, should go to Exam Central and seek assistance from the Exam Supervisor. Unless the reason for lateness was exceptional and could not have been anticipated and avoided by the student, students who arrive late will join the exam in progress and will not be afforded additional time.

Take home exams are listed in an addendum to the examination schedule. Some take home exams are timed, such as a 24 hour take home, or a 74 hour take home and can be taken at any point during the exam period.  Other take home exams are made available to all students simultaneously and all students must turn the exam in by the same fixed deadline.

No special distribution or collection arrangements will be made to accommodate a student’s work schedule or other personal obligations.

Download the Take Home Exam (Fall 2024)

Unscheduled exams are listed in an addendum to the examination schedule. Deferred exams result from conflicts between scheduled exams. Unscheduled and deferred exams must be taken during one of the scheduled Free Slots listed on the exam schedule. You need not give advance notice of when you are going to take an unscheduled exam or deferred exam.

The idea is to have everyone in the exam room start work at the same time. Simplified – the steps are:

  1. Set up in the designated room 20 minutes before the start of the Free Slot (e.g 8:40 am for a 9:00 am free slot).
  2. Pick up your exam from Exam Central after getting set up in the designated room.
  3. Begin work ONLY when the proctor tells you to start.
  4. Keep your own time.
  5. When your time is up, turn in your exam at Exam Central.  Note – you have 5 minutes in addition to the time allotted for your exam to return your exam to Exam Central.  Thus, if you are taking a 3 hour exam, you have 3 hours and 5 minutes to work on your exam and turn it in.

Download the Unscheduled Exam (Spring 2024)

In the event that an unscheduled (free slot) exam or deferred exam is handed in late, the grade assigned by the instructor will be reduced automatically to the next grade point value on the grade scale (e.g., from a B [3.00] to a B- [2.67]) for every ten minutes or part thereof that the exam is late. If the instructor has assigned a grade of D or higher, the grade will not be reduced below a D as the result of lateness. For example, on a 3 hour exam, if the elapsed period between the start of the exam and the clock in time stamped on the cover page of the exam was 3 hours and 17 minutes, then the exam is 12 minutes late. The grade would then be automatically reduced by two grade point values on the grading scale (e.g., from a B [3.00] to a C+ [2.33]) since the lateness exceeded one 10 minute period and carried into a second.

If a take home exam is returned late, the grade assigned by the instructor will be reduced automatically to the next grade point value on the grade scale for the first hour or part thereof that the exam is returned to Exam Central beyond the deadline. Thereafter, an additional grade reduction of one grade point value will be imposed for each ten minutes or part thereof that the exam is more than one hour late. If the instructor has assigned a grade of D or higher, the grade will not be reduced below a D as the result of lateness.

In keeping with the anonymous grading system at Temple Law School, professors grade exams without knowledge of whether an exam was turned in late or any other circumstances surrounding the exam. The timeliness of exams and the assignment of any penalties are determined at a later time. The Associate Dean for Students communicates the findings and any penalty to students in writing.

If you fail to take a scheduled examination on the date and time specified on the exam schedule, or you fail to take an unscheduled examination in one of the free slots during the examination period, or you fail to turn in a take home exam in accordance with the governing procedures, you will receive the grade of FA (failure for absence) in the course unless you have been excused in advance.

Upon written application and for good cause, you may be excused from taking a scheduled examination at the time it is regularly scheduled. Similarly, you may be permitted to turn in a take home exam at a time later than the original deadline. Such requests must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, not to the professor. Except when the absence or late submission is caused by an emergency, the request must be filed before the originally scheduled date for taking or turning in the exam.

A seminar, guided research, or other paper, which is not graded anonymously, must be submitted on the date designated by the professor. A request to hand in such paper late should be made to the professor. Any extension granted by the professor may not continue beyond the last day of the examination period without the approval of the Faculty Administrative Committee, which must be sought in the form of a written petition submitted to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs

To promote objective grading and free exchange in class between students and faculty, Temple Law School uses an anonymous grading system for examinations. Accordingly, you will be assigned a four digit Exam Number each semester to use on exams.

You will receive a new Exam Number in an email from the Law School Office of Academic Records at your Temple email address each semester. If you forget your Exam Number, you can stop by Exam Central with a photo ID to get it.  Remember, your Exam Number is the only identifying information used on exams: you must not reveal your name, TUID, or any other information that might identify you.

You must be careful to avoid any communication with your professors that might compromise the anonymous grading system. Always direct exam questions and concerns to the Office of Student Affairs. For example, you should not discuss any exam conflicts or deferrals with your professors whether they are due to scheduling issues or a sudden illness. Nor should any problem encountered during the exam, such as failure to finish, misreading of the instructions, or forgetting your exam number, be mentioned to your instructor.

All examinations are subject to the  Law School’s Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures. Every student is responsible for being familiar with the Code. Under the Code, all students are obligated to report violations of the Code of which they have personal knowledge

If you have an emergency involving you or your immediate family, you may defer an exam. An example of an emergency would be an unanticipated incapacitating illness requiring medical attention.

If an emergency arises before the time the exam you are to take or turn in an exam, you must contact Exam Central at (215) 204-8986 or the Student Affairs Office at (215) 204-8574 as soon as possible and not later than the scheduled date and time for the exam. In the case of illness, a note from a physician explaining your diagnosis and treatment must be submitted. In all other cases, you must submit a written statement setting forth the nature of the emergency along with any available supporting documentation.

If you become so seriously ill during a scheduled or unscheduled exam that you cannot complete the exam, you must go to either the proctor in the exam room, the Exam Supervisor in Exam Central, or the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.

No examination will be deferred or rescheduled unless these procedures are followed. A student who later comes forward with evidence of an emergency but who failed to follow these procedures will not be relieved of the grade received or the FA, as the case may be.

Any problem that interferes with taking any exam should be reported immediately to the Exam Supervisor in Exam Central or the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. Do not contact the professor or attempt to discuss the issue with the professor until grades have been reported. Note, however, that no questions will be answered relating to the content of the exam (e.g. typos or ambiguities) after the exam has been taken by any other student. It would be unfair to provide students who take the exam later in the exam period with clarifications that were not made to students who already took the exam.

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