STUDENT CAUCUS
Monday, January 5, 2015 3
One Last Semester
This Student Caucus Chair’s Swan Song
jeffrey hernaez ›
student caucus chair
I
t has yet to sink in that this is my last term at
Osgoode – both as a student and Student Caucus
representative. I wanted to take the opportunity to update you all on some of the issues that
Student Caucus has been working on throughout my
three terms that I hope will develop or resolve before
the end of my tenure as Chair this year.
synthesize their knowledge before the stress of the
exam period. I owe much thanks to Henry Limheng
(2L rep and former 1L rep) for doing a lot of the heavy
lifting on this issue. As always, feel free to contact
any of your Student Caucus representatives with any
concerns you may have.
Lastly, I wanted to thank my fellow executive members, Ryan Robski and Caroline Garrod, for being
there 24/7 and for being the calm to my storm.
Further, I am really grateful for all the committed
students I’ve had a chance to work with. Each and
every one of them has strived to deliver the student
voice on a host of different issues affecting Osgoode
students. Finally, it has also been a pleasure working
with Osgoode’s faculty and staff, who also share the
desire to make this law school the best it can be. u
The Bell Curve
For the past few years, the Academic Policy and
Planning Committee (APPC) has been contemplating
changes to the application of the bell curve to classes
under the size of thirty. I previously wrote about this
issue in the Obiter and provide more details in that
article. The proposed change that may make its way
to Faculty Council for approval this term is abolishing
the curve for classes of thirty students or fewer, and
for all intensives, seminars, and prospective options.
In short, the rationale for the change is that there is
little statistical basis for applying the curve to small
classes. I am grateful to Abigail Cheung, Hannah
DeJong, Caroline Garrod, and Jonathan Silver, who I
have passed the APPC torch onto after my two years
on the committee. It was also a pleasure working
with committee chair Professor Brian Slattery.
Library Access
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Access to the law library has been a hot button topic
among students this year. There are those who feel
that existing policies that restrict the top floor to
only law students year-round and restrict the whole
library during exams should be more rigorously
enforced. On the other hand, there are students who
feel that access to the library should not be restricted
to those who can only obtain and afford admission to
the law school. To be clear, this debate is solely about
study space as access to the library’s collection is
open to all community members.
This term I hope Student Caucus will work with
students and staff to create a policy that preserves
the protection of study spaces for Osgoode students.
How