Procedural Rules for COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION

The comprehensive examination will be administered the last Friday of October and February every year. For Academic Year 2004-2005, the exam dates will be February 27, 2004 and October 29, 2004, and February 25,2005. The examination period will be divided into two sessions. The morning session will commence at 9:30 a.m. and end 12:15 p.m. The afternoon session will commence at 1:30 p.m. and end at 4:30 p.m. Each session runs for two and one half hours and students will be required to complete two questions per session. Students may allocate the time as they see fit, but it is recommended that they spend at least one hour per answer.

Student must register with the department at least one semester prior to Sitting for the examination. The student must send a letter stating his or her intent to the Graduate Director, Professor Jack Baldwin LeClair with a copy and to the chairperson of the Department of Legal Studies, Professor Norma C. Connolly. This must be done no later than October 15^th for the February examination and no later than May 15^thfor the October examination.

Students requiring accommodation must inform the department of the nature of the handicap and type of accommodaation requested at the time that they declare an intention to sit for the examination.

Student must schedule a meeting with their graduate director after sending their letter of intent. Professor Jack Baldwin LeClair at 973.655.7953 or leclairj@mail.montclair.edu. Meetings can also be scheduled by e-mail. Your advisor will review your work program, determine your present grade point average and prepare any SUBSTITUTION ON GRADUATE WORK PROGRAM forms, if necessary. You will also complete and sign at this meeting the APPLICATION TO TAKE GRADUATE COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION FORM. A copy of the completed form will be mailed back to you from the Graduate School

If you have declared your intention to sit for the exam with the Graduate School and the Department and been approved, four weeks before the scheduled examination time, you will receive a letter from the Graduate Director specifying the location of the examination.

Students should have completed a minimum of 27 graduate credits prior to sitting for the Comprehensive Examination.

Students need to have a minimum of 3.0 grade point average in their course work.

In addition to responsibility for their coursework, students are responsible for reading and researching the required materials prior to taking the examination. See Comprehensive Reading List.

Students wishing to use a microcomputer must inform the department within two weeks of the intended examination date. A computer will be provided. However, students take full responsibility for loss of their work. If work is lost during a student's attempted answering of a question, it is the student's responsibility. Computer failure resulting in non-completion of a question may result in failure of that question.

Comprehensive Examination Format is subject to alteration without notice.

All students taking the examination for the first time will have four questions to answer.

Students in the Dispute Resolution; Governance, Compliance, and Regulation; or Legal Management Information and Technology may have two or three questions selected by the Department from your concentration. Students in the General Track may have two, three, or four questions to answer from the content based courses you have taken.

All students may have to answer questions based on the electives they have taken.

No more than four questions will be administered to a student at each sitting of the comprehensive examination.

Failure on the Comprehensive Examination. - A failure on more than one question will result in a student being required to retake the entire comprehensive examination with all new questions at the next administration date. Failure of one question results in the administration of a Clarifier Examination.