Chapter 10:
Grades

Anonymous Grading

All final examinations in the JD, LLM, and SJD degree programs are graded anonymously, and all other assessments in the JD, LLM, and SJD degree programs are graded anonymously when practicable. The MSL program does not utilize anonymous grading.

Grading Systems for JD Students

All grades in courses for credit toward a JD will be awarded pursuant to one of four grading policies: 

• Mandatory Grading Policy

• Modified Mandatory Grading Policy

• Pass/Fail Grading Policy

• Professional Development Grading Policy

A student’s GPA will be calculated based on grades awarded in compliance with the Mandatory Grading Policy and the Modified Mandatory Grading Policy.  Grades awarded in compliance with the Pass/Fail Grading Policy will be recorded on the transcript and will count toward graduation requirements, but will not affect a student’s GPA, class rank, or graduation honors. Grades awarded for Professional Development will be recorded on the transcript but will not affect a student’s GPA, class rank, or graduation honors.

Mandatory Grading Policy ("MGP")

The Mandatory Grading Policy is the default grading system for JD students. All grades awarded in courses for credit whether taught by full-time faculty or adjuncts, will be issued in compliance with the Mandatory Grading Policy unless one of the other policies specifically applies to the course.

The grades in a course governed by the Mandatory Grading Policy will have a mean of 3.33. Every grade of C – F shall be counted as a C+ for the purpose of calculating the mandatory mean. The Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs may approve slight deviations from the mandatory mean for good cause at the request of the instructor.

Modified Mandatory Grading Policy ("MMGP")

All legal writing courses (whether or not taken to satisfy LAWR requirements) and clinical courses, will be graded according to the MMGP. In addition, if an elective course is one in which students complete iterative submissions of work after individualized feedback by the instructor and which, by their nature, necessarily involve non-anonymous grading for some or all of the components of the course grade, an instructor may request that the Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs permit the course to be graded under the MMGP. All such courses must be approved before registration in the semester in which the course will be offered so that students have notice in advance of registering for courses.

All grades in a course governed by the MMGP will have a mandatory mean of 3.50. Every grade of C+ or below shall be treated as a B- for purposes of calculating the course's mandatory mean. The Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs may approve slight deviations from the mandatory mean for good cause at the request of the instructor.

Pass/Fail Grading Policy ("PFGP")

An instructor in a single-sectioned elective course may elect to grade the class pursuant to the Pass/Fail Grading Policy, in whole or in part. Instructors may limit the number or percentage of PFGP slots in a class in order to maintain a minimum number of graded students for purposes of creating a meaningful curve.

For purposes of this policy, Trial Practice is treated as a single-sectioned elective course. In addition, all externships, internships, and practicum extensions will be graded under the PFGP. Grades issued in compliance with the PFGP will be recorded on the transcript but will not affect a student’s GPA, class rank, or graduation honors.

Instructors must elect to have a course graded in compliance with the PFGP, in whole or in part, before registration in the semester in which the course will be offered so that students have notice in advance of registering for courses. In extraordinary circumstances, the instructor may request that the Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs approve the election to have a course graded entirely in compliance with the PFGP after registration but prior to the commencement of the semester. Students will be promptly notified of such change.

Grading Scale for Pass/Fail Grading Policy:

Honors Pass (H)

Pass (P)

Low Pass (LP)

Fail (F)

No mandatory mean will be applied to grades issued in compliance with the PFGP.

Students may count up to twelve (12) hours of credit awarded under the PFGP towards graduation requirements.

Credit earned for the following DO NOT count toward the twelve (12) hour limitation:

• Professional Development (0.5) 

• Trial Practice (3)

• Advanced Trial Practice (3)

• Journals (2 per year) (4)

• Transactional Problem Book (1 per year) (2)

• Moot court competitions (1 per comp.; up to 2)

• National trial team (1 per semester; up to 3)

• Externships, including Practicum Extensions

• Clinical courses that are graded pass/fail

• Applied Legal Concepts

• Transfer credits from another department or school

• CASE

• Independent Study

A student who is registered for a course in which a PFGP option is available may not change from the PFGP to the grade option or vice versa except within the period to add or drop a class, absent extraordinary circumstances and with the permission of both the grading instructor and Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Professional Development Grading Policy

The 1L required Professional Development course will follow the PFGP. As such, grades awarded in Professional Development will be recorded on the transcript but will not affect a student’s GPA, class rank, or graduation honors. No mandatory mean is required for Professional Development grades.

Grading System for LLM and SJD Students

Students in the LLM and SJD programs follow the JD grading system. The faculty member will assign a grade of A+/-, B+/-, C+/-, D+/-, or F for any LLM or SJD students enrolled for graded credit in the course. A suggested JD-to-LLM/SJD translation scale is as follows:

Pass/Fail Course Election for LLM Students

LLM students have the option of taking one otherwise MGP/MMGP course under the PGFP during their program. Courses that are only offered under the PFGP do not impact this option. But, if a student enrolls in a course that offers a MGP/MMGP section as well as a PFGP section, and chooses the PFGP section, that course will count towards this option. 

Students must notify and receive permission from the professor, as well as the Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (or their designee), by completing the LLM Pass/Fail Form, obtaining the requisite signatures, and submitting it to the Registrar’s Office no more than ten (10) days before the last day of classes. 

LLM Thesis Optional Grading

LLM students who choose to write a thesis, to satisfy the writing requirements of the LLM degree, may elect to have the thesis graded either with a letter grade or as pass/fail. Students must complete the LLM Thesis Option (850) Registration Authorization form and return it to the Registrar’s Office no more than ten (10) days before the last day of classes.

SJD Dissertation Optional Grading

SJD students may elect to have their final dissertation product graded either with a letter grade or as pass/fail. Students must complete the SJD Dissertation Form and return it to the Registrar’s Office no more than ten (10) days before the last day of classes of their final semester.

Grading System for MSL Students

Faculty will evaluate students in the MSL program on a letter grade system that may also include a “plus” or “minus.” 

The letter grading scale for MSL students is as follows:

Grade of Incomplete

Students who receive authorization to miss an examination or not to complete work in a course within the prescribed time will be given a grade of “I” for Incomplete instead of an “F.”

Students may remove the “I” from their record by taking the examination or completing the required work within the time period specified by the instructor, which will not extend beyond the last day of the next regular semester (Fall or Spring for non-MSL students; Spring, Summer, or Fall for MSL students). If a student fails to remove an “I” within the prescribed time, the “I” will be changed to an “F.” 

Students who have been excluded for failure to meet academic standards may not subsequently remove an “I” grade and be readmitted.

Pass/Fail Option for Transfer, Concurrent/Dual Degree, LLM, SJD, and MSL Students

If a student transfers to the School of Law from another law school, no more than the applicable limit on pass/fail credit in upper level courses earned at either school may count toward the minimum hours necessary for graduation.

If a student is enrolled in the JD/MBA program, the JD/MDiv program, the JD/MA in Bioethics program, or the JD/MA in Sustainability program, no more than 12 hours of ungraded credit earned at the School of Law may count toward the number of credits necessary for graduation in that program.  

School of Law students who are not enrolled in the JD/MBA program may, with the approval of the Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, earn up to twelve credit hours in the School of Business to be credited toward their JD degrees. School of Law students must obtain permission from the School of Business professors who teach the courses in which they wish to enroll. These courses will be graded on a pass/fail basis. School of Business credits earned under this program will not count toward the limits on pass/fail credit allowed for the JD degree but will count towards the 20-hour limit on study outside the classroom. An approval form must be completed and can be obtained from the School of Law Registrar’s Office.

Similarly, students not enrolled in the JD/MDiv, JD/MA in Bioethics, or JD/MA in Sustainability programs may, with the approval of the Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, earn up to twelve credit hours in the Divinity School or the Graduate School. Credits earned under this program will be graded on a pass/fail basis and will not count toward the limits on pass/fail credit allowed for the JD degree but will count towards the 20-hour limit on study outside the classroom. Students must complete an approval form, obtained from the School of Law Registrar’s Office. 

MSL courses are not offered on a Pass/Fail basis, with the exception of the Capstone project.

Dissemination of Grades

In compliance with federal statutes, the law school disseminates grades in a manner that ensures privacy and accuracy. Grades are available via Workday.

Change of Grades

A final grade submitted to the Registrar cannot be changed by a faculty member to reflect a re-evaluation of the student’s examination answers or other work without the Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs’s authorization. If an arithmetic or transmitting error is discovered, the error can be corrected without the Associate Dean’s authorization.

Request for Review of an Exam or Other Work

Unless a student is academically ineligible to continue in the School of Law, students who want to review their exam or other work should talk directly to the instructor who taught the course. As explained in Chapter 13, answering questions about grades is part of the instructor’s responsibilities. Students are entitled to review their exams, and instructors are required to explain to their students how the exams were graded. 

Students who are academically ineligible may not contact an instructor directly to ask for review of an exam or other work. They must instead request a review of an exam or other work through the Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs or to the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs.

The Office of Academic Affairs will forward the academically ineligible student’s request for review to the instructor, identifying the student requesting review only by anonymous exam number, not by name. The instructor will then respond to the request for review to the Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs or to the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, and that person will convey the results of the instructor’s review to the academically ineligible student.

Transcripts

Current students requesting an official School of Law transcript must utilize the “Request Transcript” link via OneWFU (formerly the Wake Information Network or WIN). Alumni can obtain a transcript through Parchment.

For informational purposes, students may also print an unofficial version of their transcripts from OneWFU.

Transcripts of work from other schools should be requested directly from that institution. The School of Law cannot certify work done at another educational institution.

Class Rank

An official statement of a student’s class rank is available upon written request to the Registrar’s Office. Individual ranks are calculated for those in the top 50% of the class only. A percentile rank (in 10% increments) is assigned to all other students. At the end of each semester, individual ranks or percentile ranks are uploaded to student profiles in Workday. 

Students in the SJD, LLM, and MSL degree programs are not ranked.

Graduation Honors

Honors at commencement for JD students will be based on the first five semesters of grades, as grades for the last semester are due after commencement. If a graduate’s last semester of grades puts the graduate into honors or a better category of honors, the graduate’s diploma will reflect that recognition. If a graduate was recognized for honors at commencement but then the last semester of grades put that graduate out of honors or into a lower honors category, the graduate will get a diploma with the honors received at commencement.

A JD student who has completed all the degree requirements will be eligible for the following honors:  

• Valedictorian: Awarded to the student(s) with the highest GPA in the graduating class. 

• Salutatorian: Awarded to the student(s) with the second-highest GPA in the graduating class.

• Summa Cum Laude: Awarded to the student(s) who are within the top 2% of the graduating class. 

• Magna Cum Laude: Awarded to the next highest-ranking students who are within the top 12% of the graduating class. 

• Cum Laude: Awarded to the next highest-ranking students who are within the top 33% of the graduating class 

Any student whose GPA is less than or equal to .005 of the cutoff for summa cum laude, magna cum laude, or cum laude, will be awarded the applicable Latin graduation honor.