JURIS DOCTOR DEGREE
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Academic Evaluation Grades Letter grades are given with numerical equivalents as follows: – – – A+ = 4.33 B+ = 3.33 C+ = 2.33 A = 4.0
– A− = 3.66
= 3.0 – B− = 2.66 B
C = 2.0
– C− = 1.66
D = 1.0 F =0
Credit toward the J.D. degree is given for all grades between D and A+ (inclusive). A J.D. candidate who receives a grade of F or No Credit (NC) in a required course must retake that course from the same or a different instructor. Any student who retakes a required course and receives a grade of F or NC will be excluded from further study and may not graduate unless the student petitions for and receives the permission of the Academic Scholarship Committee. A J.D. candidate who receives a grade of F or NC in a non-required course may retake the course once, from the same or a different instructor. All failing and NC grades remain on the record. The cumulative average of a student includes all grades earned in courses evaluated on a letter-grade basis and taken at the Law School while a candidate for the degree. The majority of courses are graded on a letter-grade basis, but for some courses, primarily those that are clinical or skills-oriented, the grade of Credit (CR) or No Credit (NC) is given or the following grading scale is used: Honors (H), Pass (P), Low Pass (LP), and No Credit (NC). For Honors, a student must do work of excellent quality, and no more than 25 percent of the class may earn this grade. For courses graded on a Credit/No Credit (CR/NC) or Honors, Pass, Low Pass, or No Credit (H/P/LP/NC) basis, NC is given for work that would receive a grade below C− were evaluation to be made using the letter grade scale. A student who has been excused from taking a regularly scheduled examination or has been granted an extension of the deadline for a research paper is given the grade of I, Incomplete. (See Failure to Take an Examination, and Deadlines for Courses Graded on the Basis of Methods of Evaluation Other than In-Class Examinations, below.) No grade may be changed by an instructor after it has been posted or disclosed to a student unless there has been an arithmetic or administrative error that has been certified in writing as such by the instructor. A student has the right of faculty peer review of complaints of “prejudiced or capricious academic evaluation” under the regulations outlined in The George Washington University Guide to Students’ Rights and Responsibilities. To initiate such a review, the student must submit a letter and supporting documentation to the senior associate dean for academic affairs by the last day of classes of the semester following the semester or summer session in which the grade for an examination, paper, or other work product was awarded. The student has the burden of making a prima facie case, with appropriate documentation, that the grade was prejudiced or capricious. Mere disagreement with the grade is not a sufficient basis for initiating a faculty peer review. Method of Evaluation The method of evaluation is indicated at the end of each course description in this Bulletin, and a student’s grade in the course will be determined in large part on that basis. In