Academic Credit Journal Work

Second-year JD students, LLM students, and JSD students do not receive credit for journal work or writing for a journal (other than writing conducted as Directed Research that incidentally fulfills journal commitments).

A third-year JD student is entitled to either one or two ungraded academic credits for their work on a student journal or the Moot Court Board (“journals”). The number of credits to which a student is entitled is determined by the amount of hours of academic work attributed to each position on the journal. For law journal and Moot Court credit, the faculty advisor will evaluate the educational achievement of each student awarded credit to ensure that both the quantity and educational quality of the student’s work on the journal or Moot Court was commensurate with the number of credits awarded and comparable to the quantity and quality of work in an ordinary course or seminar carrying that same number of credits.

• If a third-year student holds a position that requires 100 or more hours of academic work during the third-year, they are entitled to receive two ungraded academic credits. A student may choose to allocate these credits to a single semester, or distribute the credits between the fall and spring semesters of the third-year.
• If a third-year student holds a position that requires 50 or more hours, but less than 100 hours of academic work during the third-year, they are entitled to one ungraded academic credit. A student may choose to allocate the credits to either the fall and spring semesters of the third-year.
• If a third-year student holds a position that requires less 50 hours or less of academic work during the third-year, they are not entitled to receive academic credit.

Modifications to the allocation of credits after the fall add/drop deadline may be made only under extenuating circumstances by prior agreement with Lindsay Kendrick, Dean of Students (“Dean”).

Registering for Academic Credit

A student must specify the semester to which credit is to be allocated, and the Editor-In-Chief (“EIC”) of each journal must confirm the position to which a student is appointed and the number of credits attached to that position by the last day of add/drop period for the fall semester. Students who are entitled to credit will be registered for the credit(s) by the Office of Records and Registration. Students will not register for the credit(s) themselves.

In order for Academic Services to register students for the applicable credit(s), EICs must send a memorandum (on the journal’s masthead) to Amy Chu, Senior Director of Academic Services, by the last day of add/drop period for the fall semester that lists …

1)      the full legal name and the title of the position held by each 3L student who is to receive credit, indicating both fall and spring credit allocations (e.g., Jane Doe: 2 credits in Fall 2022; Helen Santos: 1 credit in Fall 2022 and 1 credit in Spring 2022);

2)      the full legal name and the title of the position held by each 2L and LLM student who is affiliated with the journal, but receives no credit.

Records and Warnings

Journals are to maintain an internal system of recordkeeping that will serve as a mechanism for warning those journal members who fall behind in the completion of hours attributed to a member’s academic work. Journals must give timely notice in writing of unsatisfactory performance to journal members by dates specified each semester, see 2022-2023 schedule below. Journals must also notify the Dean about the students who have been warned and keep they are apprised of any concerns about members’ performance of journal work that could, in time, lead to removal from a journal. If it is determined that a student has not fulfilled the hours attributed to earn one or two credits, the student will not receive academic credit. It is expected that such a decision would not be rendered without a timely warning by the journal.

Certification of Completed Academic Work

Journals must certify the completion of hours attributed to a member’s academic work. For third-year students who elect to register for one or two credits during the fall semester, the EIC must certify the completion of credit hours attributed to that semester by the last day to drop a class for the fall semester. For third-year students who choose to register for one credit in the fall and one in the spring, the EIC must certify the completion of credit hours attributed to each semester by the last day to drop a class for the fall and spring, respectively. For third-year students who elect to register for one or two credits during the spring semester, the EIC must certify the completion of credit hours attributed to that semester by the last day to drop a class for the spring semester.

To certify the completion of hours attributed to a member’s academic work, EICs must send a memorandum (on the journal’s masthead) to Amy Chu, Senior Director of Academic Services, by the last day to drop a class for the semester in which the student is registered, see schedule below.  The memorandum must list …

1)      the full legal name and the title of the position held by each 3L student who is to receive credit and a statement that attests to the completion of the required amount of hours attributed to her or his academic work.

Definition of Academic Work on a Journal

Academic work is work that facilitates skill development in legal analysis and reasoning, legal research, legal problem-solving, or legal written or oral communication. The types of work presumed to be academic work include …

1)    The duties and responsibilities routinely attributed to the journal’s Editor(s)-in-Chief;

2)    Edit, copyedit, write, or proof a piece of legal writing to be published in a journal publication (either in print or online), used in the journal writing competition, or used in a moot court competition, whether written by a student or academic practitioner,

3)    Compete in a moot court competition or judge a practice moot court argument,

4)    Evaluate the merits of a brief, oral argument, writing competition problem or submission, article, Note, online forum submission, or similar academic work product submitted for consideration for publication, journal membership, moot court competition, or other legal activity,

5)    Academic work performed in the course of developing an intellectual life program or symposia event, including determining event topics, substantive engagement with invited speakers or panelists to develop program content, and preparation of legal writing to be distributed in the course of such an event; and,

6)    Legal research necessary or incidental to any of the above.

Journal Position Description Approval for Academic Credit

A position description is deemed to be credit worthy if the Dean or Faculty Advisor determine that the academic work attributed to each position is commensurate with the scope of the work involved and the amount of time required to complete said academic work. A third-year student is entitled to ungraded academic credit only if the position has prior approval and been incorporated as an addendum to the Journal’s bylaws prior to the first day of classes each academic year. Disputes about a position’s approval shall be resolved by the Dean of Students or the Vice-Dean of Intellectual Life.

Each journal must submit to the Dean and the Faculty Advisor a list of all of the proposed credit-bearing positions on the journal, and a brief description, including estimated time, of the academic work required for each position to be completed prior to the first day of classes each academic year.

The Dean and Faculty Advisor must annually review the position descriptions, and may amend, add, or subtract a position description if requested by a journal, but no such amendment changes a position’s credit-worthiness until the position’s present incumbent leaves office.

2022-2023 Academic Credit Deadlines for Journals