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. ExamSoft is software that enables students to type the answers to essay exam questions using their laptop computers. Students who wish to type their exams must register for the pseudo-course "LAW-EXAMSOFT" either via Web registration or by submitting Registration Request forms by the published deadlines. First-year students are permitted to use Web registration to register for the ExamSoft pseudo-course even though they are precluded from using it to register for courses.

Students who register for the pseudo-course will be charged an annual non-refundable ExamSoft fee in the amount of $35. Registration is good of one academic year. (The academic year begins with the fall semester and ends with the summer term.) Students need to re-register at the start of each fall semester. See our ExamSoft Web registration instructions for step-by-step instructions.

ExamSoft registration 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 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. See the ExamSoft FAQs for more information.

• 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.

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.