Announcements

Dear Students,

I am writing to summarize the safety protocols we have put in place for the exam period. Please note that we have added one clarification to the protocols.

While it is obvious that the new variant will have to be watched closely, campus health experts advised us this morning that there are no developments at UMB that would require a change to our exam planning. With the safety protocols at our campus and in the law school, exams will continue in-person as planned.

Here again are the safety protocols we have in place:

Physical distancing. In the assignment of exam rooms, we took the COVID occupancy numbers which are already reduced from prior years and divided those numbers in half. We expect there to be ample room to spread out in the exam rooms.

Masks. KN95 masks are required while taking exams.

Illness and emergency protocols: 

If you have symptoms that might be Covid (including cold symptoms) or a known Covid exposure you must do two things: 1) Call the Hotline at 1-800-701-9863. 2) Email both the Office of Student Affairs (osa@law.umaryland.edu) and the Office of Registration and Enrollment (registration@law.umaryland.edu) with an explanation of your situation. Dean Hayes or Dean Gontrum will respond to your email and will work with you to reschedule your exam after you are cleared to return by the nurse case manager.  Do not contact your professor.

Clarification: We note that case managers may clear a student for Covid but the student may still have the flu, another contagious illness, or a lingering cough. In that case it is not ok to assume you can come to the building. If you still have symptoms after the Hotline clears you, we will work with you to come up with an individualized plan. 

In the event of another type of emergency (accident, family emergency, child care situation, etc.) email both the Office of Student Affairs (osa@law.umaryland.edu) and the Office of Registration and Enrollment (registration@law.umaryland.edu) with an explanation. Again, do not contact your professor. Dean Hayes or Mr. Boggs will work with you to reschedule your exam.

I also note that Dr. Jarrell in his message of November 19 encouraged but did not require Covid testing after holiday travel. If you traveled over the Thanksgiving holiday please consider getting tested. Testing for non-essential travel is not available through UMB but this link has available test sites: https://coronavirus.maryland.gov/pages/symptoms-testing.

We’ll get through this together and I very much hope you will be able to enjoy a much deserved break before the spring semester begins.

Barbara Gontrum
Senior Associate Dean

Dear students,

As we head into the exam period, I am writing to respond to a few COVID-related questions we have received that are set out below. As previously announced, all exams will be in-person this year except in the two online classes (Family Law and Professor McClain’s Legal Profession) and in classes with take home exams. The most current exam schedule is attached.

What should I do if I am ill or have an emergency on the day of an exam?

If you have symptoms that might be COVID or a known COVID exposure you must do two things: 1) Call the Hotline at 1-800-701-9863. 2) Email both the Office of Student Affairs (osa@law.umaryland.edu) and the Office of Registration and Enrollment (registration@law.umaryland.edu) with an explanation of your situation. Dean Hayes or Dean Gontrum will respond to your email and will work with you to reschedule your exam after you are cleared to return by the nurse case manager. Do not contact your professor.

In the event of another type of emergency (accident, family emergency, child care situation, etc.) email both the Office of Student Affairs (osa@law.umaryland.edu) and the Office of Registration and Enrollment (registration@law.umaryland.edu) with an explanation. Again, do not contact your professor. Dean Hayes or Mr. Boggs will work with you to reschedule your exam.

What is the mask requirement for in-person exams?

Exams are considered a classroom situation under the UMB rules and KN95 masks are required. You will be able to lift your mask briefly during exams to eat a quick snack or take a drink. The law school will provide breakfast bars prior to morning exams, other types of snack bars in the afternoons and evenings, and bottles of water.

Can we take exams to different rooms in order to spread out?

You must take your exam in your assigned room. We have planned for spacing in exam rooms to achieve distancing. Students will be able to sit in at least every other seat. Larger classes are scheduled in multiple exam rooms. It only happens rarely but we have had situations in which someone noticed a discrepancy and we needed to make an announcement in the room.

In general Covid news –

Note that the Baltimore Convention site for testing and vaccinations closed as of last Saturday. There is now a new testing/vaccination site at State Center, 300 N. Preston Street. The new site  is accessible through Baltimore Subwaylink by entering the Lexington Market station and taking the subway one stop. The link for making a testing appointment at the new site is https://www.umms.org/coronavirus/fighting-covid/expanded-clinical-locations/baltimore-convention-center/testing. You can also arrange testing at UMaryland Immediate Care by calling 667-214-1899.

For students who are interested in acquiring reuseable KN95 masks, the campus has approved GATA masks as another reusable option (in addition to the previously approved VogMasks). The GATA masks are less expensive than VogMasks. Thanks to Courtney Bergan for her advocacy on this issue.

I realize this is a stressful time but I hope you have some downtime over the Thanksgiving break to enjoy the holiday and get some rest before the start of exams.

Warm regards,

Barbara Gontrum
Senior Associate Dean

Dear Students,

I hope you had a good weekend.

Here is a new FAQ with responses to questions I received from the SBA.

While avoiding Covid is obviously a priority, it will be best for all of us if we can also avoid the usual cold and flu season. October is a great time to get a flu shot and they are offered at the SMC Campus Center (Room 349) from 9 am to noon Wednesdays and 1:30 pm to 4 pm Thursdays. Information on how to sign up can be found at umaryland.edu/flu. There will also be a special flu clinic tomorrow, October 19, from 9 – 5 offered by the School of Pharmacy and Walgreens at the HSHSL Library. More information and registration can be found here.

While this email is about Covid-related topics, this time in the semester can be stressful for any number of reasons. Please take care of yourself and don’t hesitate to reach out to the Office of Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, or to any of us in the administration or faculty if you have concerns or questions.  

Barbara Gontrum
Senior Associate Dean

Dear Students,

Yesterday we received a sufficient quantity of KN95 disposable masks to be able to give 10 to each law student. We will distribute masks in the Constitutional Law II sections today to cover the 2D class. There are now boxes of masks outside the OSA offices for 3D, 3E, 4E and LLM students to pick up.

The masks are from two different sources. UMB provided two for each student and the law school ordered additional quantities to make up the 10. The masks the law school ordered are from a different vendor that was approved by the UMB COVID safety experts. Here is an instruction sheet on how to properly wear KN95s. UMB also has video instructions posted here.

By no later than Monday, October 11, we expect to see full compliance with the KN95 mandate in all law school classrooms. Let me know if you have any questions.

Have a good week!

Barbara Gontrum
Senior Associate Dean

Dear Students: 

I hope your classes are going well. I continue to be impressed by and grateful for our law school community’s collective commitment to observing COVID safety protocols.

First, I want to address today’s email from President Jarrell as I have heard the part relating to changes in self-isolation/quarantine policies is confusing. I checked with Student Health leadership to confirm that there will not be a change in quarantine procedures for anyone who tests positive for COVID after the new KN95 requirement is in place. No one who tests positive will be in this building until the case manager is certain there is no danger of contagion to others and has cleared the person to return.  

As we continue to navigate learning together in the midst of COVID, I wanted to address the questions your SBA President, Maya Foster, sent to me about various COVID policies, as well as some other topics. 

Attached is a document with my responses to the questions (September 17, 2021 FAQ). I am always willing to talk about individual concerns or circumstances as we continue to navigate through this uncharted territory.

Have a great weekend!

Barbara Gontrum
Senior Associate Dean

Dear Students,

As the third week of the semester closes, things have been going well. Thank you for your vigilance and commitment to COVID safety protocols both inside and outside the school.

As noted in earlier messages, the greatest risk of COVID exposure is eating indoors or attending social gatherings without masks. We completely understand the desire to get together with friends, especially after this past year of limited options. However, our ability to continue in person learning hinges on our collective commitment to minimize risk as much as possible. Please carefully consider the risks and stay safe when you make decisions about social activities and study groups.

As you likely saw in the message from President Jarrell, the campus has decided to require KN95 masks in classrooms in the near future. Our understanding is this is a proactive measure – designed to give students greater comfort that the classroom environment has the lowest possible risk of transmission. KN95 masks protect the wearer even more than cloth masks. UMB also strongly recommends KN95 masks for all group activities where six feet of physical distance cannot be maintained or where more than five people are present. The UMB website has more information about the new requirement here.

We understand UMB will provide at least one KN95 mask for each student. The law school is looking into purchasing additional KN95 masks for students once we have a better understanding of what the campus will provide.

The other new campus policy concerns food at events. The only type of food allowed at indoor events is “grab and go” which is the model the law school has already adopted for fall events.

Again, we very much appreciate your efforts to keep all of us safe. We will continue to keep you updated whenever there are new developments.

Barbara Gontrum
Senior Associate Dean

Dear Students,

I want to thank all of you for observing safety protocols on campus, especially mandatory masking and staying home when you are not feeling well. Remember to call the UMB COVID Hotline to report symptoms of concern, a positive test, or a potential exposure. The link to the COVID Hotline information is here: https://www.umaryland.edu/coronavirus/hotline/.

The Hotline’s infection prevention team will assist you in navigating your symptoms and making decisions to prioritize your health and prevent the spread of COVID. The Hotline process is there for you to get help, to protect others, and to ensure that you have an excused absence when you have been instructed not to attend class due to symptoms, a potential high risk exposure, pending test results, or a positive case. 

The COVID Hotline team will notify Assistant Dean Hayes and me if they advise a particular student to isolate for any reason. We can assist students with notifying faculty so you can make up any class work. To protect student privacy, the student health team does not notify us of the student’s medical condition or test result. We check on the student and help to coordinate with the student’s professors.

UMB policies and protocols relating to COVID, contact tracing, and notification to potentially exposed individuals were developed based on CDC guidelines, the advice of UMB medical professionals, and input from university counsel. The law school follows UMB COVID policies.  If a student receives a positive test, the campus initiates a contact tracing process which involves interviewing the student about on-campus interactions and opportunities for infecting others. They consider duration of contact, proximity, and whether individuals were masked while interacting. The campus contact tracing team notifies any individuals whom they consider at risk based on the discussion with the positive student. Sitting masked in the same classroom or having other interactions when masked are not considered at risk exposures warranting notification. The process does not include sending general notifications about positive cases.

Our high vaccination rate and mandatory mask policy allow us to return safely to in-person classes. However, students have many interactions outside of class, in study groups, in the library, or in social settings. The primary indoor risk of transmission is not in classrooms when students are masked, but when students eat together or otherwise interact without masks. While we have been pleased with the level of compliance with the masking policy in the building, we urge you to remain mindful that taking off your mask to eat, study, or socialize in or away from the law school increases the risk of exposure. We urge you to be cautious and remove masks for minimal amounts of time to eat without talking to others, then put your masks back on to have conversations.

If you have any questions or concerns about policies or particular circumstances, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Barbara Gontrum
Senior Associate Dean

Dear Students:

We hope you had a fantastic summer.  We are excited to welcome you to the law school for classes next week. To keep our community as safe as possible, UMB has required everyone to receive a vaccine and wear face coverings indoors. UMB and the School of Law are closely monitoring developments and metrics relating to the continuing spread of COVID and particularly the Delta variant. The safe continuation of in-person classes depends in large part on our ability as a community to take the steps necessary to protect ourselves and community members.

Here are the guidelines we all must follow to make our community as safe as possible.

All students, faculty, and staff are required to wear face masks that fully cover the person’s nose and mouth while inside the school building, including during classes.  Faculty members may remove masks while teaching in a classroom as long as they are at least six feet away from the nearest students.

Masks are not required in our two outdoor spaces – the courtyard and the patio on the fourth floor of the library. The only indoor exception to the mask policy is while eating as we understand there will be times when you will need to eat inside the law school building. We recognize this is counter to normal behavior but the new UMB guidelines require separating eating from talking to others. Eat and then put your mask back on while you are talking. In addition to the outdoor areas, spaces in which students can eat indoors in a distanced fashion include empty classrooms and study carrels in the library. UMB protocols prohibit eating during classroom sessions. Beverages are allowed in classrooms as long you return to wearing a mask as soon as possible.  

Do not come to the building if you are sick. This includes cold symptoms. Even if you believe you just have a cold you should call the campus Hotline 1-800-701-9863 to receive guidance. The majority of classes will be recorded so you should not worry about missing class. If your class is not recorded your professor will assist you with making up class work.

As we all know from watching the news the COVID situation is fluid and can change rapidly. We greatly appreciate everyone’s help in making our community as safe as possible as we begin our fall semester of in-person learning.  Please do not hesitate to contact me or Dean Hayes if you have individual circumstances you need to discuss with us.  

Barbara Gontrum
Senior Associate Dean

Dear Maryland Carey Law Students, 

We look forward to seeing you in the halls and classrooms of the law school soon! While we are hoping for as close to a normal year as possible, we know we will be dealing with COVID for a while longer. I write to update you on some recent developments to ensure the health and safety of our community.

Masking Protocols
While we had hoped that having a vaccinated community would alleviate the need for masks, recent reports about the ability of vaccinated individuals to spread the Delta variant to unvaccinated children and others has caused concern. UMB has returned to an indoor mask requirement for anyone coming on the campus.  All students will be required to wear masks while in the law school building, including in classrooms. Professors will not be required to wear a mask while teaching, so long as the closest student is six feet away.

Vaccines
If you have not yet submitted vaccine documentation or applied for an exemption to the mandate, the link to the UMB COVID-19 Management Portal can be found here: https://www.umaryland.edu/coronavirus/vaccine/. A few days after you submit the documentation, you can confirm on the portal that UMB received it. 

Illness Protocol for Classes
While the American Bar Association requires students to attend at least 80% of all classes, we do not want you to come to the law school when you are sick. To facilitate making up work, we are expecting most fall classes to be recorded (except clinics). The recordings will be available to students in the class for the remainder of the semester.  

In-Person Classes
With safety protocols in place, in-person classes will meet in person, with no remote hybrid options.

Delta Variant and UMB
We are very fortunate to be on a health care campus guided by frontline COVID experts in this rapidly changing environment. We are confident that UMB will continue to adapt to changing circumstances as appropriate and we will update you if any additional changes to safety policies occur.

For future reference, schoolwide messages relating to fall semester plans are posted on this webpage:

https://www.law.umaryland.edu/Current-Student-Resources/Announcements/

If you have any questions about COVID protocols at the law school, the vaccine requirement, or other related issues, please don’t hesitate to contact me. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Barbara Gontrum
Senior Associate Dean

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.