Registration and Related Policies

• Attendance Policy

The American Bar Association and the University of Maryland School of Law require regular and punctual attendance by students. Regular attendance is presumed to mean at least 80% of the total classes or class hours for a course. A student who fails to comply with the attendance requirement may be subject to withdrawal from the course, denied permission to sit for the final examination, or other reasonable penalty for non-compliance, which includes the lowering of the course grade.

A faculty member may adopt a more specific or stricter attendance policy provided that the policy and the penalty for a violation are announced in writing (Blackboard posting is acceptable) at the beginning of the course (and no later than the first week of classes). In any event, the Director of Registration and Enrollment shall initiate enforcement action against a student once the faculty member provides the Director with documentation of the student’s absences, a copy of the faculty member’s written notice informing the student of his or her attendance policy violation as well as the imposed penalty, and if applicable, a copy of the faculty member’s announcement of a more specific or stricter attendance policy.

A student may appeal the enforcement action to the Administrative Committee only on the grounds of actual compliance, inadequacy of notice, and unreasonableness of the penalty. The student may be allowed to continue attending classes pending the Committee’s decision unless the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs concludes that doing so would be disruptive to the class. No further penalties may be imposed based solely on additional student absences arising from the appeal process.

• Auditing Classes

Courses taken for audit do not count for credit for graduation requirements; tuition for audited courses is the same as for credit courses.  Faculty approval is required to audit any seminar, simulation or experience-based course offering.  As with students registered for credit, Audit requires students’ regular and punctual attendance according to the expectations of the course instructor.Students receiving permission to audit should clarify with the instructor expectations about preparation and participation. 

Requests to audit a course are lowest in enrollment priority and requests may NOT be made using the on-line Advance Registration Request Form.  You may submit your request on an Add/Drop Form (paper). Requests will be considered only after all timely registration requests. 

Students may not audit a course previously taken for credit; students may not take for credit a course previously audited.

• Changing Divisions

Requests to change divisions must be made on the Registration Status & Exception Form prior to completing and submitting the on-line Course Registration Request Form.  Students making this request should investigate whether it may affect their eligibility to participate in journal petitioning. Students switching divisions also should check degree requirements, including the residency requirement, to understand how they are progressing toward satisfaction of all degree requirements. Students must have completed a minimum of 28 credits to participate in any Legal Theory & Practice or Clinic course (except if offered as a first year elective for day division students)

Beginning with the first year class entering in August 2004 and including students from other law schools transferring into Maryland law school’s evening division beginning in the fall semester 2005, evening division students must take required courses during the evening hours.  The School of Law instituted this rule to insure there is a critical mass of students in all evening division required courses.  Evening students who request and are approved to switch from the evening to the day program at the conclusion of their first year, must continue to take required courses in the evening; these students may begin taking electives in the day in the fall semester of their second year.  The only exceptions to this rule are for courses satisfying the Legal Profession and Advanced Legal Research requirements. 

• Classes on Religious Holidays

With respect to classes held on days when a substantial number of students may not be able to be present, such as widely observed religious holidays, the Faculty Council of the Law School has adopted the following policy:

Instructors who hold classes when a substantial number of students cannot attend for a good cause are encouraged to take appropriate measures (such as make-up classes, permitting taping, tutoring, individual or group discussions, etc.) to enable students who cannot attend those classes to make up material that they missed.

(See also UMB Policy Concerning the Scheduling of Academic Assignments on Dates of Religious Observance » )

• Courses at Other Law Schools
A student at the University of Maryland School of Law may receive credit for any course taken during the academic year at an ABA-accredited law school, provided:

• The student receives advance approval from the Office of Registration & Enrollment to take the course; and
• The student receives a grade of C- or better in the course (credits transfer, the grade does not; although if the student receives a grade below C- in the course, he or she will be so notified and then can elect, in the time and manner prescribed by the dean, to take the grade earned in the course instead of “no credit”); and
• The course (or a substantially similar course) is not offered at the University of Maryland School of Law at any time during the academic year in which the student wishes to take it, or
• The student is unable to register for the course (or a substantially similar course) at the University of Maryland School of Law at any time during the academic year in which the student wishes to take it because the course is fully enrolled.

In exceptional cases, in which a student does not meet the requirements above, authority given a student to receive credit for a course is within the discretion of the Office of Registration & Enrollment. For purposes of this policy, an academic year consists of a fall semester and the immediately following spring semester.

A student at the University of Maryland School of Law may receive credit for any course taken during a summer session at an ABA–accredited law school if the student receives, from the Office of Registration & Enrollment of the University of Maryland School of Law, approval in advance to take the course and receives a grade of C- or better in the course (credits transfer, the grade does not; although if the student receives a grade below C- in the course, the student will be so notified and then can elect, in the time and manner prescribed by the dean, to take the grade earned in the course instead ‘no credit’).

• Credit/No Credit Option

Subject to the right of the person teaching the course to require that all students take the course on a graded basis, a student may elect to take a course, other than a required course, on a credit/no credit basis, but only for one course on one occasion during the student’s law career. An instructor who wishes to require that all students take the course on a graded basis must notify the Office of Registration & Enrollment of this requirement in time for it to be inserted into the registration materials for the semester in which the course is to be offered. A student who wishes to elect to take a course on a credit/no credit basis must file his or her election with the Office of Registration & Enrollment prior to submitting work for a grade or sitting for an exam (this does not apply to class participation in course where it comprises a portion of the student’s grade) or by the date announced by the Office of Registration and Enrollment, whichever is earliest. A student who properly elects to take a course on a credit/no credit basis will receive “credit” for the course if his or her grade in the course is at least C- (1.67); otherwise, he or she will receive “no credit” for the course. However, a student who properly elects to take a course on a credit/no credit basis and who receives a grade below C- in the course will be so notified and then can elect, in the time and manner prescribed by the Office of Registration & Enrollment, to take the grade in the course instead of the “no credit.”

The grade CR (credit) or NC (no credit) as the case may be, will be recorded on the student’s academic record. Neither grade will have an impact on the cumulative grade point average, but only the CR grade will cause credits to be earned toward degree requirements.

ELECTIVE courses graded on the A+ to F scale which are not eligible for the Credit/No Credit option are noted on the Curriculum and on the Credit/No Credit Course Selection Form.

• Delaying Required Courses

Students are not permitted to delay taking required courses, except with permission of the Office of Registration & Enrollment.

• Determination of Senior Status

  If a student intends to graduate in other than the usual three years (full-time) or four years (evening or part-time day), the following criteria will be applied to determine senior status:

  1. Full-time day students who have earned 50 credits by the conclusion of the fall semester of their second year may request senior status (submit a Registration Status & Exception Form to the Office of Registration and Enrollment) prior to senior registration deadlines in order to receive senior enrollment priorities for selection of courses in the spring semester of their second year and in the fall semester of their third year.  In no event will senior status be granted for more than two semesters, e.g., if they do not in fact graduate in December of their third year.
  2. Evening and part-time day students who have earned 60 credits by the conclusion of the fall semester of their third year may request senior status (submit a Registration Status & Exception Form to the Office of Registration and Enrollment) prior to senior registration deadlines in order to receive senior enrollment priorities for selection of courses in the spring semester of their third year and in the fall semester of their fourth year.  In no event will senior status be granted for more than two semesters, e.g., if they do not in fact graduate in December of their fourth year.
  3. Students who switch divisions will be given senior status on the basis of criteria explained above for the division in which they plan to complete their studies.  They also will retain opportunity for Wild Card & Non-senior Seminar Preferences.  (Submit a Registration Status & Exception Form, Wild Card Form and/or Non-Senior Seminar Preference Form to the Office of Registration and Enrollment)
  4. A student may not exercise a senior priority before Advance Registration which takes place in the fall semester of the second year (day students) or third year (evening and part-time day students).
  5. Students who begin senior status with the spring semester may benefit for that one semester from both senior and non-senior preferences.  These “rising seniors” must notify the Office of Registration & Enrollment in person or by email (
     reg_enroll @ law.umaryland.edu
     ) of their intention to benefit from both senior and non-senior preferences.
• Distance Education

The ABA has limitations on distance education credits which a student may take and apply to degree requirements. Distance education courses must be approved as part of the school's regular curriculum approval process. Therefore, distance education courses not a part of this or another approved law school's regularly approved academic program (thus excluding all graduate level distance education courses) may not be accepted toward satisfaction of degree requirements. Students may not earn more than four credit hours in distance education courses in any given term nor more than 12 credit hours total toward degree requirements. Students may not enroll in distance education courses until the student has completed at least 28 credit hours.

• Dual Degree Programs and Interdisciplinary Study

Credit for courses taken at other institutions, including courses taken as part of a dual degree program and others which are to be applied toward J.D. requirements, may not be applied toward a student's law school degree requirements without the prior written approval of the Office of Registration & Enrollment. Request to Take Courses at Another Law or Graduate School forms are available on the Forms Shelf located outside of the Office of Registration and Enrollment, Suite 280 and on-line.

No more than 9 graduate level credits or 32 credits taken at another ABA-accredited law school (or combination of graduate level and other law school credits totaling 32) may be applied toward Juris Doctor degree requirements. Before credits will be accepted on a transfer basis, an official transcript must be sent to the Office of Registration & Enrollment (OR&E), Suite 280, 500 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, showing that:

A) Graduate Level courses – the grade achieved must signify satisfactory completion of the course(s); many graduate schools do not consider “C” work satisfactory; credits transfer, the grade does not. Consistent with ABA Standard 306, graduate level distance education courses are not eligible for transfer.

B) Law School courses – the grade achieved is a C- or better; credits transfer, the grade does not. If a grade below C- is achieved, the student will be notified and he/she can elect, in the time and manner prescribed by the assistant dean, to take the grade earned in the course instead of ‘no credit'.

C) Academic credits accepted on a transfer basis earn residency credits as if the credits were taken at Maryland. See the Residency Chart at online under Graduation Requirements/Residency. http://www.law.umaryland.edu/academics/program/curriculum/requirements/residency.html

University regulations permit students participating in interdisciplinary study programs to participate in the Inter-Institutional Registration program. The program provides the opportunity to take courses at another University of Maryland System school without payment of additional tuition; tuition is paid only at the "home" institution in accordance with its own policies. Students may apply up to nine credits of pre-approved interdisciplinary graduate study credits toward their law degree. Students participating in recognized dual degree programs, summer session programs and students paying on a per credit hour basis are not included in this policy. After receiving permission to register for a non-law course or University of Baltimore law course, obtain an application for Inter-Institutional Enrollment form from Office of Registration & Enrollment, complete the form and submit it to her for processing.

Dual degree program students should take into account in planning their academic programs the different rules in each of the participating schools regarding payment of tuition and fees. In addition to considering the academic credits to be scheduled in each school in each semester, dual degree students should consider the impact of that academic scheduling on the costs (flat fee vs. per credit hour fee) associated with attending each school in each semester of the planned program.

Students participating in recognized dual degree programs should be enrolled for 9 or more law school credits to be eligible for consideration for law school financial aid funds. Students who are registered for fewer than 9 credits are presumed to be applying for financial aid from their 'other' school. Students registered for fewer than 9 credits with the law school yet the majority of their total credits are still with the law school, may request of the law school consideration for award of law school need-based financial aid.

• Employment Policy

In accordance with accreditation standards of the American Bar Association, the University of Maryland School of Law does not permit students who are enrolled in 13 or more credit hours to be employed more than 20 hours per week. First year students enrolled in 13 or more credit hours are not permitted to work at all during the school year, except as determined on a case-by-case basis by the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs.

• Multiple Experience-Based Offerings

Students wishing to enroll in more than one experience-based course offering in the same semester must obtain the approval of both instructors and the Associate Dean for Academic Programs. 

• On-line Grades and Evaluation of Faculty

To obtain grades online, students must first complete evaluations of their professors. Both faculty evaluations and grade retrieval are located on the School's website through "My UM Law." Students log on using their myUMBID username and password.

To complete faculty evaluations, click on "Faculty Evaluation System" on the menu. Each student's semester classes will appear. Under the section "Eval Status," students should click on the "Not Yet Entered" for the class/professor. This will allow access to the school's evaluation program. Once the evaluation is complete it may be submitted or saved for later revisions. Students are not be able to retrieve grades unless submit is chosen. The main page will either say "submitted" or “saved.”

If there is more than one instructor for a class, students will have to complete an evaluation for each person. Once evaluations have submitted students will be able to view their personal grades, as well as the grade distribution for the class. If grades have not been turned in yet, under the heading "Grade Availability" the course grade will be listed as "Unavailable." Otherwise, it will say "Available" and students will be able to obtain their grade.

Also, once a student submits the school's evaluation, s/he will be prompted to complete the Student Bar Association's faculty evaluation. This is an optional evaluation, but the results can be viewed by the student body.

• Prerequisite and Concurrent Course Requirements

Prerequisites will be enforced when students submit requests on their on-line Advance Registration Request Form.  Some courses permit exceptions (see on-line Course Catalog) for exceptions; use the Registration Status & Exception Request Form. 

• Recording/Taping Classes and Seminars

The School of Law recognizes that class content is the intellectual property of individual faculty members. The faculty member's permission is required before any portion of a class session may be recorded. There is a strong presumption that faculty members will allow recording for makeup or review classes that are scheduled outside normal class time; for observance of religious holidays; and for court-ordered appearances in clinical matters.

It is expected that faculty members will announce their general policies on recording at the beginning of each semester. If a faculty member indicates that requests for recording may be granted in some circumstances, students are thereby on notice that their comments in any class may be recorded.

The following policies apply to all classroom recordings:

• Recordings are for your individual and personal use only;
• The contents of any such recording may not be distributed, published, uploaded, or otherwise transmitted or copied to any user, site, server, etc. in which it is reasonably foreseeable that the contents, in whole or in part, will be available to another; and
• Recordings must be destroyed within 30 days following the exam.

This policy is subject to the School's Honor Code and the Student Disciplinary and Appeals Procedure.

Student recording

Students must have the faculty member's permission before any portion of any class session may be recorded. The decision to grant or deny permission is entirely at the discretion of the faculty member.

If permission is granted, a student may use a portable audio recorder to record the class. Media Services maintains a supply of audio recorders available for loan.

When an individual student must miss a class for any reason and wishes to have the class recorded, he or she should request a classmate to record the session (subject to faculty member approval). Media Services will not provide recording services for individual students, except as approved by Dean Cobb in exceptional circumstances; see below.

Recording by the Media Services Department

Under certain circumstances and with the faculty member's permission, the Media Services department will record class sessions, or will assist the faculty member with the recording process. Media Services can only provide recording services for classes held in classrooms with built-in video- and or audio- recording equipment. Classes held in rooms without built-in equipment, such as 4403 in the Library , cannot be recorded by Media Services; refer to the section on student recording above.

Routine Recording	Upon faculty request, Media Services will record all classes in a particular course and make them available to all students in the course for either 7 days or for the remainder of the semester.
Religious Holidays	If a substantial number of students have indicated in advance that they will be absent in order to observe a religious holiday, classes except clinics will be recorded by Media Services and made available to all students for 7 days after the class. Faculty who do not want classes released for this reason must contact Dean Gontrum and notify students.
Rescheduled classes	All classes will be recorded by Media Services and made available to all students for 7 days after the make-up class. Faculty who do not want classes released for this reason must contact Dean Gontrum and notify students.
Inclement weather (during periods determined by the deans)	All classes except clinics will be recorded by Media Services and made available to all students for 7 days after the class. Faculty who do not want classes released for this reason must contact Dean Gontrum and notify students.
ADA related recording and extreme cases	Students should contact the Director of Student Affairs who will consult with appropriate faculty. The preferred solution is that recording will be done by the student or another student. Subject to availability, Media Services will try to handle last minute requests made in extreme cases.
All other circumstances	Media Services will not record classes for individual absences for reasons other than the ones listed above. Students should refer to the recording policy of the faculty member involved.

• Repeating Courses

A student who fails a required course must repeat the course. A student who fails an elective course may, but need not repeat the course. Moreover, except as hereinafter provided, a student may repeat a course the student has not failed, but only for one course on one occasion during the student's law school career. A student who has not failed the course may not repeat any Cardin, Clinic, Introduction to Legal Research (formerly Legal Analysis Writing and Research II: Research), Legal Analysis and Writing (formerly Legal Analysis, Writing and Research I), Legal Theory and Practice, or Written and Oral Advocacy (formerly Legal Analysis, Writing and Research II) course without the express permission of the Office of Registration & Enrollment.

A student who is required to repeat a course pursuant to the previous paragraph must do so no later than the next time the course is offered in the division in which the student is registered. However, if the course is next offered during the summer session, it need not be repeated at that time.

A student may receive credit for a course only once, the last time the course was taken. The student must pay tuition and fees for the repeated course as if not repeated. When a course is repeated, the new grade, whether higher or lower, replaces the old grade in the student's grade point average. However, both grades remain on the student's transcript, with a notation that the course was repeated.

• Scheduling Conflicting Courses

A student may not take for credit or audit two courses in which a class session of one course is regularly scheduled to meet at the same time, or during an overlapping time, as a class session of the other course.

• Scheduling Day and Evening Classes

Students must take the majority of credits in the division in which they are registered. For example, a day student registering for 13 credits must take at least 7 credits in the day and make take up to 6 credits in the evening: or an evening student registering for 11 credits must take at least 6 credits in the evening and may take up to 5 credits in the day. An equal number of day and evening credits does not satisfy this rule. Courses with a start time later than 4:10 p.m. and earlier than 6:30 p.m. and on Saturday are considered both day and evening courses for purposes of this rule as is Independent Written Work and credits earned through co-curricular activities i.e., journals and moot court.

• Withdrawal

A student who withdraws in good standing after completion of at least one semester at the law school may return if the amount of time the student will have been absent from the school since the student’s last matriculation does not exceed three years. A student who withdraws before the completion of one semester is not entitled to be readmitted but may be admitted as a new student by the Admissions Committee.

The school reserves the right to raise questions as to character that have arisen during the interim and to refuse readmission on these grounds, subject to the right of the student to petition the Administrative Committee for readmission.

A student who withdraws in good standing after completion of at least one semester of law school, but who has been absent longer than three years is not entitled to be readmitted but may be by the Administrative Committee, subject to such conditions as the committee may impose. Voluntary withdrawal requires the approval of the Acting Director of Registration & Enrollment. A student who drops out of the law school without this approval after the beginning of a semester for which the student has registered will be deemed to remain enrolled in his or her courses. Failure to take examination or otherwise complete a course satisfactorily will result in a grade of F (0.00) in the course.

A student who withdraws must clean out his/her locker and student mailbox, return her/his student identification card, and, if applicable, return his/her parking hangtag. Campus email, Blackboard, Lexis and Westlaw accounts, are automatically cancelled for all students who withdraw.

If the student receives financial aid, s/he should contact the Financial Aid Office (410-706-7347) to inquire about financial obligations which may result from withdrawal. Questions concerning student accounts (for example, if you have a balance due or if you may be due a refund) should be directed to the Student Accounts Office (410-706-2930). International students should contact the Campus Office of Records & Registration (410-706-7480) regarding their visa status.

• Written Work Submitted for Multiple Courses

A student may write a paper in satisfaction of the requirements of two seminars taken simultaneously, if it is approved by the seminar instructors and the Curriculum Committee in advance and on condition that the seminar instructors consult with each other on supervising the paper and on the grade.  (The grade need not be the same for each seminar).  A project of this nature will not be approved by the Curriculum Committee unless it is at least the equivalent of four-credit independent written work.

A student may not obtain credit for both independent written work and a seminar, course, or other offering (including Moot Court, The Journal of Business and Technology Law, The Journal of Health Care Law & Policy, The Maryland Journal of International Law, The Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class, or The Maryland Law Review) for a single piece of written work, unless this is approved by the Curriculum Committee pursuant to the procedures and conditions for doing independent written work for more than two credits.

More On Student Policies

• Academic Standards
• Registration and Related Policies
• Tuition & Fee Payment Policies
• Health Care Coverage Policies
• Honor Code
• Responsibility and Disciplinary Policies
• Student Services Policies & Procedures
• ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Policy

Related Links

• Graduation Requirements
• USM/UMB Policies and Procedures
• Advance Registration Process

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