Announcements

Dear Students,

We hope you are having a great summer!

Planning for the fall semester is well underway and we are excited about welcoming you back to the building in August.   In this email, we want to highlight some recent UMB decisions of which you should be aware and remind you of a few deadlines.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement

You must receive your final vaccine dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by August 2 to return to campus in the fall.  For the two-dose vaccines – Pfizer and Moderna – you should receive your first dose by July 1.   Information on the requirement can be found here: https://www.umaryland.edu/coronavirus/vaccine/.    Please log into the Covid-19 Management Portal - UMB COVID-19 Management Portal – to do the following:

• Approve or deny Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients (CRISP) COVID-19 health information sharing
• Upload vaccination dose information (if not using CRISP)
• Request a COVID-19 vaccination exemption

The Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients (CRISP) is the state of Maryland’s designated electronic health record system. UMB’s agreement with CRISP allows it to directly share (with student permission) your COVID-19 vaccination history with school leaders, department managers, and the occupational/student health clinical team.  Only the clinical team will receive any COVID-19 test results.  The information will be used for public health purposes to help make decisions about preventive measures and identify members of the UMB community at risk of infection from exposure to COVID-19.   When you log into the Covid-19 Management Portal you will be able to approve or to deny the use of CRISP for your records.   When requesting a medical or religious exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine, please factor in a reasonable time period for the campus to process exemptions.  The SMC Campus Center Vaccine Clinic is in the process of shutting down so the most convenient vaccine location near the campus is the Baltimore Convention Center -  https://www.umms.org/coronavirus/covid-vaccine/get-vaccine/baltimore-convention-center-vaccine.  

Questions about the vaccine requirement should be directed to the Office of Student Affairs –  osa@law.umaryland or to Dean Gontrum bgontrum@law.umaryland.edu.

New UMB Policies Regarding Face Coverings, SAFE on Campus, and physical distancing

Effective July 1, fully vaccinated individuals are no longer required to wear a face covering, complete the SAFE on Campus forms, or practice physical distancing on the UMB campus.  UMB students and employees who are not fully vaccinated, including those who have approved medical or religious exemptions, must continue to wear a face covering, complete the SAFE forms, and adhere to physical distancing when removing their face covering to eat or drink.   Please keep in mind that some vaccinated individuals may not be comfortable removing face coverings for a variety of reasons.  

UMB Shuttle

The UMB Shuttle will be operational again starting August 2.   Riders on the UMB shuttle and Safe Ride, must continue to wear a face covering regardless of vaccination status.

Summer Building Access

Because summer classes are all online and law school staff are still primarily on telework status until August, the main entrance doors to the law school remain locked. If you have a particular need to come to the building, you should contact Ann Kim (a.kim@law.umaryland.edu) or Wendy Geist (wgeist@law.umaryland.edu).

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Office of Student Affairs

To: Returning Students

The University System of Maryland has mandated that students must be vaccinated before returning to UMB for the fall semester.   If you have not been vaccinated, please plan ahead as you must receive your final vaccine dose by August 2 to return to campus the week of August 16 and by August 9 if you plan to arrive the week of August 23 for the start of classes.   For the two-dose vaccines – Pfizer and Moderna – you should target receiving your first dose by July 1.   All law school classes except for the handful of online classes will be in-person in the fall so you will not be able to attend class if you do not either receive the vaccine or receive an exemption.

Information on the requirement and on the exemption process can be found here:

https://www.umaryland.edu/coronavirus/vaccine/ .

Forms to request either a medical or religious exemption can be found at the UMB COVID-19 Management Portal. Please factor in a reasonable time period for the campus to process exemptions.

Questions about the vaccine requirement should be directed to the Office of Student Affairs - osa@law.umaryland.edu.

Thank you,

Office of Student Affairs

Dear Students:

As this extraordinary academic year comes to a close, I want to express my admiration and appreciation for your dedication, adaptability, and resilience. Under difficult circumstances, you rose to the moment and invested yourselves in your law school classes and activities.

I look forward to our long-awaited transition back into our law school building next year. As you will see when Registrar Boggs posts the 2021-22 curriculum later today, we will return to in person classes in the Fall, without rotations or hybrid formats. A few classes are designed to be online (one of the Legal Profession sections, Contract Drafting, and Family Law). As you know, summer courses will remain online.

As we prepare to return to campus, the University System of Maryland has required all of us to obtain a COVID-19 vaccination, except for appropriate exemptions that USM will define in the coming months.

While we can learn together in person again next year, we will continue to observe COVID safety protocols issued by the university, state and city, and CDC guidelines. This includes distancing in classrooms as required by UMB. To address reduced classroom capacity, we are making wise use of all areas of the law school and the weekly schedule. Some 1L doctrinal courses will be taught in a reconfigured ceremonial courtroom or Westminster Hall. In the upper level curriculum, we added extra sections of high enrollment classes such as Business Associations and Legal Profession. For second-year day students, there will be four sections from which to choose for Constitutional Law: one taught by Professor Graber, one by Professor Boldt, and two different sections taught by Professor Henry. Professor Henry’s sections will meet in person for two hours per week and include an additional hour of online asynchronous content. 

As you plan for next year, please reach out to the Office of Student Affairs or your academic advisor if we can support you in any way. I wish you all a restorative and enriching summer and look forward to reuniting with you in our beautiful building next year.

Donald B. Tobin
Dean and Professor of Law

Dear Students,

Although I am reluctant to bombard you with information during the exam period, I want to follow up on President Jarrell’s letter regarding mandatory COVID vaccines with the information we currently have.  On Friday, the Chancellor of the University System of Maryland announced a policy, which was approved by the Board of Regents that starting in the fall all faculty, staff, and students must be vaccinated against COVID-19, with appropriate health and religious exemptions. We have not yet received guidance from UMB regarding how health and religious exemptions will be handled.

As a student at UMB, you may register for a vaccine through the University of Maryland Baltimore’s vaccine site.  Vaccine supplies have increased, and if you weren’t previously able to get an appointment, you should be able to obtain one now. Additionally, the State of Maryland has opened up vaccination to all people over 16.  You can check the availability of appointments at M&T Bank Stadium, Six Flags, Regency (Waldorf), and other Maryland MassVax cites here. At the moment, there is widespread availability throughout the State. A spreadsheet with advice and information on many of the vaccination sites in Maryland can be found here. You can also call 1-855-MD-GOVAX.

If you live outside of Maryland, you can still register for a vaccine through the UMB website. You should get vaccinated in time to be fully vaccinated before you arrive on campus.

We are strongly committed to providing in-person education in the fall. One major way to provide a safe in-person learning environment is to have a substantial segment of the Maryland Carey Law community vaccinated. I appreciate your cooperation as we seek a safe environment for the return to campus.

I wish you the best on your exams.

Donald B. Tobin
Dean and Professor of Law

Dear Students,

Earlier today you received communication from President Jarrell regarding plans for the Fall.  I am very pleased that we will soon be able to be together in person.  While we will be back to you soon regarding the law school’s detailed plans, I wanted to make clear to you that we plan to be in-person in the Fall. We are confident that guidelines developed by medical professionals on the UMB campus over the past year will support the safety of our students, staff, and faculty while on campus. Based on previous guidance from UMB, we decided that our classes for this summer will be online.

One way to help ensure safe operation in the Fall is for you to get vaccinated when you are allowed to do so.  UMB has a plan in place to vaccinate students, staff, and faculty, and I encourage you to register with UMB to get your vaccine.  You can register here:  https://www.umaryland.edu/coronavirus/content/university-health/vaccine-available-through-umb.php.  Getting vaccinated does not only protect you, but also those around you.

Also, if you have been vaccinated through a non-UMB center, please let UMB know that you’ve been vaccinated, if you have not done so already.

Thank you for your cooperation, and I look forward to seeing you in the Fall.

Donald B. Tobin
Dean and Professor of Law

Exam Prep Resources & Services from the Thurgood Marshall Law Library.  Maryland Carey Law students can access West Study Aids, CALI Lessons, the Exams Archive, and more remote and extended resources and services from the Thurgood Marshall Law Library to help you as you prepare for your law school exams. Good luck on your exams! 

COVID-19 Information:  UMB has been allotted more doses of COVID-19 vaccines for its students. If you would like to be considered for a vaccine or have already received one or two vaccine doses please see information available here.

UMB is also encouraging students to complete a form that allows testing agencies to report any positive tests to UMB. Information about this program is available here.

Civil Rights and Racial Justice Collections at Thurgood Marshall Law Library:
The Thurgood Marshall Law Library remembers the struggles for civil rights and racial justice by sharing how the Maryland Carey Law community can access resources on civil rights and racial justice in our collections. View the collections.

Law Library Provides Procertas to Test and Train Basic Office Technology Skills: Did you know that the Law Library offers free access to training and assessments so you can improve your basic office technology skills? The entire Maryland Carey Law community can access Procertas Legal Technology Assessment ("LTA ") to get up to speed with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF. Learn more.

COVID-19 Information:  UMB has been allotted more doses of COVID-19 vaccines for its students. If you would like to be considered for a vaccine or have already received one or two vaccine doses please see information available here.

UMB is also encouraging students to complete a form that allows testing agencies to report any positive tests to UMB. Information about this program is available here.