I, as well as other members of the faculty in attendance at yesterday afternoon’s open forum, very much appreciated the opportunity to hear your fervent views on the problems currently faced by our criminal justice system, our society and our university and law school community; and I look forward to continuing our conversation along the lines discussed at the conclusion of the forum.

I am writing now in my capacity as Vice Dean, and in consultation with the Dean, the Dean of Students, and the Dean for Registration Services, in response to student requests for clarification regarding the Law School’s process for handling requests for exam rescheduling.

The Law School permits individual students to request rescheduling of an exam under a number of extenuating conditions, including illness, religious observance, bereavement, and other exceptional and documented circumstances. A statement of the policy is publicly accessible on our website at http://web.law.columbia.edu/registration/exams/fall-2014-exams, under the heading “Rescheduling A Law School Examination.”

We appreciate and acknowledge the concerns over our criminal justice system that have been roiling our society and our community. In this context, we wish to remind you that it is our standard practice to provide flexibility in the documentation requirement to fit the circumstances in which students find themselves. Accordingly, students who wish to request a rescheduled exam, or other similar accommodation, should either write to the office of Registration Services with an individual explanation of the basis of the request, or speak in person with an academic counselor in the Office of Student Services. Unless time pressure is severe, meeting with an academic counselor is the preferred alternative, in case our student services staff can offer support or other resources that may be helpful.

So far this term, the Office of Registration Services has granted accommodation to a small number of students, all of whom have detailed the reason for their request. We have also received a number of boilerplate requests from individual students wishing to reschedule exams. The Dean of Registration Services has written to those students asking them to provide additional information or to consult with Student Services.

We trust that the above efforts will suffice to address concerns relating to the current examination period, but if you have other questions or concerns in this regard, please do not hesitate to contact us.