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Exam News & Announcements

ExamSoft's Examplify Upcoming Maintenance

ExamSoft will be conducting scheduled maintenance on Friday, August 9th at 9:00 PM EST until 11:00 PM EST. There will be an interruption of service of approximately one hour during that time. For updates on this maintenance, please visit status.examsoft.com. See if your device is compatible on the minimum requirements page for more details.

Exam Policies & Procedures

Information about rescheduling, exam emergencies, technical issues, accommodations, honor code, exam review scheduling, and more.

Decorum in the Law Building During the Exams

Out of courtesy to your fellow students, please refrain from talking or lingering in the hallways during the exam period, as exams are ongoing throughout the day. Even discussions in the Atrium can be carried into exam rooms, so please do your best to socialize outside of the Law building during the exam period to avoid disturbing exam-takers. 

Policies

Section 2 and Appendix D of NSU Law's Code of Academic Regulations govern exams.

Any examination or quiz worth more than 25% of a final grade will be graded anonymously. The Shepard Broad College of Law uses Examplify to administer exams that follow an anonymous grading system. An anonymous grading system means faculty members do not know which student submitted a particular exam or paper.

Pursuant to Code 12.4 Appendix D of NSU Law's Code of Academic Regulations, students must not put their names or other identifying information on these examinations, quizzes, or any other assignments that faculty members or instructors have designated as anonymously graded.

If the faculty member or instructor administers more than one anonymously graded examination or quiz during a course, a different anonymous number will be distributed for each.

Check Your Device/Laptop Compliance

Chromebooks, iPads, iPad Pros, Surface Pro devices running Windows S, virtual systems, and Linux operating systems are NOT compliant and NOT permitted to take exams. No exceptions. An additional, external monitor (i.e., dual monitor) connected to a laptop or desktop is NOT permitted -- including docking station setups. Check your system compliance and register on NSU Law School's ExamSoft login page.

NSU administers exams in accordance with the ABA Accreditation standards and imposes the same restrictions and technology requirements detailed on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners Official FAQ Page and further outlined on ExamSoft's Bar Applicants page.

 

The following exam conditions and/or equipment are NOT permitted:

  • Chromebooks,
  • iPad Pros,
  • Surface Pros (older Surfaces that only run Windows in "S" mode),
  • Android systems,
  • Linux operating systems,
  • Docking stations,
  • Additional, external monitor (i.e., dual monitors),
  • Virtual Camera or Virtual Camera Software (learn more),
  • This software cannot be used on virtual operating systems such as Microsoft's Virtual Machine, Parallels, VMware, VMware Fusion, or any other virtual environments.
  • Examplify does not support touchscreen input devices on Mac or Windows laptops.

Take the mock exam prior to exam day! To ensure the optimal testing experience and to confirm that your device is ready for exam day, it is critical that you update your Examplify software and take the mock exam.

  • Open Examplify
  • Login with your NSU SharkLink login information
  • On the Dashboard, select the Mock Exam and click on "Download Exam”.
  • In the Exam Password textbox, enter the case-sensitive exam password: Test123
  • Type a few words on the screen for your Mock exam, click through multiple-choice answers and familiarize yourself with the software.
  • When you are finished, click on the drop-down arrow that says "Exam Controls" and choose "Submit exam".
  • You should see a large green screen that says 'Upload Complete'. This means that your exam has been successfully uploaded.
  • Click on Return to Dashboard.

All students will be provided scratch paper for in-person exams. A digital notepad within Examplify is available to all students, remotely and in person. This digital notes tool functions as digital scrap paper and is NOT sent to the professor unless you request feedback.

Students are permitted to have in their possession in the examination room only materials authorized by the instructor in the written exam instructions. Possession of any other materials relating to the course is not permitted. Materials may not be shared during the examination.

Exams taken outside of rooms assigned by NSU Law for the purpose of exam administration must be taken alone with no one else in the room.

External Devices and Supplemental Hardware

Students enrolled in Law classes must meet the Laptop Compliance stated above and should be prepared to use the system to satisfy that requirement for their exams. No external monitors or any other peripheral docking setup that either projects your screen or allows a second screen to be accessible unless expressly allowed. Nothing is permitted that will interfere with the exam experience of another student.

No recording devices are allowed in the examination room. Cell phones and smart watches must be turned off and stored in your backpack at the front of the exam room during exams. The use of headphones and earphones (other than basic earplugs) is prohibited.

Procedures

Take-home exams, essays, and papers are administered remotely using special EXAM ONLY Canvas courses. You will be invited to an EXAM ONLY Canvas version of your course to access the questions or prompts, if not already provided by your professor. Use the same course to upload your responses in the requested format. 

Take-home exams are available for download and submission from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on the assigned date. The clock will begin to run at 12:01 a.m. You must prepare and submit your response via the EXAM ONLY Canvas course by 11:59 p.m. on the scheduled exam dateHere is the expected procedure for these types of exams:

  1. Accept the EXAM ONLY Canvas course invitation found on your Canvas Dashboard.
  2. Click on Modules.
  3. Click on the first item and review.
  4. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, take the Acknowledge Conditions quiz.
  5. Access your exam prompt on the scheduled open date, as specified by the professor.
  6. Complete your paper or essay within your chosen word processor. 
  7. Make sure your anonymous final exam number is in the HEADER of EVERY page.
  8. Save or export your document as a doc, docx, or pdf format. Change your document name to your exam number followed by the course name. Example: 123-Intro-to-EU-Law.docx
  9. Remove all identifying metadata.
  10. Upload your doc, docx, or pdf final to the EXAM ONLY Canvas course. 

It is important to plan your take-home exam start time accordingly so that you have your full time. For example, if you have a take-home exam, and you start it at 6 p.m., it will still be due at 11:59 p.m., even though you have not used the first full 8 hours of the day, so be sure to start early enough to get your full time. 

To the extent possible, we strongly encourage you to complete your take-home exams during normal business hours, as NSU Law's staff and NSU's Technical Support Help Desk may not be available after hours (see NSU IT Support Desk Hours).

Students are required to take examinations at the regularly scheduled date and time specified on the Final Exam Schedule page unless there are "extraordinary and compelling circumstances" or if section 2.3 of the Code of Academic Regulations specifically provides for rescheduling. Student Services will not reschedule an examination because of a student’s vacation plans, airplane flights, or similar personal decisions. 

Students may request the rescheduling of an exam by submitting a Request for Exam Accommodations form to Student Services. The deadline to petition to reschedule an exam pursuant to Code 2.3.1 is at least one week before exams start. After this deadline, Student Services can only accept requests to reschedule exams based on emergencies or circumstances not known before the deadline (see Code 2.4).

 

A student who begins an examination has decided that they are well enough to sit for and complete the examination. Therefore, any work submitted during that exam period will be graded regardless of an emergency rescheduling. A student who believes they will be unable to complete an examination must notify the proctor immediately, or Student Services before the examination begins and request an excused absence.

If a health, family, personal, or another type of emergency arises that prevents you from taking or completing an exam, you should follow these emergency procedures:

  • If your exam is in 24 or more hours: email the Law Exam Administration team at lawexams@nova.edu.
  • If your exam is within the next 24 hours: email Dean Acosta at lynn@nova.edu. If she is not immediately available, she will respond as quickly as she can. However, if your emergency is time-sensitive and Dean Acosta does not respond, email Dean Clark at kclark1@nova.edu
  • If you are in the middle of an exam on site: immediately report the problem to the exam room proctor. The proctor will consult with Student Services if the proctor is unable to resolve the problem.
  • If you are in the middle of an exam off-site or remotely: immediately report the problem to Student Services by emailing lawexams@nova.edu.

DO:

  • Follow the above procedures as soon as an emergency arises. It's imperative that you follow the proper emergency procedures, as NSU Law will NOT provide any retroactive accommodation for an emergency.
  • Provide documentation of the emergency. We apologize for this requirement, but it is, unfortunately, necessary.

DO NOT:

  • Contact your instructor about the exam.
  • Start an exam if you are too ill to complete it. 
  • Delay addressing the emergency until you finish your exam or receive your grade. 

Students cannot communicate directly with a professor through any means. Extra time will NOT be provided for preventable technical issues at the beginning of an exam, such as forgetting to download the latest version of the Examplify software. Thus, be sure to take the Mock exam before the exam period with the latest Examplify software version to address common problems. We strongly encourage you to complete your take-home exams during normal business hours, as NSU Law's staff and NSU's Technical Support Help Desk may not be available after hours (see NSU IT Support Desk Hours).

What do I do if my laptop becomes unresponsive during an exam?

First:

If your computer freezes during an exam, you should be able to reboot and resume your exam. Just force shut down your laptop and then turn it back on. Upon reboot, open the Examplify software and your exam should automatically resume.

Then:

In the event any problem persists after rebooting while taking an exam, on-site students should ask the room proctor for a Blue Book and start writing their answers. All students can contact technical support by:

NSU Law on-site IT Support:

ExamSoft's Examplify Technical Support:

  • Within the softwareIf already installed, open the Examplify software and click Help from the top-right Home menu on the Dashboard.
  • Support WebsiteExamplify’s support site with live chat and other support resources. 
  • Phone: 866-429-8889
  • Email: support@examsoft.com

 

Improperly contacting a professor regarding an exam may result in disciplinary action. This policy also applies to the 1L memo and briefs for Legal Research and Writing, and any other class where the professor has indicated that the assignment will be graded anonymously. 

After your grade has been posted for a course, you may contact the instructor directly (or follow any alternative instructions you received from your instructor) to review your exam answers and receive feedback. You may NOT contact your instructor about the exam DURING or after the exam UNTIL YOUR GRADE IS POSTED.

If your instructor informed you to schedule an appointment to view your answers with Faculty Support, you may book online using the Exam Reviews booking page. Reviews are available two weeks after in-person classes begin this term (January 22, 2024) and end two weeks before final exams (April 12, 2024).

Individual faculty members will keep examination answers on file for 12 months. The extent, if any, to which an individual faculty member will permit review of these materials or discuss an examination with a student lies within the reasonable discretion of the faculty member and is subject to review by the Vice Dean.

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