ACADEMIC GOOD STANDING

While enrolled in law school and working towards the J.D. degree, a student must maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 2.00 or higher to remain in good academic standing. Our rules on academic dismissal and readmission are as follows:

1. At the end of the first semester of the first year, any student who has a cumulative GPA of 1.49 or lower will be permanently dismissed from the School of Law for academic reasons.

2. At the end of the first year, and any semester thereafter, any student who has a cumulative GPA of 1.79 or lower will be permanently dismissed from the School of Law for academic reasons.

3. At the end of the first year, and any semester thereafter, any student who has a cumulative GPA of 1.80-1.99 will be dismissed from the School of Law for academic reasons. Any such student shall be allowed to petition for readmission, but such student may be readmitted only once. If a student is readmitted, he/she will have to pull his/her cumulative GPA to a 2.00 or higher during the semester of readmission, or that student will be permanently dismissed from the School of Law for academic reasons.

4. A student who is ineligible to continue in the Law School, but who is eligible to petition for readmission, shall be readmitted only upon a decision by the Law School's Petitions Committee. A student shall initiate a petition for readmission by preparing a written petition addressed to the Petitions Committee and filing it with the chairman. The petition should describe the student's academic circumstances, present any facts of explanation and mitigation, and indicate how and why he/she expects to make sufficient improvement to achieve a cumulative grade point average of 2.00. The student is entitled to make a personal appearance before the Committee when it considers the petition, to answer questions or to offer further argument on behalf of the petition. The Committee shall readmit a student only when it determines that there were extraordinary circumstances that caused the academic deficiency, and that there is a strong likelihood the student will successfully overcome his/her academic deficiency. Provided, however, that when considering the readmission of applicants, the committee shall consider the affirmative action policies of the school with regard to readmission.

5. The Committee's decision to readmit shall be final. The Committee's decision not to readmit shall only be reviewed by the entire faculty upon a separate, written petition by the excluded student to the faculty, submitted to the Dean, seeking such review. The Committee (or the full faculty on review of a decision not to readmit) may attach such conditions to its decision to readmit as it may deem to be in the best interests of the student and of the Law School under the particular circumstances involved. A majority vote of the faculty in attendance, including the student representative to the faculty, will be necessary to readmit the petitioner upon review by the faculty. If a student's petition for readmission is denied, either by the Committee or upon faculty review thereof, no further petition will be heard, without leave, before the passage of at least one year.