Exam Policies

General information about Law School examinations is shown below. For details regarding exam rules, policies, or procedures, please refer to the Student Handbook.

Unique exam numbers are generated every term for every student enrolled in the Law School. Exam numbers are used for exam administration and grading to ensure anonymity. Only one exam number is provided per term, so students must remove their exam numbers from their midterm exams prior to reviewing them with their instructors to ensure their numbers remain confidential.

Exam numbers are available via GGU4YOU within 24 hours following a student's registration for a given term. Students should login to GGU4YOU at the beginning of the term and print the Web page displaying their exam numbers to take with them to their quizzes, midterm, final and SLP exams. Exam numbers will also be available prior to the exam from exam proctors. Students will also need their exam numbers in order to claim final exams and/or final papers after the end of the term.

Beginning Fall 2008, all students are eligible to take their exams on their laptop. No additional registration or fee is necessary, but the software must be installed prior to the student's first exam date. For minimum system requirements, go to https://www.examsoft.com/ggulaw. Installation and login instructions will be posted in Law School News and on the Law School website. All other communications will be sent through the email address on file with the Law Registrar. Please confirm that this address is working and correct. For any questions or technical assistance, please contact the exam coordinator at 415-369-5201 or lawexam@ggu.edu.

ExamSoft usage authorizes GGU to release "personally identifiable information" such as name, exam number, GGU student ID number, and course schedule information to ExamSoft Worldwide Inc., which provides the laptop-based exam services. Students who do not want this information to be provided to ExamSoft will not be able to use the software to type their essay answers.

ExamSoft can be used only on PCs and Intel-based Macintosh computers equipped with Windows XP or Vista and Apple's Boot Camp. (Mac users must purchase and install this software on their own.) ExamSoft workshops are available to students. Please check Law School News for workshop dates and times.

Visiting Students: All visiting students should contact the exam coordinator if they wish to use their laptops on exams while at Golden Gate University School of Law.

For any questions or technical assistance, please contact the exam coordinator at 415-369-5201 or lawexam@ggu.edu.

• Students who started at the Law School in fall 2005 or subsequent term, MUST use Internet (wired or wireless) for ExamSoft purposes.
• All other students will note that the default for ExamSoft usage will be Internet (wired or wireless). Please specify to the proctor if you wish to use a floppy disk.
• Certain computers may not be compatible with ExamSoft. Please review the Minimum System Requirements at www.examsoft.com/ggulaw. In addition to these minimum requirements, a student's laptop MUST also have either a floppy disk drive or a (wired, wireless) network interface card that can connect to the Golden Gate University's network. All ExamSoft technical questions must be directed to ExamSoft Technical Support: 1-866-429-8889.
• Student use of ExamSoft for law school exams is a privilege and not a right. The Law School cannot guarantee that students will be able to use ExamSoft on any given exam. If ExamSoft does not function correctly before or during an exam, students are expected to hand-write their answers in blue books.
• Students use ExamSoft at their own risk. Students are responsible for ensuring that the ExamSoft installation process is completed and that the software is functioning properly before they enter the examination room. If ExamSoft experiences a catastrophic error that results in the loss of exam files, students, at the instructor's and/or the Dean of Student Services' discretion, must re-take an exam for the course.

On the day of the exam students must:

1. Bring their laptops' network cable.
2. Bring their laptops' power cords and charged battery packs.
3. Arrive at least 20 minutes prior to the exam start time to set up their computers.
4. Be prepared to hand-write their answers in blue books if they experience problems with ExamSoft.
5. All students intending to type their exams must be at the ExamSoft "STOP" screen at least five minutes before the start of the exam.

An exam schedule is published with the course schedule for each term. At the start of each final exam period, exam room location lists are available at Law School administrative offices. Exam dates and rooms are subject to change; students should double check this information just before the exam period begins. Students with physical or learning disabilities who need accommodations for exams should contact the Law Student Services ADA program coordinator at the start of the term at 415-442-7867. LLM and SJD students who want language accommodations must submit Request for Language Accommodations forms to the exam coordinator by the applicable deadline. Advance rescheduling of exams is available only under certain circumstances. To obtain permission to reschedule an exam, students must submit Exam Reschedule Petition forms to the exam coordinator by the applicable deadline. Students must not attempt to contact an instructor regarding a request to reschedule an exam. All questions regarding reschedules must be directed to the examination coordinator.

Should an emergency arise and an exam reschedule is unavoidable, contact the exam coordinator at 415-369-5201 before the exam is scheduled to begin. Students may request the return of their graded final exams, final papers, and take-home exams by submitting a Blue Book/Paper Claim form to the Law School Registrar's Office. Students will need their exam numbers and their course and section information in order to complete the form. All of this information is available via GGU4YOU.

Blue books and papers for a given term will not be available for distribution until all of the grades for that term have been recorded, usually at least a month after the end of the term. Once distribution begins, it will be announced on signs posted near the office.

Because requests can take up to a week to process, forms must be submitted in advance. Forms may be submitted before the announced distribution date and will be held for processing until later. All unclaimed exams and papers will be destroyed one year after the end of instruction for the term.