3. ACADEMIC POLICIES AND PROCEDURES -------------------------------------------------------------- ACADEMIC ADVISING The University provides information and academic advice to students to assist them in making proper academic decisions. The dean of each college or school is responsible for providing an effective system of information dissemination and advising that is appropriate to the academic programs of that college or school. Each unit seeks to provide the most current and accurate information and advice possible. The student is responsible for seeking advice, for knowing and meeting the requirements of the degree program of interest, for enrolling in courses appropriate to that degree program, and for taking courses in the proper sequence to ensure orderly and timely progress toward the degree. In the School of Law, one faculty member in each section of the prescribed first-year curriculum is designated the academic adviser. Students in that section are encouraged to consult their professor- adviser for counseling. Prior to registration, the professor-adviser in each section advises students on course selection for the second year. In the spring semester, before registration for the fall semester, the law school issues a detailed manual of course descriptions and academic advice. Additional counseling is available from the assistant dean for student affairs. CLINICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS The first four programs are available in the fall semester, spring semester, and summer session; the Mental Health Clinic is available in the spring semester only. CHILDREN'S RIGHTS CLINIC Texas law requires that an attorney ad litem be appointed to represent children in all cases in which the state or an authorized agency intervenes in an existing family unit. Most frequently this occurs in cases of alleged child abuse or neglect. Further, an attorney ad litem may be appointed for a child any time the court forms the opinion that the child's interest will not be fully represented by the attorneys for other parties to a lawsuit. These discretionary appointments are made in a variety of contexts, but especially in custody disputes between parents or other relatives. Finally, the legal status of all children in the custody of the state must be reviewed at least once every six months; local practice now requires the appointment of an attorney ad litem in each review case. The law school's Children's Rights Clinic (CRC) is appointed ad litem in most such cases in Travis County. Two full-time attorneys supervise students in the CRC; each student is assigned to several cases. In addition, the scheduled classroom component is designed to develop the substantive knowledge and procedural skills necessary for students to handle their caseloads. Students who take part in the CRC in the fall or spring semester register for two sections of Law 397C; summer session participants register for Law 297C and 397C. All credit is awarded on the pass/fail basis. Students must have completed forty-three semester hours in law to be certified to appear in the trial court; there are no other prerequisites. CRIMINAL DEFENSE CLINIC This program teaches students the tactics, skills, techniques, and values they need to represent those charged with violations of state law. The student handles cases at all stages of the criminal process from arrest to trial. Weekly readings and seminars complement the student's practical experiences. Clients are served from the Criminal Defense Clinic (CDC) offices at the School of Law. Students who take part in this program in the fall or spring semester register for two sections of Law 397C; summer session participants register for Law 297C and 397C. All credit is awarded on the pass/fail basis. Students must have completed forty-three semester hours in law. JUVENILE JUSTICE PROGRAM This program exposes students to the operations of the juvenile justice/juvenile corrections system by placing them as working interns with the local juvenile public defender. Students are assigned a caseload for which they have primary responsibility under the supervision of an attorney in the defender's office. They perform all investigation, interview, discovery, plea bargain, and litigation functions on their cases. About ten hours a week are required for casework and for office duties in the defender's office. Academic background is provided by a class that meets two hours a week; extra classes are held for the first three or four weeks to prepare students to handle cases right away. Students register for Law 397C and 297D. All credit is awarded on the pass/fail basis. Students must have completed forty-three semester hours in law. Recommended background classes include criminal law, criminal procedure, and civil procedure. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT CLINIC The Capital Punishment Clinic gives law students practical experience in capital litigation. Students are supervised by attorneys from the Texas Resource Center, an organization that coordinates postconviction representation of death row inmates in Texas. Students read and summarize transcripts; interview clients; interview other potential witnesses, including jurors; identify and obtain social history records; and undertake other kinds of legal research and writing. Students who take part in the clinic register for Law 279N, which focuses on the intricate doctrines that have developed since the Supreme Court "constitutionalized" capital punishment law. The clinic and other coursework expose students to both the theoretical and the practical sides of death penalty law. MENTAL HEALTH CLINIC Students in this program represent persons confined at the Austin State Hospital in civil commitment hearings before the Travis County Probate Court. Weekly class meetings are devoted to the substantive area of mental health law and to instruction in trial advocacy. Several short written assignments are required, such as briefs and preparation of cross examination questions for psychiatrists. Students in the program receive six hours of credit on the pass/fail basis. Completion of at least forty-three semester hours in law is a prerequisite to participation; completion of Law 383 or 483 is recommended but not required. HONOR SYSTEM All students are bound by the Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities given in the General Information catalog. Regulations and procedures regarding student discipline and conduct are set forth in chapter 11 of the rules. Students in the School of Law are also bound by the following Honor Code. HONOR CODE The study of law is an integral part of the legal profession. Students engaged in legal studies should learn the proper ethical standards as part of their education. All members of the legal profession recognize the need to maintain a high level of professional competence and integrity. A student at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law is expected to adhere to the highest standard of personal integrity. Each student is expected to compete honestly and fairly with his or her peers. All law students are harmed by unethical behavior by any student. A student who deals dishonestly with fellow law students may be dishonest in the future and harm both future clients and the legal profession. Under the honor system, the students must not tolerate unethical behavior by their fellow students. A student who knows of unethical behavior of another student is under an obligation to take the steps necessary to expose this behavior. Students in the University of Texas at Austin School of Law are governed by the Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities. Students may be subject to discipline for cheating, plagiarism, and misrepresentations. QUANTITY OF WORK RULE A student with fewer than twenty semester hours of credit in law may take no more than fifteen semester hours a semester in the law school; a student with credit for more than twenty semester hours may take no more than sixteen semester hours a semester. In rare situations the assistant dean for student affairs may, for good cause shown, permit a second- or third-year student to register for more than sixteen hours. Law students may take courses in other schools and colleges only with the express prior permission of the dean. Normally, a student may not take a course in another school or college, except an ROTC course, in addition to the maximum load in the law school. During a long-session semester, a minimum load of ten semester hours is required of all students with twenty semester hours of credit or more, and a minimum load of fourteen semester hours is required of all students with fewer than twenty semester hours of credit. A student may not take less than a minimum load without special permission of the dean. Law students are strongly advised that they should not work while in their first year and that they should not work more than fifteen hours a week while in their second and third years. CHANGES IN REGISTRATION A student may drop a first-year course or seminar only with the written approval of the dean; ordinarily, students are not permitted to drop Law 132, 232, or 332. In the long session, a student may drop other courses during the first four weeks of the semester without the approval of the dean, provided that the student remains enrolled for at least ten semester hours of coursework; in the summer session, the student may drop courses (except first-year courses and seminars) during the first week of the term without the approval of the dean. After the first four weeks of a semester, or the first week of a summer term, courses may be dropped only with the written approval of the dean. If a student stops attending class, at any time in the semester or summer session, but fails to drop the course officially, then a grade of F will be recorded for the course, the course will be counted as a course taken and failed when the minimum performance standards are applied, and 1.30 grade points will be used in calculating the student's overall average. The faculty member in charge of a course may, with the consent of the dean, drop a student from the course for poor daily attendance or classroom work or for improper conduct in the classroom. The student is thereafter barred from attending the course and from taking the examination in it. CLASS ATTENDANCE Class attendance is required. AUDITING A COURSE Permission to audit a course conveys the privilege of listening and observing but not of handing in papers, taking part in discussion, or receiving evaluations. An auditor does not receive University credit for the course, nor is the course recorded on a transcript. A University student who wishes to audit a law course should obtain a Class Auditor Permit from the Office of the Registrar and secure the consent of the course instructor and the assistant dean for student affairs. A separate, additional petition to the assistant dean is required to audit a first-year course. A nonstudent must obtain the Class Auditor Permit and the consent of the instructor and assistant dean and must also pay a twenty-dollar auditor's fee for each course; those who are sixty-five or older are exempt from this fee. Auditors are permitted only when space is available. No more than five auditors are allowed in any section. A person may audit only one first- year law course a semester and may audit a total of no more than four courses. Undergraduates are not permitted to audit law courses. Instructors and the dean may refuse any request to audit a course. Nothing in these rules prohibits an instructor from permitting guests and visitors. WITHDRAWAL The general rules governing withdrawal from the University are given in the General Information catalog. In addition, the following rules apply to the School of Law. A person who has earned fewer than nine semester hours of credit in the School of Law, has withdrawn, and then wishes to resume studies, must reapply for admission to the School of Law. The reapplication for admission is handled and evaluated as if it were an initial application. If the dean determines that the student withdrew for good cause, his or her eligibility for admission is judged by the standards in effect at the time of the previous admission. A student who has withdrawn from the School of Law after receiving nine or more semester hours of credit may return to the school if he or she was in good standing at the time of withdrawal. Such a student is not subject to the admission selection process; however, he or she must submit an application for readmission to the School of Law. EXAMINATIONS Examinations in the School of Law are conducted in accordance with the University of Texas at Austin School of Law Honor Code, given on page 42. Written examinations are administered at the end of each semester and summer term. When a course is continuous through two semesters or terms, a midcourse examination is usually given. A schedule giving the time and place of each final and midcourse examination is posted on the official bulletin board in advance. To postpone an examination, a student must obtain the approval of the assistant dean for student affairs before the scheduled time of the examination. In an emergency, approval may be given after the date of the examination. If a student takes a postponed examination without permission of the assistant dean, the student will be dropped from the course with a Q. A student who fails to attend a final examination without the dean's consent may not take a postponed or special examination and will receive no credit for the course; the course will be counted as a course taken and failed when the minimum performance standards are applied and a grade of F (1.30 grade points) for the course will be used in calculating the student's grade point average. GRADES AND MINIMUM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS GRADING SYSTEM The following letter grades are assigned in the School of Law: A+, A, A-; B+, B, B-; C+, C; D; and F. In calculating the grade point average for law courses, an A+ counts as 4.30 points a semester hour; an A, as 4; an A-, as 3.70; a B+, as 3.30; a B, as 3; a B-, as 2.70; a C+, as 2.30; a C, as 2; a D, as 1.70; and an F, as 1.30. An explanation of the grading policy appears on the student's transcript. Grades, except those in seminars, are based primarily on examinations. In two-semester first-year courses, a grade, based on an examination or other work, should be given and reported to the student after the first semester. If possible, some explanation should be given for the grade assigned. If such a preliminary grade is given, the instructor has full discretion to determine how the grade should be weighed in relation to the student's grade on the final examination; however, some allowance should be made for improvement on the final examination. Until the student has completed the second semester, first-semester grades in two-semester courses are treated as final grades. Grades in seminars are based primarily on individual research as reflected in a paper and an oral report. REGISTRATION ON THE PASS/FAIL BASIS In general, students receive letter grades in law courses. The dean may determine that pass/fail grading is preferable for a course. Courses that will be offered only on the pass/fail basis are announced before registration. A nonlaw graduate student who enrolls in a law school course offered for a letter grade may register on the credit/no credit basis if permitted to do so by his or her graduate adviser. MINIMUM PERFORMANCE STANDARDS A student must receive a final grade of at least D in a course to receive credit for that course. A student must have a grade point average of at least 1.90 on all law courses taken to graduate from the School of Law. A student who has received final grades for more than twenty semester hours and whose average falls below 1.80 is dropped from the law school for failure. A student who has received final grades for more than twenty semester hours and whose average is 1.80 to 1.89 is placed on scholastic probation. While on scholastic probation, a student who fails to maintain a 1.90 average on all law courses taken during any semester is dropped from the law school for failure. A student who has been dropped for failure after receiving grades for thirty-three or more semester hours will not be readmitted to the law school, with this exception: if he or she has never been on scholastic probation in the law school, he or she may be readmitted on scholastic probation for one long-session semester. A student who has been dropped for failure after receiving grades for fewer than thirty-three semester hours may be admitted as a new student after he or she has remained out of law school for at least twelve months. The Law School Admissions Committee may attach significance to the prior failure. No student who has been dropped for failure from the School of Law will be permitted, prior to readmission, to visit classes. A student who fails a required course must repeat it once. A student who fails an elective course may, at his or her option, repeat it once. The student may not repeat any course more than once. Both the original and the subsequent grade are used in computing the student's grade point average. HONORS ORDER OF THE COIF The Order of the Coif is a national law school honor society, founded to encourage scholarship and to advance the ethical standards of the legal profession. New members of the University chapter are chosen each fall from the top 10 percent of the previous graduating class. CHANCELLORS Established in 1912, Chancellors is the most prestigious honorary society of the School of Law. The purpose of the society is to honor and reward students who, through outstanding and consistent scholarship and achievement, have shown themselves most likely to succeed and to become a credit to their profession and their alma mater. Eligible for membership each year are the sixteen students who have the highest grade point averages among those who are not already members and who have completed forty-two semester hours of coursework in the School of Law. The number of Chancellors selected in one academic year is increased from time to time, but at no time does the total selected in any year exceed 5 percent of the preceding senior class. The offices of Chancellors are, in order of scholastic standing and rank: Grand Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, Clerk, Keeper of Peregrinus, and, in equal rank, such Chancellors-at-Large as are required to fill out the membership. ORDER OF BARRISTERS The Order of Barristers was established in 1965 to give recognition to the outstanding participants in the Moot Court Competition. There are approximately ninety member law schools from all parts of the nation. Membership is limited to students who have demonstrated superior abilities in the preparation and presentation of both written and oral argument. New members of the University chapter are chosen by the Faculty Committee on Moot Court and Oral Advocacy; no more than ten students are chosen each academic year. The Order of Barristers was founded at the University of Texas School of Law; the law school remains the site of the national secretary for this prestigious advocacy honor society. DEAN'S ACHIEVEMENT AWARD The School of Law does not participate in the American Jurisprudence Award Program. Instead, it offers its own Dean's Achievement Award. The award is given each semester to the outstanding student in each course, chosen from among those with the highest grade. Seminars and courses offered only on the pass/fail basis are excluded. GRADUATION GRADUATION UNDER A PARTICULAR CATALOG A student may receive a degree in the School of Law by fulfilling either the requirements given in the catalog in effect at the time he or she entered the school or those given in the catalog governing any subsequent year in which he or she was in residence in the school. In any case, however, all the requirements for a degree in the School of Law must be completed within five years of the academic year on which the student's catalog eligibility is based. If a student leaves school to enter military service during a national emergency, the time required to meet the military obligation is excluded from the time allowed for completion of the degree. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION 1. No degree will be conferred except on dates publicly announced. 2. The student must complete the last two long-session semesters, or their equivalent, in residence in the School of Law of the University of Texas at Austin. 3. A candidate for a degree must be registered at the University in the semester or summer session in which the degree is to be conferred, and must apply to the dean for the degree no later than two weeks before the end of that semester or summer session. 4. The University holds commencement exercises at the end of the spring semester. Students are encouraged to attend. Law school graduates are encouraged to attend the school's Sunflower Ceremony, held each spring and fall, for the semester in which they graduate; summer session graduates may attend either ceremony. DEGREES WITH HONORS Graduates of the School of Law who are judged by the faculty to have completed their course of study with scholarly distinction are awarded degrees with honors. In general, honors are awarded solely on the basis of work done at the University's School of Law.