Academic Regulations
I. Preamble
- All students enrolled at 杏十八新茶分享 College of Law (WUCL) are subject to the Regulations reproduced in this Section.
- It is the responsibility of each student to be thoroughly familiar with these Regulations and to comply with them.
- 杏十八新茶分享 and the College of Law reserve the right to change these and other regulations at any time.
II. Student Conduct
Standards of Conduct
杏十八新茶分享 College of Law expects a high standard of conduct from its students. A students registration is a pledge to abide by the WUCL Honor Code. The Code is reproduced in the Student Honor Code General Principles section of this Handbook.
Students have a continuing duty to report any arrest, plea of guilty or "no contest," or conviction of any crime or traffic violation (except parking citations). The report must be made to the Director of Campus Safety within 5 business days after the arrest, plea of guilty or "no contest," or conviction occurs. Information regarding any such incident may be evaluated by the university's Behavior Review Team and may be further reviewed by the 杏十八新茶分享 Office of Student Affairs. Disclosure is required whether the crime occurred in or outside of Oregon. Failure to report this information may constitute grounds for immediate dismissal from the university.
杏十八新茶分享 College of Law students are also subject to the 杏十八新茶分享 Code of Student Conduct. This Code is published on the Office of Student Affairs website.
Class Attendance Policy
The Principle
杏十八新茶分享 College of Law is committed to providing a rigorous, sophisticated educational program designed to effectively prepare its students for successful and satisfying legal careers. Regular and punctual class attendance, thorough preparation for each class, and active participation in class discussion are not only indispensable ingredients of this program but are also extremely beneficial to each student. Consequently, students are expected to attend all class sessions.
Nevertheless, recognizing that in some cases circumstances beyond a students control may prevent attendance in all classes, the Faculty adopted the Class Attendance Policy reproduced below, which sets the maximum number of permissible absences. This number is deliberately set high so as to take account of all possible reasons for which a student might miss classes (including illness, family emergencies, job interviews, weather, travel conditions, etc.) while obviating the need for individual ad hoc exceptions. Consequently, no exceptions will be granted or considered. A student who misses more than the permissible number of classes will be administratively withdrawn from the course, regardless of the reasons for the absences. This is because the student has not participated in the educational process to a degree sufficient to permit the award of academic credit. Much more is taught in the classroom than is tested on the exams.
The Specific Requirements.
- Attendance at 75% of regularly scheduled class hours is essential to learning the course material. Attendance tracking begins on the first day of classes. If a student chooses to add a course during the Add/Drop period but after the first meeting date, any classes missed will count as an absence. Any student who does not satisfy this minimum, regardless of reasons, at any point during the semester, will be administratively withdrawn from the course. That administrative withdrawal will be noted on the students transcript with the symbol X.
- Each instructor should record attendance in class each day and submit records to the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) at the end of each week. A student should review his or her attendance record on SAGE.
- Any discrepancies in attendance tracking should be brought to the attention of the faculty member for resolution. (The Honor Code applies to students who inaccurately record their own or anyone else's attendance.) It is the students responsibility to track attendance, as reporting in SAGE may not always be up to date.
- An instructor may impose a stricter attendance policy, and may impose additional sanctions for non-attendance, including lowering the grade by one gradation, if the instructor provides notice of their attendance rules and sanctions by the end of the first week of classes.
Employment During Law School
The law school has a policy that a student may not engage in employment for more than 20 hours per week in any semester in which the student is enrolled in more than 12 class hours. Upper-class students shall strictly comply with this requirement. Furthermore, first-year students are strongly advised not to engage in any employment while law school is in session. Students who wish to seek a waiver of these provisions may apply to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs for permission to adjust these work hour limitations.
Etiquette for Cell Phones in Classrooms
The use of cell phones in a classroom during class disrupts the educational process and is therefore prohibited. Please turn off your cell phone before you enter the classroom.
Etiquette for Laptop Computer Use in Classrooms
Students may use computers in class only for educational purposes, such as taking notes or accessing materials that are necessary for the particular class. The use of computers for other purposes, such as reading, composing, or sending email or instant messages, playing video or audio files or games, or displaying web pages not necessary for the class is prohibited. Each professor retains the right to establish a more restrictive policy.
III. Academic Program
Required First-Year Curriculum.
All first-year students are required to attend the Orientation program. The first-year curriculum consists of the required courses listed below.
Fall
LAW 101 - Civil Procedure
LAW 103 - Contracts I
LAW 105 - Lawyering I
LAW 109 - Torts
Total Hours (16)
Spring
LAW 104 - Contracts II
LAW 106 - Lawyering II
LAW 108 - Property
LAW 111 - Constitutional Law I
LAW 114 - Criminal Law
LAW 119 - (if required) or 2 credit elective (optional)
Total Hours (14-16)
Applied Legal Analysis
Upon the completion of the first semester of studies at the law school, students who have a cumulative GPA of 2.55 or below are required to take LAW 119 - Applied Legal Analysis (Spring) in the spring semester of their 1L year.
Upon the completion of their first year of study, students who have a cumulative GPA of 2.65 or below are required to take LAW 279 - Applied Legal Analysis (Fall) the following semester. This requirement applies whether or not the student was required to take ALA Spring.
For part-time students, the requirement for the Applied Legal Analysis courses applies at the end of the semester in which the student has accumulated 15 credit hours. A part-time student who has a cumulative GPA of 2.55 or below is required to register for the Applied Legal Analysis course offered in the next semester, either LAW 119 or LAW 279.
Upper-Class Required Courses.
1. All Students.
During their second year, all students must enroll in and complete LAW 206 - Professional Responsibility. Students should also note the Experiential Learning Requirement and the Writing Requirements.
2. All students – Other Required Classes.
All students are also required to complete:
- LAW 213 - Evidence
- LAW 214 - Real Estate Transactions
- LAW 252 - Constitutional Law II
- LAW 334 - Criminal Procedure I
- LAW 640 - Legal Analysis for the Bar
At least two of these courses should be taken each semester until completed, although Legal Analysis for the Bar must be taken in the year prior to graduation. All students are also strongly encouraged to take the classes listed in subsection 4, below.
3. Students Maintaining a Cumulative GPA Above 3.1.
If a student has a cumulative GPA above 3.1 after completing their first year curriculum, they are exempt from the requirements in subsection 2. Such students are nevertheless encouraged to take those classes. If a student has a cumulative GPA of 3.1 or below on the first grade report received after they have completed the equivalent of 55 credits, the exemption no longer applies and they must take the classes required in subsection 2. prior to graduation.
4. Students with a Cumulative GPA of 2.8 or Lower.
In addition to the requirements of 2, above, students who have a cumulative GPA of 2.80 or below after completing their first year curriculum, or in the first grade report received after they have completed the equivalent of 55 credits, are required to complete the following courses:
- LAW 202 - Business Organizations
- LAW 208 - Family Law
- LAW 234 - Trusts and Estates
- LAW 246 - Sales
- LAW 313 - Conflicts of Law
- LAW 337 - Secured Transactions
These courses remain requirements, even if a student raises their cumulative GPA in a subsequent semester.
5. Students with a Cumulative GPA of 3.1 or Lower Entering Their Final Semester.
Students who have not otherwise been subject to the requirements in subsections 2 or 4 above, but whose cumulative GPA is 3.1 or lower as they begin their final semester prior to graduation, must take LAW 213 Evidence, LAW 252 - Constitutional Law II, LAW 640 - Legal Analysis for the Bar prior to graduation. If the student has already taken any of those classes, they must instead take, as a substitute for each class already taken, any class in 2 that they have not already taken and passed; or, if the student has passed all of those courses, they may take any course in 4 that they have not already passed. Students should also note the obligation to maintain a 2.3 cumulative GPA in their final two semesters, see GPA Requirement.
6. Required courses must be taken at 杏十八新茶分享 College of Law.
7. Waivers.
The required courses in this section are required not only because the faculty believes them to be necessary preparation for the Bar Exam, but because they provide a set of fundamental skills necessary for any graduate receiving a J.D. For that reason, waivers will not be granted because a person is not taking a bar, or because they are taking a bar in a jurisdiction where different topics are tested. Generally speaking, only irreconcilable scheduling conflicts with other required classes would justify the grant of a waiver of the required courses listed in this section. Waiver requests are submitted to the Student Petitions Committee via the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. Decisions of the Committee are final.
Grades in Required Courses
- To graduate, a student must earn a passing grade of D- (.60) or better for each required course. A student who earns a failing grade in any required course will not earn credit for that course and must retake the course at WUCL.The F will remain on the transcript, but will not be included in a students GPA. The grade earned on the retake will also appear on the transcript and will be used to calculate the students GPA.
- A course cannot be retaken if a passing grade was previously achieved.
Letter-Graded Courses
- All first-year courses are graded on a letter-grade basis.
- Most upper-class 200-300 series and 600 series courses are graded on a letter -graded basis, although students should always confirm at the tie of registration.
- Most upper-class 400 series courses are graded on an Honors/Credit/No Credit basis, although students should always confirm at the time of registration.
- A JD student may not take a course on an Honors/Credit/No Credit basis if the course is listed as a letter-graded course.
Total Number of Credits Required for Graduation
- The total number of credit hours required for graduation is 90, of which at least 70 must be letter-graded. Students may count no more than seven (7) co-curricular credits towards the 90 total credits required for graduation.
- For letter-graded courses, a student must earn a grade of D- (. 60) or higher to have the hours for that course count toward the 70 letter-graded hour graduation requirement. A grade below D- is a failing grade and is recorded as F. It is computed into the students GPA, but the hours for that course are not counted toward the 90-hour graduation requirement.
- For courses graded on an Honors/Credit/No Credit basis, a grade of No Credit (NC) means that the hours for that course will not count towards the 90-hour graduation requirement.
Courses After the First Year.
After completion of the first-year curriculum, students are free to plan their own class schedules with the assistance of a faculty advisor, subject to the requirements of Upper-Class Required Courses, supra.
Maximum Number of Credit Hours Per Semester.
The ABA Accreditation Standards provide that, during a single semester, [a] law school shall not permit a student to be enrolled in coursework that exceeds 20 percent of the total credit hours required by that school for graduation. In our case, this means that a student may not enroll in more than 18 credit hours per semester. Enrollment of 17 or 18 credits must be approved by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and is billed at the per credit rate for each credit in excess of 16 credits for that semester in addition to the full-time tuition rate. This includes credit received from all sources, including externships, co-curricular credits such as moot court competitions, law journals, and courses taken at AGSM or other institutions.
IV. Grading Rules and Practices
Letter Grades and Grading Scale
WUCL uses a letter grading system. The grade range is A+ to F. The letter system includes minuses and pluses for each letter grade as follows:
Grade
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F
Quality Points
4.3
4.0
3.6
3.3
3.0
2.6
2.3
2.0
1.6
1.3
1.0
0.6
0
Other grades or symbols that may appear on a JD student’s record are:
- H: Honors
- CR: Credit
- NC: No Credit
- I: Incomplete
- *: Best Paper
- W: Withdrawn
- X: Administratively Withdrawn for Failure to Comply with Class Attendance Policy
- NGR: No Grade Received
Courses which are graded on a letter-graded versus a non-letter-graded basis are described in Letter-Graded Courses, supra.
Uniform Grading Standards.
The faculty has adopted the following policy:
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- All first-year classes with an enrollment of 20 or more students, with the exception of LAW 105 and 106--Lawyering I and II and LAW 119 Applied Legal Analysis, must have a mean grade within the range of 2.70-2.90.
- The Lawyering classes, regardless of class size, must have a mean grade within the range of 2.80-3.00.
- In all first-year courses (with the exception of LAW 105, 106, and 119):
- 10-15% of the grades must be a C (2.00) or below; and
- at least 5% of grades must be below C (2.00).
- All second and third-year classes with an enrollment of 20 or more students must have a mean grade within the range of 2.80-3.00 except LAW 279 and LAW 640.
- Any non-JD students enrolled in a class shall be ignored for purposes of determining the applicability and content of these grading standards.
Grades May Not be Changed.
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- After submission to the Registrar, a grade may not be changed.
- A grade may be corrected in the case of a computational or clerical error certified in writing by the professor and verified and approved by the Dean.
Miscellaneous.
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- Incomplete. A student who receives an incomplete (‘I’) grade must satisfactorily complete the requirements for that course by 60 calendar days after the end of the semester (after final exams). The professor may not extend the 60-day deadline.
If the student fails to complete the work, the ‘I’ grade is automatically converted to a grade of ‘F’ in the case of a letter-graded course and to an ‘NC’ grade in the case of a course graded on an H/CR/NC basis. In both instances, the credit hours do not count toward the 70- or the 90-hour graduation requirement.
A student who receives an ‘I’ and then completes the course requirements within the above deadline may not receive a grade that is higher than the grade previously assigned to the “best paper” in that course.
- Independent Research. The Independent Research course involves the preparation of a paper or thesis on a topic selected by the student which is not fully covered by the regular curriculum, under the supervision of a full-time faculty member. One credit hour of Independent Research requires 52 hours of work, including any meetings with the supervising full-time faculty member. Two credit hours of Independent Research require 104 hours of work, including any meetings with the supervising full-time faculty member. A maximum of 2 credits of Independent Research can be applied towards graduation requirements.
- Audit. Auditors are permitted with the express permission of the professor. Absent special arrangements with the professor, ordinary attendance rules apply.
- GPA Ranges. WUCL computes GPA ranges for students who place in the top 10%, top 25%, top 33%, and top 50% of the class. These ranges are computed on the basis of cumulative grade point averages. Ranges are not calculated below 50%.
- Individual Class Rankings. Each semester, cumulative rankings are noted for those who place in the top 33% of the class. This information is not posted to the law transcript. Rankings are produced as follows:
Fall semester – cumulative rankings for all 1L, 2L, and 3L students
Spring semester – cumulative rankings for all 1L and 2L students. Graduation rankings will be produced for all students graduating in August, January, and May in the current academic year.
Part-time students will be included in rankings after completing at least 15 credit hours. Students with 15 – 31 credits will be ranked with the 1L class, 32 – 60 credits with the 2L class, and 61+ credits with the 3L class.
- Dean’s Honors List. The Dean’s Honors List is composed of the top 10% of the class based on semester grades and is limited to full-time students completing 8 or more letter-graded hours that semester and part-time students completing 6 or more letter-graded hours that semester. This achievement is noted on the student’s transcript.
- Good Academic Standing. A student is in good academic standing if their cumulative GPA is 2.30 or above.
V. Academic Probation
When a Student is on Academic Probation
A student is placed on academic probation when their cumulative grade point average falls below C+ (2.30). Academic probation is noted on the student's transcript. A student returns to a status of good academic standing when their cumulative GPA is 2.30 or above.
Required Courses for Students on Academic Probation
-
-
- Students on academic probation must have their course selection approved by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.
- Students who are on academic probation at the end of the fall or spring semester may not enroll at a summer program offered by another law school. They may enroll at the WUCL summer program only with the prior permission of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.
- Students on academic probation are ineligible to hold any office including in class SBA, or student organizations.
VI. Academic Dismissal
When a Student is Academically Dismissed
A student is permanently dismissed from WUCL:
-
-
- If the student's cumulative grade point average is below 2.10 after completing two semesters;
- If the student's cumulative grade point average is below 2.25 after completing three or more semesters;
- If, in their first full semester, the student is administratively withdrawn from more than seven credits for failure to meet the attendance requirements of the Class Attendance Policy; or
- If they are a transfer student and their cumulative GPA falls below 2.25 after any semester.
Petitions for Readmission
-
-
- A student who has been dismissed under the conditions set above may petition for readmission. Readmission is a matter of law school discretion rather than a matter of right. Readmission is allowed only in exceptional cases.
- The Student Petitions Committee evaluates all petitions for readmission pursuant to ABA Standard 501(c), which requires "an affirmative showing" that the student's dismissal "does not indicate a lack of capacity to complete [the] program of legal education and be admitted to the bar." In Particular, the Committee assesses the petitioners potential for reaching the required GPA level for the next segment of course work, as prescribed by the Academic Regulations. The Committee also examines whether the exclusion had been caused by an acute but non-chronic medical or personal crisis and whether that crisis continues to be an obstacle to the students ability to succeed in law school.
- Possible decisions from the committee are:
- Affirmation of academic exclusion, with no opportunity for students transcript readmission. Academically Dismissed will be noted on the students transcript.
- Approval to return with conditions which may include remaining unenrolled for a period of time, up to one year, and may also include a specific action plan designed to maximize the students potential for success. Academic Probation will be noted on the students transcript for any semester when their cumulative GPA is below 2.30.
- Approval to return but with the requirement to restart the program in its entirety. Previous academic work and grades will remain on the academic transcript, but will not count toward degree requirements and will not be factored into the students GPA.
- Decisions of the Student Petitions Committee are final.
Requirements for Readmitted Students.
Unless otherwise specifically stated in writing at the time of their readmission, readmitted students are subject to all requirements in the student handbook as of the date they restart classes.
VII. Graduation Requirements
General.
杏十八新茶分享 confers the degree Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) on those students who have been admitted and successfully completed the program of legal education and meet all the Requirements for Graduation prescribed by WUCL. It is the students responsibility to be thoroughly familiar with the Graduation Requirements and to comply with them.
Required Number of Credit Hours.
To be eligible to graduate, a student must successfully complete 90 credit hours of law course work, at least 70 of which must be letter-graded. Students are limited to seven (7) credit hours of co-curricular program credits to count towards the 90 credit hours required for graduation. Co-curricular programs include journals and competition teams.
Experiential Learning Requirement.
Per ABA Standard 303(a)(3), students must complete one or more experiential course(s) totaling at least six (6) credit hours. A student satisfies this requirement by successfully completing a minimum of six (6) credit hours from courses labeled as "Experiential Learning Courses" in the course catalogue and in registration materials released prior to each semester.
GPA Requirement.
To be eligible to graduate, a student must earn a cumulative GPA of C+ (2.30) or higher in all courses the student has taken in law school.
Graduation Writing Requirement.
To graduate, students must satisfy the Writing Requirement described in Section 4, Graduation Writing Requirement, of this Handbook, infra.
Time to Degree.
Students must complete all degree requirements within seven years from the date of initial enrollment, subject to any extension granted by federal law.
Applying for Graduation.
A student who meets the above Requirements must submit an application for the law degree, affirming that the candidate has met the various requirements for graduation. Petitions are available on SAGE.
Honors at Graduation.
- The faculty may award academic honors to members of a graduating class based on the guiding principles outlined in this section.
- Academic honors shall be determined anonymously, based on grade point averages and the guiding principles set forth below. Once the faculty completes its selection on the basis of cumulative GPA, the names of students receiving such honors may be revealed.
- Not withstanding the first sentence of subsection 2, if any student selected for academic honors has, since their first enrollment at the College of Law, been found guilty of violations of the Honor Code or subjected to a sanction as a result of a violation of the 杏十八新茶分享 Standards of Student Conduct, a majority of the faculty must specifically vote to award honors to such a student.
- Cumulative GPA for determining academic honors shall be determined to the closest 0.01 grade point.
- For the purpose of conferring academic honors, the number of students in a graduating class is the total number of students being awarded Juris Doctor degrees in a given academic year. The number of students that correspond to a particular percentage of the graduating class is the number of students in the class that are necessary to come closest to, but not to exceed, the specified percentage. Example: In a graduating class of 139 students, 5% is 6.95 students; therefore, 5 percent of the graduating class would be six, not seven, students. If, in this example, the sixth and seventh students have identical GPAs, 5 percent of the graduating class shall be five, not seven, students.
- Absent exceptional circumstances, the faculty will confer honors based on the following principles:
- Summa Cum Laude shall be awarded to the student (or students) with the highest cumulative GPA(s) in the class.
- Magna Cum Laude shall be awarded to the students not receiving Summa Cum Laude whose cumulative GPA places them in the top 7% of the class.
- Cum Laude shall be awarded to the students not receiving Magna or Summa Cum Laude whose cumulative GPA places them in the top 16% of the class.
- Discretionary Honors: Breaks between categories of honors should match significant gaps in the listing of all cumulative GPAs. In order to take advantage of those natural gaps, the faculty may award additional honors to students with GPAs below the levels set in subsections 6.a-c, taking into consideration significant breaks in the entire list of cumulative GPAs. If there are no such gaps between categories of honors (taking into account the limits in subsection 6.e, the default levels set forth in subsection 6.a-c should govern. As a general matter, significant gaps are those of 0.03 grade points or more, although for the award of additional Summa Cum Laude awards, additional awards may be conferred across gaps of up to 0.08 grade points.
- In conferring discretionary academic honors under 6.d:
- No student with a cumulative GPA below the top 4% of the graduating class may receive academic honors of Summa Cum Laude or higher;
- No student with a cumulative GPA below the top 10% of the graduating class may receive academic honors of Magna Cum Laude or higher;
- No student with a cumulative GPA below the top 20% of the graduating class may receive academic honors.
- The decisions of the faculty, including deviations from these guidelines, are deemed final and unappealable.
VIII. Registration for Classes
Variable Credit Courses.
Students may opt to register for between 3 and 12 credit hours for LAW 480 - Externship. Academic credits will be determined by the number of hours the student is scheduled to work at their externship site in consultation with the Director of Externships. Students may opt to register for between 2 and 4 credit hours for the clinical law courses - LAW 618 and LAW 634. Academic credits will be determined by the number of hours the student is scheduled to work in the clinic in consultation with the Director of the Clinical Law Program. Academic credits to be awarded need to be finalized no later than the add/drop deadline for the semester in which the student is registered. Adjustments to credit hours cannot be made after that time.
Double Registration.
Students may not register for two or more courses that meet simultaneously. A student who attempts to take two or more courses that meet at the same time will be registered for and receive academic credit for only one course.
A student may not enroll in both the Externship Program and any Clinic during the same semester.
Deadline for Adding and Dropping Courses.
Unless approved by the professor and the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, the last day for second- and third-year students to add and drop courses is 4:00 p.m. on the last day of the second week of classes. A withdrawal after the add/drop deadline, but before the withdrawal deadline, will result in a "W" on the transcript. Students may not withdraw from any course after the withdrawal deadline. See the academic calendar for specific deadlines each semester.
Summer School.
The summer semester runs from mid-May to mid-August and consists of two May intersession periods and two summer sessions; Summer I is six weeks and Summer II four weeks. Students are only permitted to take one credit per intersession period. In the Summer I and II sessions, students may register for up to 7 credit hours of regularly scheduled summer school courses in each session. Students registered for a summer Externship (LAW-480) may rarely be permitted to register for up to 10 credits, including Externship, though students registering for more than 7 credits will need permission from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, who evaluates, in light of past student performance, whether students can successfully complete all required work in Summer I and Summer II.
Students must enroll in 3 credit hours to qualify for financial aid in the summer. Summer Financial Aid is requested separately from Fall and Spring. A student who is on academic probation may enroll in the summer WUCL program only with prior permission of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.
IX. Co-Curricular Credit
Students who participate in moot court competitions, school-approved journals with established records of producing regular issues, as well as Willamette Law Online and the Moot Court Board, are eligible to receive ungraded academic credit as follows:
- Student members of qualifying extracurricular programs may seek one hour of ungraded credit for 52 hours of academic work performed for that program in a given semester.
- Board members of qualifying extracurricular programs may (in lieu of receiving credit under Co-Curricular Credit 1) seek two hours of ungraded academic credit if they perform 104 hours of academic work for that program in a given semester, but only if they serve as an elected board member during that entire semester.
- Students may seek credit for work completed in the summer semester, but applicable regulations regarding tuition, financial aid, and other considerations apply.
- Students intending to receive credit for work on a particular activity must enroll in the relevant course (and for the relevant number of credits) before the drop/add date for the semester in which they anticipate seeking the credits.
- "Academic work" includes editing, confirming, analyzing, and summarizing propositions in source material, reviewing academic articles for publication, reviewing materials and writing briefs for approved external moot court competitions, and practicing and presenting oral arguments in such competitions.
- Students must track their work by contemporaneously recording that work using a recording system (online, or using a timesheet) provided for that purpose. Students should complete the vast majority of their work and relevant timesheets prior to the last day of exams for the relevant semester. Students must complete and document all the necessary hours prior to submitting final timesheets for approval for the relevant semester. Submission and approval of timesheets by students are subject to the Student Honor Code.
- Student groups and faculty advisors should establish internal deadlines for submission, approval, and forwarding of relevant documents for final credit. In no case should final paperwork be forwarded to faculty advisors for final approval and recording of credit / no credit for the relevant course with fewer than three days before the grading deadline for that semester. Where necessary (i.e., not otherwise recorded online), students should also submit a copy of the final approved timesheets to OSA prior to the grade deadline for each semester.
- Students who have not completed all the necessary hours will be given a no credit notation on their transcript for that course.
- Students may count no more than seven (7) co-curricular credits towards the 90 total credits required for graduation.
- Students cannot add together activity from different programs to total 52 hours of credit in a given period; each credit applies only for 52 hours of work for a particular program.
- Participants seeking credit for participation in a specific moot court competition should register for the relevant credit course in the semester in which they are initially competing in that event, and may include, in recording hours completed, all the time spent on academic work related to that particular competition.
Journals that do not currently have a record of producing regular annual issues may, after establishing such a record but prior to the summer before the academic year in which this policy would apply to their participants, request that the Academic Affairs Committee approve the participation of their members in this process for receiving co-curricular credits.
X. Double Credit for Academic Work
The Rule.
Except as provided below, a student may not use work done for one course to fulfill requirements in another course.
The Exceptions.
A student may receive credit in two distinct courses for the same work if the student:
- Writes two distinct papers on two different aspects of the same general topic; or
- Engages in substantial additional work for the second course. Such work is ordinarily evidenced by at least 45 additional hours of work per hour of credit in the second course.
Under either exception, the student must obtain the permission of both instructors before submitting the work for the second course. At least one of the instructors must be a member of the full-time WUCL faculty. In both instances, the instructors have full discretion in deciding whether to grant the requested permission.
Law Review or Moot Court Work
In applying the Rule or the Exceptions stated above, a course includes work submitted to the Willamette Law Review, the Willamette Journal of International Law & Dispute Resolution, or the WUCL Moot Court Board. In such a case, the student must obtain the permission required by Paragraph 2 from the Faculty Advisor of the Review, the Journal, or the Moot Court Board, respectively.
XI. Credit for Courses Taken at Summer School and Other Schools
Transfer Students.
WUCL accepts a limited number of credit hours earned in an ABA-accredited law school when the grade received is a C (2.00) or above (or equivalent). The number of credits accepted toward completion of a WUCL degree from another law school shall be determined by the administration at the time of acceptance. However, grades are not transferable. A transfer students WUCL grade point average will be based solely upon the course work completed at WUCL.
Visiting Students
Required Permission
After completion of the first year, a student who is in good academic standing may apply to the Associate Dean of Student Affairs for permission to become a visiting student at another ABA-approved law school, either during a regular semester or a summer term. The Associate Dean for Student Affairs has absolute discretion in deciding on the application, as well as in approving the students course selection at the other school. Permission to visit will be granted only in exceptional circumstances and, in the case of third-year visits, only for compelling reasons. Permission will not be granted for courses that overlap with courses for which the student has already received credit. A student may not use courses from another institution to satisfy requirements outlined in Applied Legal Analysis and Upper-Class Required Courses.
Transfer of Credit
WUCL may accept credit for law courses in which the student has received a grade of C (2.00) or higher (or equivalent) at the other school. The courses will count toward the 70 letter-graded law credits requirement for graduation, but the grades will not be averaged into the students WUCL GPA.
Subject to prior approval by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, WUCL will also accept credit for courses taken on a credit/no credit basis if the student received credit at the other school. These courses will be treated as non-letter-graded courses for the purposes of WUCLs graduation requirements.
To receive WUCL credit, a student must make arrangements with the other school to have an official transcript of the students grades sent to WUCL. One hour of semester-credit is granted for each hour of credit completed in a semester-equivalent course. Quarter-hour equivalent courses are pro-rated accordingly.
Courses Taken at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management (AGSM).
- Candidates for the Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) degree, or joint JD and Masters of Business Administration (JD/MBA) degrees, Master of Law (LLM) degrees, or Master of Legal Studies (MLS) degree may not receive credit for a bar subject taught at AGSM. Students must contact the Registrar at AGSM to register for an AGSM course.
- Candidates for the JD degree may take up to 6 credit hours of course work at AGSM, which may be used to satisfy the 90-credit hour graduation requirement at WUCL if the student receives grades equal to or higher than AGSMs graduation requirement in those courses (ie, B (3.00). AGSM courses do not count toward satisfying the 70 letter-graded hour graduation requirement at WUCL.
- Grades earned at AGSM may not be used in calculating WUCL grade point averages, nor in calculating WUCL class standings.
- WUCL students should assume that AGSM courses will not satisfy WUCL prerequisite requirements for advanced courses at WUCL.
- Students enrolling in both WUCL and AGSM courses in the same semester cannot exceed a total of 18 credit hours.
XII. Leave of Absence or Withdrawal
Leave of Absence.
A student may apply in writing to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs for a leave of absence. The leave, if granted typically does not exceed one academic year.
Withdrawal and Readmission.
- A student who withdraws from WUCL without a previously approved leave of absence is not entitled as a matter of right to return to WUCL.
- A student who wishes to return to WUCL must apply in writing to the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. The letter should explain the reasons for the withdrawal and the reasons that support readmission. Among the factors to be considered in granting readmission are: (1) the quality of the applicants work before withdrawal; (2) the reasons for withdrawal; (3) the length of time between withdrawal and application for readmission; and (4) whether the applicant meets the admission standards at the time of readmission.
- A student seeking to withdraw for medical reasons should consult with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. Additional information about this type of withdrawal can be found at medical withdrawal page.
XIII. Academic Counseling
Academic Advisors
First-year students are assigned a faculty academic advisor. This faculty member is available to answer academic or course-related questions throughout law school. Students on academic probation must have their course selection for the next semester approved by the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.
XIV. Students With Disabilities
The university maintains an office of services for students with disabilities. Students who have a disability that may require auxiliary services should make an appointment with the AES Director to learn about eligibility and available services as soon as possible, preferably at or before the beginning of the semester. For further information, see the Accessible Education Services webpage on the 杏十八新茶分享 website.
The process to secure testing accommodations may be lengthy. Students who have or suspect they may have a documentable disability should contact the AES Director as early as possible in the academic year to request services. Students are required to provide documentation supporting the need for requested services. Once testing accommodations are approved, a Letter of Accommodation from AES must be submitted by the student to the Office of Student Affairs at least one week prior to an examination period. If this deadline is not met, the law administration may not be able to provide testing accommodations for that semester. Once testing accommodations are secured, they are considered in effect for the academic year (fall, spring, summer). Each fall semester students must renew their testing accommodations with AES. Personal disability information is kept private to the extent possible in fulfilling accommodation requests.
Please note that the processes and standards for applying for and/or receiving accommodations in connection with exams that are prerequisites for admission to practice, such as the Bar Exam or MPRE, are different than the process for receiving accommodations in connection with Law School or University exams. Students are strongly encouraged to contact the relevant testing entity well in advance of any accommodation request in order to determine the appropriate processes to follow.
XV. Transcripts
Obtaining Copies of Transcripts of WUCL Work
Currently enrolled students may obtain an unofficial transcript from SAGE. Official transcripts may be obtained online through the University Registrars Office transcripts page.
Undergraduate Transcript
Transcripts of secondary or higher education study that have been submitted to WUCL as a requisite for admission cannot be returned to the student. Students desiring transcripts from other institutions must order official transcripts directly from the institution at which the work was completed. 杏十八新茶分享 does not issue or certify copies of transcripts from other institutions.