Academic Standards and Related Procedures - J.D.

Student petitions relating to administrative or non-academic matters (e.g., request for postponement of examinations or extension of papers, requests to enroll in more than 16 units) shall be heard and determined by the Dean of Students. The Dean of Students shall consult with the Chairperson of the Standards Committee in making decisions, when appropriate.

1. A student seeking a waiver of any rule set forth in the Academic Standards may petition the Faculty-Student Standards Committee by presenting a full written explanation to the Dean of Students of the waiver or relief sought and the facts and arguments supporting the request. A student may request that the petition be evaluated anonymously, but must provide compelling reasons for doing so. The Dean of Students will provide the student petition and other information to the Committee chair, along with the Dean of Student’s recommendation both as to whether the student’s request for anonymity should be granted and the merits of the petition. The Committee chair shall forward the petition and any supporting information to the members of the Committee by email. The Committee normally will decide the petition via email, but the chair shall have discretion to call a meeting of the Committee to discuss the petition. Any such meeting may be held either in person or via videoconferencing, at the chair’s discretion. The Committee will consider the student’s request for anonymity and may grant such a request if there are compelling reasons supporting it. If the Committee believes the student’s identify is necessary to evaluate the merits of the petition, the Committee may instruct the Dean of Students to disclose that identity. In evaluating the merits of the petition, the Committee may also consider, as it deems appropriate, extrinsic information obtained through the Committee’s or the Dean of Students’ own investigation.
2. The action of the Committee will then be circulated on a consent calendar by e-mail to the voting faculty. If the student has requested anonymity and the Committee believes that there are compelling reasons supporting the petitioner’s request for anonymity, the student will not be identified. However, a faculty member who believes that s/he needs to know the student’s identity to decide whether to request that the matter be pulled from the consent calendar may obtain that information from the Dean of Students.
3. If, within 72 hours of the consent calendar’s circulation, three members of the voting faculty ask that the matter be removed, the matter will be placed on the agenda of the next faculty meeting. Otherwise, the Committee’s decision will be deemed approved and the Dean of Students will so notify the student.
4. In the case of petitions received during the summer break, the petition will be considered by the Dean of Students, in consultation with the Chair of the Standards Committee from the prior academic year and the Associate Dean responsible for Student Affairs or Vice Dean.

1. In cases of severe hardship, an upper division student may request permission to spend no more than two semesters studying at another ABA-accredited law school outside of Los Angeles and apply units earned at that school towards his or her UCLA law degree. The request will be evaluated by the Dean of Students, in consultation with the Chair of the Standards Committee and the Associate Dean responsible for Student Affairs or Vice Dean. Factors that will weigh in favor of granting the petition may include: the fact that the hardship was not foreseeable when the student enrolled at UCLA School of Law; the unavailability of alternatives to studying away from UCLA; the existence of multiple hardships; the fact that the hardship relates to the health needs of the student or to an immediate family member who relies upon the student for care; the strength of the academic program of the school the student seeks to visit and /or any additional curricular benefits afforded the student by the visiting school. Petitions to visit at another law school for an additional semester at the city of an externship placement will be viewed with disfavor unless permission to visit would have been granted independent of the externship.
2. If permission to visit another school is granted, the student must enroll full-time, obtain approval of her class schedule from the Dean of Students, take all courses for a letter grade, and obtain a “C” or better in order to obtain unit credit. The units thus earned will be reflected as transfer credit, with the grades posted on the UCLA Law transcript, but not included in the student’s UCLA School of Law grade point average.