Application Deadlines:
2007 Summer Session: Friday, May 4, 2007, by 5pm
2007 Fall Semester: Friday, August 10, 2007, by 5pm
2008 Spring Semester: Friday, November 30, 2007, by 5pm
2008 Summer Semester: Friday, May 2, 2008, by 5pm
Submit this completed form to: Louis Fine, Office of the Registrar
Phone 202 662-9224, Fax 202 662-9235
We believe law students should be encouraged to write papers more
frequently. Therefore, we look favorably on proposals for Supervised
Research. To maintain the integrity of our degree requirements, however,
we can authorize Supervised Research only when the student and professor
are committed to fulfilling the requirements of this option.
A law student who successfully completes a Supervised Research project
is awarded two credit-hours toward the J.D. degree; receives a grade
that is entered on the student’s transcript and calculated in
the student’s grade-point average; and satisfies the Legal Writing
Requirement (‘WR’). Thus, Supervised Research is a major
undertaking, tantamount to taking a ‘WR’ seminar course
and submitting a ‘WR’ paper for that course as well, with
the exception that only two credit-hours can be earned.
For this reason, the professor and student must make a mutual commitment
to such an undertaking. This commitment should include: (a) an agreement
that the topic is sufficiently ambitious to warrant awarding two credit-hours
of study; (b) a schedule of several meetings to discuss the research
and writing of the paper; (c) an agreement that the student will prepare
(and the professor will carefully review and provide feedback on both
a detailed outline and a subsequent complete first draft; and (d)
subsequent submission by the student (and grading by the professor)
of a final polished paper, expected to meet the standards of the Legal
Writing Requirement.
Following is the Law Center’s Academic Policy on Supervised
Research (J.D. program) and on the Legal Writing Requirement (‘WR’).
Carol Q. O'Neil
Associate Dean
ACADEMIC POLICY ON SUPERVISED RESEARCH
The Faculty has augmented the list of seminar offerings which meet
the Legal Writing Requirement by providing Supervised Research, which
students may undertake under the supervision of a faculty member for
two credit-hours. Supervised Research provides a seminar-type experience
to a student in those areas where there is no curricular offering
or where a student wishes to explore a subject in greater depth than
would be possible in an existing course or seminar.
The program of Supervised Research is designed to give a student benefits
similar to those of a ‘WR’ seminar. The professor and
student will establish a calendar of substantial meetings that allows
for the kind of interaction contemplated for ‘WR’ seminars.
The student prepares a paper that meets all the standards for the
Legal Writing Requirement, including the intensive exchange of ideas
through outline, draft, and final project.
To be eligible for Supervised Research, a student must have at least
a cumulative 'C' grade-point average (6.0 on 12-point scale or 2.0
on 4-point scale), and must ordinarily be sponsored by a full-time
faculty member. If a student makes a good-faith effort to obtain sponsorship
by a full-time faculty member and is unable to do so, sponsorship
by an adjunct faculty member may sometimes be approved. However, no
adjunct may sponsor more than one student per semester.
To apply for Supervised Research, a student must complete the application
form (available from the Office of the Registrar, Room 315) and submit
it to Louis Fine in the Office of the Registrar by the stated deadline. If the application is not received in that office,
credit cannot be awarded. The application form requires that the student:
describe the topic for research; demonstrate why the topic would lead
to an original paper satisfying the Legal Writing Requirement; show
the sponsoring professor’s agreement; indicate the scheduled
meeting dates with the professor, the due dates for the submission
of the outline, first draft, and final project; list the semester
in which the project is to be completed; and, if approval is sought
for sponsorship by an adjunct faculty member, describe the students
efforts to obtain sponsorship by a full-time faculty member. After
submission of the completed form, the Registrar will verify that the
student has the required “C” average, and will then forward
the form to the Legal Research and Writing Committee for its decision
on the application.
Because the Committee wants to ensure that the proposals will be successfully
completed, it will be guided by the principles set out below in reviewing
a student’s proposal.
1. The Committee will be receptive to all proposals meeting the goals
of Supervised Research and expects, within the limits of faculty resources,
to approve most proposals.
2. Because the time demanded of the professor is substantial, the
Committee expects that the student will ordinarily seek sponsorship
from full-time faculty. The Committee will aid students in seeking
such sponsors. When no full-time faculty member can serve as an effective
sponsor, the Committee may approve a proposal with an adjunct faculty
sponsor.
3. A student may not ordinarily undertake Supervised Research more
than once. (Students proposing to take Supervised Research for a second
time must disclose this to the Committee.) Similarly, Supervised Research
will not be approved when the proposal repeats work for which credit
has previously been granted in another course or for which the student
has been compensated during employment. Approval for internships or
externships cannot be granted.
4. Proposals may call for research to be in completed in one semester
or two; only two credit-hours, however, can be awarded.
The final draft must be submitted through the Office of the Registrar
and not directly to the sponsoring professor. The Office of the Registrar
will forward the final draft to the sponsoring professor. The paper
will be graded under the usual academic evaluation system by the sponsoring
professor. It may also be reviewed by members of the Legal Research
and Writing Committee. Credit for the Legal Writing Requirement will
be given for papers receiving a passing grade.
ACADEMIC POLICY ON THE LEGAL WRITING REQUIREMENT (‘WR’)
Students who entered the Law Center with the 1998 Fall Semester or
thereafter must complete a writing requirement as follows: (1) by
successfully completing a seminar or clinic approved by the Legal
Research and Writing Committee as meeting the Legal Writing Requirement
(‘WR’), or (2) completing a Supervised Research project
that has been approved by the Chair of the Legal Research and Writing
Committee.
The upperclass J.D. Legal Writing Requirement is intended to provide
students with the opportunity to refine research and writing skills
learned in the first year, and to develop the skills necessary to
undertake writing projects on their own following graduation from
law school. Students choose topics, submit outlines, prepare and submit
a first draft, and complete the final paper in consultation with faculty
members in approved seminars and clinics.
The upperclass writing project should show the student’s mastery
of the in-depth research undertaken and demonstrate how the student
has organized, clarified, or advanced this body of knowledge in resolving
the issues raised by the paper. Final papers must be submitted through
the Office of the Registrar and not directly to the professor.
The technical requirements for writing in approved seminars includes:
(1) use of legal forms of citation (when appropriate); (2) submission
of an outline and a first draft, in accordance with the professor’s
instructions and schedule; (3) submission of a revised final paper
based on the professor’s comments; and (4) both the first draft
and the final paper must have a length of no less than 6,000 words
(excluding footnotes), which is approximately twenty-five (25) typewritten
pages using customary margins and spacing. (Please note that a professor
may opt to require students to produce more than one paper to fulfill
the “length of no less than 6,000 words” requirement,
e.g., two 12 - 15 page papers.) All work must be that of the student
in consultation with the professor or must be cited for attribution
to others.
Other Provisions Applicable to Legal Writing Requirements:
Students may submit one paper to satisfy the requirements in two seminars
or writing projects by securing the written approval of both professors
and the Registrar in advance of writing the paper. When permission
is granted, the student will be required to write a paper of at least
50 pages (12,000 words excluding footnotes), and meet all other requirements
for the seminar and will be expected to divulge the joint nature of
the paper on the cover page of all submissions. Each professor approving
such a project will independently submit a final grade indicating
his or her judgment of the paper as it pertains to his or her course
and the final grades given for the two seminars need not be identical.
Two students may submit one jointly written paper for credit by securing
the written approval of the professor and the Associate Dean for Academic
Administration in advance of writing the paper. This written approval
must be submitted to the Registrar for the students’ permanent
records. Two students receiving approval to work together on a paper
must submit a total of at least 50 pages (12,000 words excluding footnotes)
and meet all other requirements for the seminar. The professor approving
such a joint project will submit one grade which will be entered on
each student’s transcript for the seminar.
Application Deadline:
2008 Summer Session: Friday, May 2, 2008, by 6pm
Submit this completed form to: Louis Fine, Office of the Registrar
Phone 202 662-9224, Fax 202 662-9235
TO: Chair, Committee on Legal Research and Writing
RE: Request for Authorization of Proposed Supervised Research
FROM:
Student: ______________________________
(Please print)
Professor :______________________________
(Please print)
We have read the preceding Statement and Academic Policies on Supervised
Research and the Legal Writing Requirement and agree that the attached
proposal satisfies the standards for authorizing Supervised Research.
This Supervised Research will be done in the ______________________________
Semester(s) (insert 2008 Fall, 2009 Spring, 2008 Summer, or a combination
of two sequential semesters). It is understood by both the sponsoring
professor and the student seeking to complete Supervised Research
that only two (2) credit-hours will be awarded for the completion
of a successful project.
____________________________________________________________
Date: ______________________________
Professor’s signature
Daytime telephone number: ______________________________
Email address: ______________________________
____________________________________________________________
Date: ______________________________
Student’s signature
Address: ____________________________________________________________
Daytime telephone number: ______________________________
Email address: ______________________________
Go Card number: ______________________________
Have you previously registered for Supervised Research?
[ ] Yes [ ] No
Proposal Title: ____________________________________________________________
(Please print)
Description of the research topic and demonstration of why it will
lead to an original paper satisfying the Legal Writing Requirement;
if this is a second Supervised Research project or if the student
has completed a seminar paper in a similar topic area, also provide
the topic and professor for the previous project:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
(You may add a separate sheet of paper describing the project, if
necessary.)
Outline due date: ______________________________
First draft due date: ______________________________
Final draft due date: ______________________________
Please provide a schedule of dates for meetings between the student and the professor. Please note that these are distinct from the due dates listed above. A minimum of four dates is required and, if you list fewer than four dates below, your application may be denied for that reason.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
About the Sponsoring Professor (check one):
[ ] Full-time
[ ] Adjunct (if adjunct, complete the rest of this form.)
Because the school’s academic policy requires that “students
will ordinarily seek sponsorship from full-time faculty”, the
Committee will not approve an adjunct faculty member for sponsorship
unless the student has made a good-faith effort to obtain sponsorship
by a full-time faculty member and has been unable to do so. (See Law
Center Bulletin for the list of full-time faculty.) The Committee
therefore requests that you describe your efforts to obtain sponsorship
by a full-time faculty member and the reasons why this was not successful.
After doing so, please provide the requested additional information
for the adjunct professor.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Adjunct professor’s office address: ____________________________________________________________
Adjunct professor’s telephone number: ______________________________
Adjunct professor’s email address: ______________________________
Is the adjunct professor sponsoring any other student’s Supervised
Research project during the semesters indicated above?
[ ] Yes [ ] No
TO BE COMPLETED BY THE OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR
Verify that the student has the required 'C' cumulative grade-point
average:
[ ] Yes [ ] No
Indicate any seminar in a similar area:
Professor: ____________________________________________________________
Course: ____________________________________________________________
Semester : ______________________________
Grade : ______________________________
Credit-hours : ______________________________
Professor: ____________________________________________________________
Course: ____________________________________________________________
Semester : ______________________________
Grade : ______________________________
Credit-hours : ______________________________
[ ] Requirements satisfied [ ] Requirements
not satisfied
____________________________________________________________
Date: ______________________________
Office of the Registrar's signature
TO BE COMPLETED BY THE CHAIR, COMMITTEE ON LEGAL RESEARCH AND WRITING
[ ] Approved [ ] Declined
Other Actions or Comments:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Date: ______________________________
Chair's (Committee on Legal Research and Writing) signature
