Auditing
Students may audit classes in which space is available, provided permission is obtained from the instructor and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Persons not enrolled in the Law School or elsewhere in the university ordinarily may not audit law classes. Students who audit courses must attend class regularly for the entire semester. No record is kept of courses audited and no fees are charged to full-time students. Students should not ordinarily enroll in a class for credit if they have previously audited the class.
Courses Outside of the Law School
Upper-class law students may register for up to six credit hours outside the law school and receive credit towards the minimum hours required for graduation so long as the following requirements are met:
- The course is at the graduate level (numbered 400 or above)
- It is significantly related to legal education
- It is approved in advance by the associate dean for academic affairs.
A grade of P or better (on the graduate school scale of H, P, L and F) will be transferred to the law record on a credit basis. Credits for courses taken outside the law school may not be used toward the 65 credit hours that must be earned in regularly scheduled law school classes.
Distance Education
A student may earn no more than the following amounts of credit in distance-education courses: 10 credits from among the required 30 first-year credits and 28 credits from among the required 86 total credits. A distance-education course is one in which (1) students are separated from all faculty members for more than one-third of the instruction and (2) the instruction uses technology to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and all faculty members, synchronously or asynchronously.
Drop/Add
Students who fail to attend at least one of the first two class meetings of a second- or third-year course that has a waiting list, or the first meeting of a second- or third-year course or seminar that meets only once a week and has a waiting list will be dropped from the course or seminar unless the student’s absence is excused for illness or other good cause by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. When possible, students are required to seek consent for such absences from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in advance of the class periods.
Students may not drop or add any course after the drop/add deadline, except in unusual circumstances, such as extended absence due to a student’s or a family member’s illness. This may be done only with the consent of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Supervised Research & Writing, LAW 399
A student is permitted to enroll in Supervised Research & Writing (SRW), LAW 399 (formerly independent research/study) under the supervision of a member of the full-time faculty for one, two, or three credits. Before registering for SRW, the student must obtain the supervising faculty member’s consent on the course’s Consent Form, available from the Registrar. A faculty member has no duty to accept a student’s proposed SRW. Any proposed SRW must fall within the study interests of both the faculty member and the student. On the Consent Form, students must certify that they will comply with the policy regarding multiple uses of written product.
No student may receive academic credit for more than three credits total for SRW during the student’s Law School career. The faculty member and student must determine the credits to be awarded before the project begins and may not thereafter either increase or decrease the credit hours. As a general rule, each credit requires no fewer than fifteen pages of substantive writing. Moreover, American Bar Association Standard 310 requires at least 42.5 hours of coursework per credit, which is about 3.3 hours over UNC Law’s 13-week semester. That coursework includes periodic meetings with the supervising faculty member. Therefore, students should expect to devote at least 10 hours each week for a three-credit independent study, 6.5 hours a week for a two-credit independent study, and 3.3 hours a week for a one-credit independent study. Students should report to faculty supervisors the amount of work they perform each week.
Although SRW projects are not required to follow a specified form, they should approximate the work required for a RWE course. Thus, the project should involve a significant research paper, or series of related papers that are the functional equivalent of a significant research paper, under the faculty member’s direct supervision. A key component of faculty supervision is significant individualized feedback on both the student’s ideas and writing product, including a substantial draft. Faculty and students should also meet periodically throughout the semester, although there is not a specified amount of meeting time required.
Grading for SRW projects should be in accordance with general Law School standards.
Inter-Institutional Courses
Students who want to take law school courses that are not available at UNC may do so at the law schools of either Duke University or N.C. Central University. Students should determine the availability of the course and then check with the UNC registrar for proper registration procedures. Students may not fulfill the Rigorous Writing Experience by taking seminars at these institutions (with the exception of some dual-degree programs).
The grade received in an inter-institutional course is not factored into the grade point average, but will be posted to the student’s transcript. A student must receive at least a C, 2.0, or the equivalent, in order to receive credit for the course toward graduation from the UNC School of Law. Credits earned in law school classes at Duke and NCCU may be used toward the 65 credit hours that must be earned in regularly scheduled law school courses.
Students Subject to the Guided Enrollment Policy
A student whose GPA is below 2.750 at the end of the 1L year is subject to the Guided Enrollment Policy (GEP), which mandates enrollment in certain courses. Students subject to the GEP must enroll accordingly or may need to drop/add courses accordingly.
Maximum and Minimum Credits per Semester or Summer Session
While second- and third-year law students typically enroll in 12 to 14 credits per semester, the maximum allowable number of credits is 16–-unless the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs grants special permission to a student to enroll in 17 credit hours, the maximum allowed. Students with burdensome responsibilities may be required to register for fewer than the usual number of credits, but no fewer than 9 credits per semester unless the student has: (1) consulted with the law school’s Student Development and Financial Aid offices about relevant financial, procedural, and related matters; (2) documented the student’s extraordinary circumstances warranting a lower credit load; and (3) received written permission from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs to enroll fewer than 9 credits. For a summer session, the maximum allowable credits is 6, and there is no minimum.
Priority Enrollment
J.D. students have priority enrollment in all law courses.
Time Overlaps
Students are not permitted to enroll in courses or seminars with overlapping times.
Transfer of Credits for UNC Students
Students enrolled in the UNC J.D. program may take courses at an institution instead of UNC Law School and its graduate departments and schools and use those credits toward their J.D. degree in situations described in this section. Except in extraordinary circumstances and with permission of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, students must complete a Professional Responsibility course, their RWE credits, and an Experiential course at UNC Law School. In all cases, students must be in good standing at UNC, receive advanced permission from the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for the course or courses selected before undertaking the study at another institution, and receive a grade of C or better in any course taken for which transfer of credit is sought. In making decisions to approve particular courses for transfer credit, the Associate Dean will principally approve courses that are similar in content and academic rigor to those offered at UNC Law School for upper-level students. Students may be required to document the academic value of the course by providing course syllabi and a list of required readings and/or writing assignments for proposed courses.
Summer School
A student may earn no more than twelve transfer credits per summer for summer school classes taken at an ABA accredited United States law school. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs must approve the institution chosen prior to matriculation, except for North Carolina Central Law School which is a pre-approved institution.
Foreign Study Abroad at Program Sponsored by ABA Approved Program.
A J.D. student may earn no more than twelve credits in summer school and no more than sixteen credits for a semester-long program at an ABA approved study abroad program. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs must approve the institution chosen prior to the student’s matriculation. In approving a student’s request, the Associate Dean considers the potential benefits of the proposed courses to the student’s academic development, the student’s cumulative GPA, and the nature of elective courses previously taken, with the principal concern of the student having the critical competencies for law practice and being prepared to pass the bar examination.
The academic content of the educational program must meet the same standards, including evaluation of student performance, as the on-campus program of the law school.
Foreign Exchange Programs
J.D. students may earn no more than sixteen credits for a semester long program at one of UNC’s established foreign exchange programs. The current list of established programs is posted on the International Programs website. Typically, twelve to fifteen credits are approved. In approving a student’s request, the Associate Dean considers the potential benefits of the proposed courses to the student’s academic development, the student’s cumulative GPA, and the nature of elective courses previously taken, with the principal concern of the student having the critical competencies for law practice and being prepared to pass the bar examination.
The academic content of the educational program must meet the same standards, including evaluation of student performance, as the on-campus program of the law school.
Study at a Foreign Law School
A J.D. student may earn no more than twelve transfer credits in summer school and no more than sixteen credits for a semester-long program at a foreign law school. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs must approve the institution chosen by the student prior to the student’s matriculation with the principal concern for the overall academic quality of the institution’s legal studies program and its satisfaction of ABA instructional requirements. In approving a student’s request, the Associate Dean considers the potential benefits of the proposed courses to the student’s academic development, the student’s cumulative GPA, and the nature of elective courses previously taken, with the principal concern of the student having the critical competencies for law practice and being prepared to pass the bar examination.
The academic content of the educational program must meet the same standards, including evaluation of student performance, as the on-campus program of the law school.
Semester and Year-Long Visits
J.D. students may receive no more than sixteen transfer credits in any semester and no more than thirty transfer credits in an academic year and in total visiting at another ABA approved United States Law School. Both the visit at a particular school and the courses taken at that law school must be approved by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Permission to visit away may be granted for reasons of personal or family hardship and medical conditions. Examples of such situations include a student’s spouse being indefinitely transferred to another state and a student needing medical treatment away from Chapel Hill.
Seeking employment opportunities in another location is not a recognized justification. Requests to visit should be made as early as possible. Ordinarily, such requests must be made in writing and absent exceptional circumstances must be made no later than March 31 for a proposed visit during the Fall Semester and no later than October 31 for a visit during the Spring Semester.
The academic content of the educational program must meet the same standards, including evaluation of student performance, as the on-campus program of the law school.
Transfer Students
Students Transferring to UNC
UNC accepts very few transfer students each year. To be admitted, transfer applicants must have met the admission requirements of the class to which he or she would have been a part.
Transfer Credits
UNC School of Law will accept up to 30 transfer credits for coursework completed after the student matriculated in a law school’s J.D. program. These credits are reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, who reviews the transcript, makes the determination and notifies students before they enroll what courses will be accepted for transfer credit. The criteria for transfer credit hours include that:
- The student must have received a grade of “C” or better in the courses at the original school.
- The courses must either be courses that are typical first-year courses (i.e., Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Property, and Torts) or law school courses in which an upper level student would receive credit at UNC.
After enrolling, transfer students may take no more than 11 additional hours of ungraded courses at UNC.
Students Transferring from UNC
More information is available under Leaving the School.