Exam FAQs for Instructors
General Info
After notifying the Registrar’s Office of an upcoming midterm or quiz, and prior to the final exam period, the Registrar’s Office will create an Exam Detail Request Form within Rosters and Grades. This online form asks for critical information that will help exam administrators correctly administer your exam. The form also requests contact information in case questions arise from students during your exam.
To complete the Exam Detail Request Form, log in to the Rosters and Grades App, select the term, and click on the "Final (Pending)" button to the right of your course.
Instructors must submit exams to their Faculty Assistant at least three business days prior to their exam date to ensure sufficient time to print the exam, check its format, and organize its administration.
Yes. You can generate cover sheets automatically in the Rosters and Grades App after submitting your Exam Detail Request Form. The generated cover sheet will include all necessary information and provide a space for instructors to add any personalized additional instructions. You will need to fill in information specifying the total number of questions and how many pages are in the exam.
The number of hours for the final exam often matches the number of credits offered for the course (2-hour exam for a 2-credit class, etc.), however, this is not a requirement. For room scheduling purposes and to avoid conflicts with other exams, in-person exams should not exceed 4 hours.
If you are interested in viewing exams written by other instructors, please contact your faculty assistant. They can provide you with the names of instructors who have taught the course at UCI Law and can contact those instructors on your behalf to request permission to share their exams.
It is especially important that exam cover sheets state what materials students can use and all special instructions. Instructors should avoid using old exam questions or questions in use at another institution if there is any likelihood that doing so will provide an unfair advantage for some students over others. Instructors should carefully enforce and abide by the instructions they have created.
In-Person Exams
In-person exams can be set to one of three ExamSoft modes:
- Secure: Computer locks students out of all other programs.
- Nonsecure: Student has access to anything on their computer including all their files and full access to the internet.
- Nonsecure and Block Internet: Student has access to anything on their computer including all their files and no access to the internet.
Note: While the nonsecure exam options allow students to access electronic material and to copy and paste into the ExamSoft application, students taking the exam by bluebook will not have access to electronic-only material.
To provide an equitable experience for students using e-books, exam policy has been updated to allow e-book access through tablets, if explicitly permitted by instructors in their exam instructions to students. Students are instructed that tablets may only be used to access e-books and must be in airplane mode throughout the exam. However, ExamSoft cannot apply security settings to secondary devices.
Students are encouraged to purchase hard copy versions of textbooks and print any electronic resources in case of technical issues. Technical support is not provided during exams and students will not be awarded extra time due to technical issues.
Additional information regarding exam setup and the Exam Detail Request Form can be found in the Exam Guide PDF.
The Exam Detail Request Form allows instructors to select from four Exam Types:
- Closed Book
- Modified Closed Book
- Modified Open Book
- Open Book
If you are giving a modified open or closed, please provide an explanation of permitted materials in the "Instructions for Students" section when completing the Exam Detail Request Form and on the exam cover sheet. If you want students to have access to books or printed documents only, it would be advisable to require students to bring hard copies of these items in case of technical difficulties.
If you allow access to electronically stored and online materials, please also address cut-and-paste (the ability to cut and paste information from online/computer resources into the final exam's answer). Keep in mind that some students may submit their exam response by handwriting in a bluebook. Allowing access to electronic outlines or notes may adversely affect these students.
Additional information regarding exam setup and the Exam Detail Request Form can be found in the Exam Guide PDF.
Law School policy requires instructors be available via phone or email during their exam. Instructors are not required to be on campus, as exams will be administered by the Registrar’s Office. To maintain student anonymity, instructors should not be in the exam room during any portion of the exam.
Exam proctors will hand out exams, give time warnings, and collect exams at the end of the session. They do not remain in the room and are not available during the examination to answer questions.
If a student taking an in-person exam writes beyond the time allowed, or if there is any other irregularity with a particular exam, a brief note including the student’s anonymous number will be provided with the exam submission. If you have any questions about a note attached to an exam, please contact the Law School Registrar.
Take-Home Exams
Take-home exams can be set up as set length or set deadline exams:
- Set Length Exams: Students have a specific length of time to submit the exam once downloaded.
- Set Deadline Exams: Students can take as much time as needed over multiple days but must submit by a specific deadline.
Instructors may also specify word or page limits for their exams within their exam instructions.
Additional information regarding exam setup and the Exam Detail Request Form can be found in the Exam Guide PDF.
Instructors must designate in their exam instructions how they will handle student compliance with the exam time limits. After exams have been submitted, instructors will receive copies of the exams along with a list of any anonymous numbers that have gone over the designated time, and by how much.
Accommodations and Rescheduling
Students with disabilities who ask that they be accommodated during exams should already have gone through our formal process for receiving exam accommodations. Faculty members should not be making individual arrangements for students. Please refer all students with disabilities/accommodations questions to the Assistant Dean of Student Services.
LL.M. students who have not, prior to their enrollment at UCI Law, studied English for a period of more than one year, will be granted up to an additional 30 minutes per hour in which to complete their exams, as well as the use of a spelling and translation dictionary (electronic dictionaries are not permitted). Eligible students will be notified of their accommodations prior to the start of the exam period.
Students must take their exams at the times designated on the exam schedule. Students with certain exam conflicts (two exams at the same time or in consecutive periods, or three exams in three days) may request to have exams rescheduled per the exam reschedule policy.
Note: Students may not take exams early and cannot have exams rescheduled due to travel during the exam period.