Testing grounds-- Law students take exams off-campus

By John Minnis Legal News Guests at the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Detroit may have noticed something unusual lately--hundreds of law students coming and going. That is because on Monday, Dec. 6, the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law began holding exams in the hotel's conference rooms. "Our building is under construction," explained Amy Smith, UDM Law's director of special projects. "We are in Phase II of our long-awaited renovation." During Phase I last summer, the school's cafeteria and atrium were renovated. During Phase II, Dec. 2 through Jan. 10, 11 of the school's 14 classrooms are being redone. Next summer, Phase III will include the remaining three large classrooms and the school's corridors. The school administration had originally thought to hold exams at UDM's McNichols Campus, about 20 minutes away. However, classrooms were needed for exams at that campus as well. The law students also required access to the school's library, so distance and transportation became issues. Further, many of the students live downtown, including at the Millender Center, which is connected to the Courtyard by Marriott, making the hotel a convenient location. Since many of the exams these days utilize Exam4, secure test-taking software, it was important to make sure Marriott's network and Internet connection were up to the job. During the fall, students were asked to take practice Exam4s at the Marriott and the bugs were worked out. The only hitch on the first day of real exams was when a student forgot to plug in her laptop, Smith said. "The Marriott has really bent over backwards," she said. "So far, there have been no problems." Security was also an issue, said Lloyd Semple, dean of UDM Law. "We've had to involve everybody," he said of the effort to hold the exams off campus, "registration, student affairs, security... I'm really proud of my people." Semple said students have been telling him that once they got used to the new exam venue, they liked it. "They said, 'Why don't we do this all the time?'" Published: Thu, Dec 16, 2010

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