Academic & Graduation Requirements
Graduation Requirements (Credits, Required Courses, Upper Level Writing Requirement, GPA)
Overloads (Permission Required)
Underloads (Permission Required)
Day/Evening Cross Registration
Program Options / Transfers Between Programs (Day/Evening)
Class Attendance
Class Participation
Repeating Courses
Semesters In Residence Requirement
Successful Completion of Courses
GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
All degree candidates must meet the graduation requirements set forth in the Faculty Regulations. Academic and graduation requirements are fully set forth in the Wise Guide. Briefly, these requirements are as follows:
a. Credit Hours: Complete 87 credits including the following mandated courses in the first or second year depending on the program:
Civil Procedure I
Contracts
Constitutional Law
Criminal Law I
Legal Research and Writing (2 semesters in sequence)
Torts
Property
Litigation Basics
Business Basics
"Menu" Course (Full-Time students only)
b. Required Courses: The following courses must be passed with a grade of "C" or better:
Upper Level Writing Requirement - Students must meet this requirement by successful completion of two upper level writing units, one of which is the Serial Paper Component, and the other which is the Research Paper Component. For this purposes, successful completion means a grade of "C" or better. The acceptable methods of meeting the upper level writing requirements are: A 2 or 3 credit Guided Research or Writing Seminar (taken after all of the mandated courses listed in B.1. above have been completed); and/or substantial work of professional quality that meets the writing requirements of one of the four law journals, the Moot Court Honor Society, or the Jessup Moot Court Honor Society, and has been approved by the appropriate faculty advisor.
Professional Responsibility
c. Professional Skills Course:
Students must successfully complete a Professional Skills course. Professional Skills courses will be noted on the Schedule of Classes available on the Law School web site. Students may take such a course at any time provide they have completed the mandated First Year Curriculum and any other pre-requisite courses as applicable. For this purpose, successful completion means a grade of ?C? or better in a graded course, and ?S? or better in an ungraded course.
d. GPA: Attain a 2.0 cumulative grade point average.
e. Semesters-In-Residence: Satisfy the semesters-in-residence requirement by taking six full-time or eight part-time semesters. (Students who transfer between programs must consult with the Assistant Dean to make sure this requirement is met.)
f. Completion of Program: Complete all graduation requirements within six years. Those taking an authorized leave of absence for active military duty may exceed six years.
SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF COURSES; REPEATING COURSES
First Year Curriculum: All students must "successfully complete" all courses in the mandated first year curriculum. Unless otherwise provided, successful completion means attaining a grade of "D" or better. Students who fail to successfully complete a course in the mandated first year curriculum must retake the course at the next possible opportunity, as ascertained by the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs.
Contracts: All students must take Contracts II in sequence following Contracts I, regardless of the grade received in Contracts I. To meet the requirement that a student must "successfully complete" Contacts, the grades earned in both Contracts I and II must average "D" or better.
Legal Research & Writing: A student who gets an "F" or "FA" in Legal Research & Writing I (LRW I) may not take Legal Research & Writing II (LRW II) that year but, instead, must take both courses the next year (subject again to the requirement that a "D" or better must be earned in LRW I to be permitted to move on to LRW II). A student who gets an "F" or "FA" in LRW II must take LRW II again the next year. Moreover, if the grades earned in LRW I and II average below a "D", then the student must retake both LRW I and LRW II the next year.
Repeating Courses: Students have the option to retake a course they have failed. Whenever a student retakes a course, both grades will appear on the student's transcript and will be factored into the student's cumulative grade point average, but no academic credit will be awarded for the first time the student took the course.
Successful Completion of Prerequisites: To be eligible to register for an advanced course which requires a prerequisite, a student must have successfully completed the prerequisite course by earning the grade of "D" or better. If a student has retaken a course, only the grade received in the retaken course determines if the prerequisite course has been successfully completed.
Corequisites: To remain enrolled in a course which requires a corequisite, a student must either have completed the corequisite course or be enrolled in the corequisite course. (Successful completion of the corequisite course is not required).
Repeating Evidence for Clinicals: A student who received a grade below "C" in Evidence, but who wishes to register for a clinical course for which a grade of "C" or better in Evidence is required, may demonstrate competence in Evidence by taking a second, regularly scheduled Evidence examination. The grade achieved on this second Evidence examination will not appear on the student's transcript or be counted in the calculation of the student's cumulative grade point average, but will be used solely to determine eligibility for clinical courses. Students should consult the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs.
SEMESTERS-IN-RESIDENCE REQUIREMENT
Every Temple student must have the equivalent of six full-time or eight part-time semesters-in-residence in addition to completing 87 credits. A student who remains a full-time or part-time student throughout his/her law school career and registers within the semester hour requirements will easily satisfy this requirement. It is the student who changes status or wants to graduate early who must consult with the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs to make sure he/she satisfies this rule.
Briefly, semesters-in-residence are calculated as follows:
Each semester that a student is registered as a full-time student and takes a minimum of 12 credits in a semester after the first year is counted as one semester in residence. A full-time student cannot graduate in fewer than six full-time semesters. Summer study will allow a full-time student to carry a lighter load during the last academic year, but will not permit a student to graduate in less than six actual full-time semesters (not the mathematical equivalent thereof). A full-time student who has taken 3 or more credits during the summer may take a reduced load of 11 credits in either the fifth or sixth semester only and still be considered a full-time student. A full-time student must be a Day Division student.
A part-time student must attend eight part-time semesters to graduate. The first year mandated program is counted as two part-time semesters. Thereafter, a part-time student will earn a part-time semester in residence for each semester in which he/she takes 8 or more credits. A part-time student may accelerate graduation by one semester provided he/she takes 8 credits, which are not otherwise required by his/her program, during summer sessions.
A part-time JD/MBA student wishing to accelerate graduation by one semester may not apply more than 6 credits from any one summer toward the 8 summer credits needed to meet the residency requirement.
Students who move between full-time and part-time status must attend the equivalent of six full-time semesters (not the mathematical equivalent thereof) as determined by the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs. These students are strongly encouraged to meet with the assistant dean to make sure they are in compliance. Failure to comply may delay graduation.
CLASS ATTENDANCE
Students must attend a minimum of 80% of the regularly scheduled class hours in a course to be considered in regular attendance. Faculty members may impose more stringent attendance requirements for a particular course by giving enrolled students reasonable advance notice of their specific attendance policies.
In determining whether a student has complied with the 80% attendance requirement, all absences count. Therefore, whether a student's absences are excused or not, the total number of absences cannot exceed 20% of the regularly scheduled classes.
A student who fails to regularly attend classes will be prohibited from taking the exam and will receive a grade of FA (failure for absence) for that course.
In cases of absence due to illness, death in the family, or other emergencies, a student should contact his/her professors and the Office of Student Affairs (Suite 103, Barrack Hall; 215-204-8574). Receipt of such a message does not excuse the student from required course work or the attendance policy. It is the student's responsibility to contact his/her professors when an absence interferes with a deadline or other requirements.
CLASS PARTICIPATION
Faculty Regulations permit class participation to be factored into the determination of final grades in upper-level exam courses. For an exam course in which class participation is being taken into account in determining final grades, the faculty member must file with the Registrar the grades awarded for the written exams, as well as evaluations of students' class participation, prior to the breaking of the anonymous code. The two grades can then be compared by the faculty member to determine whether the exam grade should be raised or lowered by one grade level where there is a substantial difference between the exam and class participation grades. Faculty members who intend to take class participation into account in grading will announce and distribute in writing such intentions on the first day of class. Students who make positive contributions to classroom discussion can also earn transcript notations which do not affect grades or grade point averages.
PROGRAM OPTIONS
Enrolled students are classified either as Full-Time Day Division, Part-Time Day Division or Part-Time Evening Division. Part-time students are further subclassified as Regular or Extended.
Full-Time Enrollment: Full-time students are classified as first year, second year, or third year full-time students. Full-time students must attend during the day and complete the Full-Time sequence of the mandated First Year Curriculum to progress to second year full-time status. After the first year, full-time students must register for and complete four additional full-time semesters, which consist of not less than 12 and not more than 15 credit hours per semester.
Part-Time Enrollment: Part-time students are classified as first, second, third or fourth year part-time students. Part-time students must complete either the Part-Time sequence of the Mandated First Year Curriculum (which continues into the second year) to be classified as second year part-time students. The mandated First Year Curriculum for Part-Time Day students is identical in content and similar in sequence to that of the Part-Time Evening program. Part-Time Day students must meet with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs to establish a schedule of courses for their first and second years.
Part-Time students are billed on a flat fee basis during the first year. After the first year, Part-Time students make a one-time election to be billed on a per credit or flat fee basis. See "Transfers Between Divisions/Programs" below. After the first and second year. all part-time students must register for and complete four additional part-time semesters, which consist of not less than 8 and not more than 11 credit hours. In addition, all part-time students must take a minimum of 19 credit hours during the second and third academic years, including the summer session after the spring semester of each year.
Transfers Between Divisions/Programs: Transfers between the day and evening divisions and between the full-time, part-time regular and part-time extended programs may be permitted after the first year upon petition to the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs. Students should file these petitions as soon as possible before the semester in which the transfer is sought. The Assistant Dean for Student Affairs will advise students of residency requirement consequences and possible financial aid adjustments resulting from the transfer. After the first year, each part-time student elects to be billed on a per credit or flat fee basis for the remainder of law school. After this election, transfer between the part-time programs is not necessary because the program requirements are identical, and such transfers are not permitted solely to adjust the method chosen for tuition payment.
OVERLOAD, UNDERLOAD, AND DAY/EVENING CROSS REGISTRATION
Overload Policy: Students are ordinarily expected to register within the credit limits for their program: 12 to 15 credits for full-time students and 8 to 11 credits for part-time students. With the permission of the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, full-time students may be permitted to register for a one credit overload in one semester, and part-time students may be permitted to register for a one credit overload in two semesters. Other requests for overloads must be submitted to the Faculty Administrative Committee through the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs.
Underload Policy: Students are ordinarily expected to register within the credit limits for their program: 12 to 15 credits for full-time students and 8 to 11 credits for part-time students. Full-time students who have successfully completed at least 3 credit hours in any summer term or summer session abroad, may underload to no less than 11 credit hours during either the fifth or sixth semester (but not both) of their program without special permission. Other requests for underloads should be submitted to the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs. Such requests can be granted by the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs only in emergency situations and may delay graduation. Other requests for underloads must be submitted to the Faculty Administrative Committee through the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs.
Cross-Registration: Day Division students are permitted to enroll in one evening course per semester. Evening Division students are permitted to enroll in one day course per semester. However, certain courses are available to both day and evening students and do not count toward the semester maximum. Courses designated as section 001-019 are day courses. Courses designated as section number 051 or higher are evening courses. Absent a waiver for good cause, students who cross register for more than one course in the other division will be dropped from such courses. Courses designated as section number 021-049 do not count as either day or evening courses and are not subject to the limit on day-evening cross-registration. Clinicals, Guided Research, the Integrated Trial Advocacy Program (ITAP), and the Integrated Transactional Program (ITP) course offerings also do not count as either day or evening courses.
