JD,  JD—Part-Time ("FlexJD"), and On-Ground LLM Programs

For students in the JD,  JD—Part-Time ("FlexJD"), and on-ground LLM programs, the law school does not use traditional numerical or alphabetical grading methods or calculate grade-point averages or class rankings. The narrative evaluations that students receive in each course provide highlights of a student's performance and, as these evaluations become part of a student’s official transcript, they can play a significant role in the hiring decision of co-op and permanent employers. 

Honorifics 

Students will receive credit for courses in which they receive a grade of “High Honors,” “Honors,” “Pass,” or “Marginal Pass” but not for courses in which they receive a grade of “Fail.” If any class is designated as offered on a credit/fail basis, students will not receive credit for a grade of Fail.

Written Evaluation 

In addition to the grades as previously defined, each professor provides a written evaluation of the quality of each student’s performance in the course.

Page 1 Highlights

The top of page 1 of each student’s evaluation says “Highlights:”. Below this heading, faculty are expected to list a student’s achievements, rather than providing a comprehensive assessment of the student’s work. Page 1 of the evaluations does not include any general descriptive words such as excellent, good, or competent that purport to provide an overall assessment of the student’s performance. Faculty, however, may use such adjectives when describing specific aspects of a student’s achievements. Negative comments do not appear on page 1 except when students receive a deficiency (i.e., a Marginal Pass or Fail). If a student receives a deficiency, page 1 of the evaluation can be left blank, or the faculty member can insert a critique in lieu of listing highlights.

Page 2 Notes to Student

Each student receives a page 2 evaluation in every course. Page 2 is for the student’s eyes only.

  • Incomplete grades: “Incomplete” is a temporary grade designation, which may be given when the work in a course has been generally passing, but when the student has not completed some specific course requirement, e.g., a paper or an exam, and the instructor has approved the student’s completion of such requirement after the date for the conclusion of the course. The student must complete the course no later than three weeks after the beginning of the second term following the term in which the course was offered. As an example, if a student is required to complete a paper for a course held in the fall upper-level term and receives the instructor’s approval for an extension, the student must turn in the paper by the end of the third week of the spring upper-level term. Failure to do so will result in a final grade of Fail. An additional extension to complete a course may be granted in extraordinary cases but only if the course instructor and the dean agree that compelling circumstances exist.
  • Transcript: The grades of High Honors, Honors, Pass, Marginal Pass, or Fail will be recorded on the student's academic history and transcript page. The course evaluation of any student who passes upon reexamination shall note that credit for the course was awarded on reexamination. If a student has not successfully completed a cooperative work term, the student’s permanent record will contain a notation (“U”) indicating that co-op credit was denied for the term. The co-op evaluation for the uncredited co-op will not become a part of the student’s permanent record. Copies of the student’s written evaluations and cooperative employer evaluation shall be otherwise maintained in their file and shall become part of the permanent transcript.

Master of Legal Studies, Online LLM, and Graduate Certificate Programs (Excluding Programs for JD students)

Students in the Master of Legal Studies program, Online LLM program, or graduate certificate programs for non-JD students are evaluated under the university's graduate letter grading system, and their program transcripts will reflect these standard letter grades. Students will not receive credit for a class in which they receive a grade of "F."