Students in online courses are required (when a take-home or a paper is not assigned) to take the same final exam as students in a corresponding on-campus course, and they will be graded along the same grading curve as all other students in the course (including, where applicable, JD, full-time, and part-time Graduate Tax students, and students in other LLM specialties). When an online course is administered independently of a traditional course, the professor will make the determination about the content of the final exam, but all students are treated equally and grading is performed by the professor without knowledge of the identity of any student.
Final exams are scheduled and administered by the Office of Academic Services. Students in the Executive LLM and MSL programs can take exams in several ways:
On-Campus, Proctored
Referred to as "In-Class" exams, these exams are proctored in a classroom on campus. Students are provided with a printed copy of the exam questions. Exam answers are entered and uploaded into Exam4 software. Please note that all Spring 2022 "In-Class" exams have been converted to "Computer-Proctored Remote."
Computer-Proctored Remote
Students in the Executive LLM and MSL programs may examine remotely, using Exam4 software, in their home, office, hotel room, etc. Students are proctored using Exam4's online proctoring system. Students view exam questions securely on a laptop or desktop computer with a webcam. The space used for the exam must be quiet and interruption-free, with a stable internet connection. Students type their answers into Exam4 while being monitored through the computer webcam. Answers are uploaded through Exam4 at the end of the exam. Students may not cut and paste into Exam4.
Proctored in absentia
Students can work with the Office of Academic Services to locate an appropriate site in which to take their final exams. The vice dean's approval is required, effective for students admitted in the 2022-2023 academic year, and generally the input of the tax program will be sought in these cases. The tax program, in turn, is always supportive of students in online programs taking exams in absentia and is generally supportive of other graduate tax students taking 1-2 exams in absentia each semester, and would consider a larger number of exams on a case by case basis. Students examining in absentia arrange to take their proctored exam at a local ABA-accredited law school by contacting the host school's Registrar (or whatever their chief exam administrator's title is) to seek permission. The host school provides a proctor to watch the student take the exam. The exam must be taken on the scheduled date, unless a postponement has been arranged with the Law School. If the school is in another time zone, we may have some flexibility on the exam start time. Students would also notify NYU that they are seeking to examine in absentia by filing an accommodation request in our ExamReporter application. Where an examination in absentia is necessary, the student will be responsible for his or her share of the associated expenses such as the hourly wages of the proctor, the additional cost of printing an exam on security paper, and mailing the exam to and from the exam site. While there is often no cost entailed, any costs should be relatively modest, less than $50 per exam.
Take-Home
Take-Home exams are administered using Exam4 software but are not proctored. Take-Home exams can be "scheduled" or "full-period." "Scheduled" take-home exams must be taken on a specific date and are typically four to eight hours duration. "Full-Period" take-home exams last for the entire exam period, typically ten days. Exam questions are downloaded and printed from a dedicated Take-Home Exam Questions website during the exam period. Take-Home exam answers are uploaded to Exam4. Students may cut and paste into Exam4.