Union Station Shuttle Service and GUTS Bus to Main Campus

The free Union Station Shuttle Bus operates from 5:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. and is the safest and best way to travel between Georgetown Law-Union Station and Georgetown Law-Capitol Hill/Northeast (NE), DC, especially at night. On weeknights, the shuttle leaves from 1^st Street by the Hotung Building sidewalk at 9:10 p.m. to accommodate students getting out of evening classes. At other times, the shuttle departs from 1^st Street by the Hotung Building sidewalk every 30 minutes. The shuttle picks up and drops off passengers at Union Station near the stop sign on Columbus Circle, near the escalators leading to the Metro station, and makes drop offs before returning to Georgetown Law at the corner of 3rd Street and Massachusetts Avenue, NE; the corner of 6th and F Streets, NE; and the corner of 6th Street and Maryland Avenue, NE (across from the Imani Temple). You must present your GOCard to the shuttle driver when boarding at Union Station. Shuttle schedules and route maps are available at the New Jersey Avenue Security Desk and on the shuttles.

The Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS) bus service provides free shuttle service between Georgetown Law and the Main Campus. A GUTS bus schedule can be obtained at the Office of Student Life, Hotung 3102, or online. You must present your GOCard to the GUTS driver when boarding.

Helpful Campus Offices

The Office of the Dean of Students

The Office of the Dean of Students (ODOS) oversees campus and community life at Georgetown Law with offices that manage co-curricular and professional formation programs, student organizations, room scheduling, wellness programs, the Gewirz Student Center, disability services, sexual assault & relationship violence support services, the first-year peer advisor program, academic support, J.D. Orientation, and Commencement. The Dean of Students is the senior staff administrator who manages all urgent student matters, including mental health concerns and emergencies, personal and medical leaves of absence, and withdrawals from the Law Center. In addition, the Dean of Students serves as the Law Center’s Deputy Title IX Coordinator and oversees the Law Center’s responses to allegations of sexual misconduct. The Dean of Students and Director of Academic Enhancement Programs provide academic and personal advising to students and work closely with faculty and staff to consult on a range of student issues.

The Office of the Registrar

The Office of the Registrar is responsible for all student records, course registration, exam administration, transcripts and student CLE certifications, as well as providing academic and personal advising for students. The Office of the Registrar supports faculty with a variety of services, including providing information to students on class cancellations and scheduled make-up classes, administering examinations and guiding faculty through the process of writing, submitting and grading exams, and managing student submissions of seminar and other research papers. The Office also clears students for graduation, often on a very tight timeframe, which is the reason that grades must be submitted by the submission deadline. Office hours and contact information are listed here.

The Office of J.D. Academic Services

The Office of J.D. Academic Services (JDAS) is a key resource for J.D. students for all academic issues. The annual J.D. Course Schedule, including the summer session schedule, is produced by JDAS. The office also oversees the implementation of all academic rules and policies at the Law Center and manages the Law Center’s compliance with the ABA. Numerous publications such as the online Curriculum Guide, the Georgetown Law Student Handbook of Academic Policies, and the Part-Time Student Handbook are produced by JDAS. The office provides administrative support to all J.D. faculty, including visiting, full-time, and adjunct faculty. The office provides academic support to all J.D. students, including joint-degree, concurrent degree, and transfer student populations and oversees academic-related systems such as the course recording system. Students seeking to take courses at the main campus of Georgetown University or other ABA-approved U.S. law schools or to visit away in their final semester or year in law school must seek permission to do so from this office.

The Office of Graduate Programs

The Office of Graduate Programs oversees the LL.M., M.S.L, and S.J.D. programs at Georgetown Law, offering LL.M. degrees in Environmental Law, Taxation, Securities and Financial Regulation, National Security Law, Global Health Law, International Business and Economic Law, International Legal Studies, and General Studies. Executive LL.M. degrees are offered in Securities and Financial Regulation and Taxation, and an M.S.L. is offered in Taxation. The Office of Graduate Programs produces the LL.M. course schedule and maintains LL.M. academic resources and databases, including the Graduate schedule on the online Curriculum Guide. Academic advisors provide support for all LL.M., M.S.L, and S.J.D. students. The office runs the Language Center, which offers conversation groups and writing feedback for foreign-trained LL.M. students. Graduate Career and Professional Development, within the Office of Graduate Programs, offers career planning services to LL.M. students. The office also runs the LL.M. externship program and offers visa advising for all international students.

Disability Services

Georgetown Law provides curricular and co-curricular accommodations for students diagnosed with physical disabilities, learning disabilities, attention disorders, chronic health conditions, and psychological disabilities. In compliance with applicable federal law, the Office of Disability Services requests documentation and works with the student to determine reasonable and appropriate accommodations. The most commonly approved accommodations are extended time on exams, off-the-clock break-time for exams, classroom furniture accommodations, assistive technology, a note-taker in class, or audio-recorded lectures.

In order to protect the student’s confidentiality, in most cases, you will not be notified if a student with a disability is enrolled in your course. However, in instances where it is helpful to inform a professor, the student will be consulted first and the minimum amount of information will be disclosed. We have found that the need to notify the professor is more common in smaller seminar classes such as Trial Practice, Negotiations, and clinics. In these types of courses, it is often necessary for the Director of Disability Services, the faculty member, and the student to collaborate together to identify the most appropriate accommodation given the specific requirements of the course. Disability accommodations must be provided by or in consultation with the Director of Disability Services as this collaboration establishes consistency of practice and ensures that students have provided proper documentation. An example of a common request of a faculty member would be a waiver to the attendance policy due to a disability. If a student makes a disability request and is not registered with the Office of Disability Services, please refer the student to the Director of Disability Services before granting the accommodation.

Mary Ellen Vigeant is the Director of Disability Services and may be reached by email at disabilityservices@georgetown.edu or (202) 662-4066, or in the Office of the Dean of Students in Hotung 3101. She is available to answer questions and consult as needed.

Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Services

The Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Liaison (SARVL) for the Law Center is an extension of the Health Education Services Office on main campus, and provides confidential crisis intervention and options counseling for law students who are struggling with issues related to interpersonal violence. The SARVL helps students navigate medical care, the student and/or the criminal judicial systems, counseling services, safety planning, academic assistance, support groups, and housing relocation. The SARVL is available to provide confidential consultation with friends of survivors as well.

Sarah Stanley is the SARVL at the Law Center and may be reached by email at svs6@georgetown.edu or (202) 662-9293, or in Hotung 3102.

The Writing Center

The Writing Center provides J.D. and LL.M. students as well as graduate fellows with feedback and assistance on their written work. All Georgetown Law students are eligible to receive individualized tutoring at the Writing Center from a Senior Writing Fellow—a specially-trained upperclass student. The work of the Writing Center reinforces the methods of legal analysis, research, writing, and citation form taught in law school. Writing Center tutors focus on helping students become better writers through an interactive conference. Writing Center tutors do not provide written feedback on papers, nor do they provide proofreading or purely editing services. Students are encouraged to seek assistance from the Writing Center at all phases of writing and to consult the writing handouts available on the Writing Center website. The director of the Writing Center is also available to visit writing seminar classes to discuss writing the seminar paper.

If you wish to consult with the director of the Writing Center concerning your seminar’s writing requirements, techniques for getting the best seminar papers (see also Getting Good Seminar Papers), student writing issues, or availability to visit your seminar class, contact Professor Frances C. DeLaurentis at (202) 662-9526 or by email at fcd@law.georgetown.edu.

If you have a student who you think would benefit from working with the Writing Center, please refer them to the Writing Center website or to the Legal Research and Writing Office, 540 McDonough Hall. Students may also call the Writing Center at (202) 662-9529 or Noelle Adgerson at (202) 662-9525.

Language Center for Foreign-Trained LL.M. Students

The Language Center at Georgetown Law offers LL.M. students opportunities to enhance their English speaking and writing skills through non-credit, short-term, and limited enrollment conversation and writing groups. The conversation and writing groups are designed to foster a supportive, collegial, and rigorous environment for advanced English language learning and acquisition. The conversation groups help students increase their English fluency while discussing current topics. Students receive individual feedback on their speaking skills at the end of each session. Students may attend one conversation group both Fall and Spring semesters. To provide opportunities to enhance English fluency off campus, the Language Center organizes visits to cultural landmarks in Washington, D.C., which have included attending live oral arguments at the Supreme Court of the United States and meeting researchers at the Law Library of Congress. These outings are available to all LL.M. students.

The Language Center is available to participating LL.M. students throughout the academic year, during the winter break in January, and in the summer. For detailed workshop descriptions and schedules, to sign up for a conversation or writing group, or to receive notification of the visits to cultural landmarks, add the course “Language Center” on The West Education Network (TWEN). For additional information about the Language Center, email at languagecenter@law.georgetown.edu.

Career Services

The Office of Career Strategy at Georgetown Law provides a variety of services to J.D. students, alumni/alumnae, faculty and employers, including individual career assessment and planning; instruction in job seeking strategies; resume preparation; interview training through mock practice sessions and workshops; and general job market orientation through programs, panels and webcasts. A Resource Library of books, periodicals, webcasts and audiovisual materials is available for use by all members of the Georgetown Law community. The Office is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Fridays during the academic year, and from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. during semester breaks and summer. If you have questions or require additional information, please contact the Office of Career Strategy at (202) 662-9300 or visit 328 McDonough Hall.

Faculty members who seek a student research assistant are encouraged to list part-time, full-time, summer, temporary, and permanent job openings online via the Career Services Management System, Symplicity. The Office of Career Strategy also sponsors and arranges Fall and Spring interview programs, as well as regional interview programs in cities around the country.

The Graduate Career and Professional Development advisors are experienced attorneys with significant private and public sector practice experience who provide professional development and career counseling services to U.S.-and foreign-trained LL.M. students in all degree and Certificate programs, conduct group and one-on-one career and externship counseling sessions, organize job search and professional development workshops, advertise employment and externship opportunities for LL.M. students in a weekly LL.M. Newsletter, maintain an LL.M. Externship Database, and manage and participate in LL.M. recruitment programs. Adjunct and Visiting faculty who are interested in hosting an LL.M. student as an academic extern or have a job opening can contact the LL.M. career advisors at gradprofdevp@law.georgetown.edu or (202) 662-9036. Graduate Career and Professional Development advisors work to develop a strong network of resources among students, alumni, faculty, and employers.

Office of Public Interest and Community Service

The Office of Public Interest and Community Service (OPICS) is the primary career office for J.D. students interested in exploring public interest and government legal opportunities. The office also coordinates the Law Center’s extensive pro bono program, which encourages and facilitates pro bono service by students and other members of the Law Center community. OPICS administers the Law Center’s guaranteed summer funding program and Pro Bono Pledge initiative, advises J.D. students and alumni on internships and post-graduate employment, and conducts dozens of career-related programs each year. OPICS is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, please contact Kim Matthews at (202) 662-9655 or visit 212 McDonough Hall.

Visiting and Full-time Faculty Virtual Office

In addition to the Adjunct Faculty Virtual Office, the Visiting and Full-Time Faculty Virtual Office can be accessed using your NetID and password and contains a variety of links to helpful Georgetown Law information, including Georgetown Law resources, policies, and advice on topics that may arise as you prepare to teach or that you may encounter during the semester.

Library Services

The Georgetown University Law Library provides service in two locations, the Williams Law Library and the Wolff Law Library. The Edward Bennett Williams Law Library (United States legal materials and interdisciplinary materials) is on the north side of the campus at 111 G Street, NW. The John Wolff International and Comparative Law Library is on the south side of the campus in the 3rd and 4th floors of the Hotung International Law Building (550 First Street, NW). The Law Library offers a wide range of services to assist all faculty with their teaching responsibilities, and also provides assistance with research needs to full-time and visiting faculty. For more information about these services, or about the Library in general, please contact Michelle M. Wu, Law Library Director, by email at mmw84@law.georgetown.edu or (202) 662-9161. You can find more information about library services here. Reference hours are available online.

Borrowing Books and Materials

Present your GOCard at the Circulation Desk in either library to borrow books and other materials. Faculty members may check out books for the current academic year and renew books through the Library’s website or by calling the Williams Circulation staff at (202) 662-9131 or Wolff International Circulation staff at (202) 662-4194. The Library requests that faculty promptly return materials that have been recalled by other library clients.

Course Reserve

For the first two weeks of each semester, the Library borrows a copy of all required textbooks and keeps them on reserve at the Williams Circulation Desk for student use. The Library no longer purchases casebooks for the permanent collection, except for 1L courses and high enrollment upper-division courses (e.g., Evidence). You may request that the library place on course reserve any additional reading materials. Please note that Course Reserve denotes materials relating to a specific course and is housed only at the Williams location. All materials requested for Course Reserve will be listed both by professor and course in the Library’s online catalog. Course Reserve materials may be checked out by students for a period of three hours. They may be renewed at the Williams Circulation Desk, unless another student has requested the same item. Please note that faculty may also borrow course reserve material but are requested to return each item within three hours as demand for these materials is high. If you need it for a longer period of time, please contact Craig Lelansky, Head of Access Services, by email at cdl3@law.georgetown.edu or (202) 662-9155. To place materials on Course Reserve, contact Jelethia Williams, Evening Circulation Supervisor, by email at jtw2@law.georgetown.edu or (202) 662-9132 or the Head of Access Services, Craig Lelansky, by email at cdl3@law.georgetown.edu or (202) 662-9155. Please send lists of materials to be placed on Course Reserve at least one month prior to the beginning of the semester and at least one week in advance of the applicable assignment during the semester.

The Library can provide single copies of articles for you in conjunction with your teaching responsibilities and within the constraints of the Copyright Act, usually within one business day of the request. To utilize this service, please email your request to libraryresearch@law.georgetown.edu or use the online photocopy request form.

Photocopying

The Library can provide single copies of articles for you in conjunction with your teaching responsibilities and within the constraints of the Copyright Act, usually within one business day of the request. To utilize this service, please email your request to libraryresearch@law.georgetown.edu or use the online photocopy request form.

Teaching Support

Reference librarians are available to give presentations to your seminar classes about specialized research techniques and materials that would be useful to students writing seminar papers. These classes and workshops are specifically tailored to the subject matter of the course. If you would like to arrange a research class for your students, please contact Christine Ciambella by email at cc872@law.georgetown.edu or (202) 662-9144. For international classes, please call Mabel Shaw by email at shawm@law.georgetown.edu or (202) 662-9171. The librarians request a minimum of two weeks’ notice in order to schedule a class and to prepare a presentation and handouts. The librarians are also available for individual consultations with students after they have chosen a paper topic. Please refer interested students to the research consultation request form. The Library strongly suggests that you encourage or require students to attend a research consultation before writing seminar papers. Students consistently write better papers after working with a law librarian.

To assist faculty in researching topics related to their teaching responsibilities, the Library provides reference assistance in legal and non-legal areas. For all types of reference and research assistance, contact a reference librarian at one of two locations, the Williams Reference Desk at (202) 662-9940 or by email at libref@law.georgetown.edu, located in the Reading Room on the second floor of the Williams Library or the International Reference Desk by email at intlref@law.georgetown.edu or (202) 662-4195, located on the entrance floor of the Wolff Library. The librarians have created an extensive collection of online Research Guides on various U.S. and international law topics. Faculty may request a new guide for a writing requirement course by contacting Christine Ciambella by email at cc872@law.georgetown.edu or (202) 662-9144. For international classes, please contact Mabel Shaw, Assistant Librarian for International and Foreign Law, by email at shawm@law.georgetown.edu or (202) 662-9171.

Food Services

The Bon Appétit Management Company operates the food services program at Georgetown Law. The Market Café is located on the 1st floor of McDonough Hall and features a variety of menu selections, including hot entrees, sushi, pizza, a full salad selection, grab-and-go sandwiches and salads, a deli bar, and a full grill. A variety of beverages are offered, including gourmet-flavored coffees and an assortment of bottled beverages and juices. Menus and hours of operation are posted at the entrance to the café and online. Just outside the Market Café is Sweet Yo, featuring a variety of frozen dessert treats. Additionally, there is a full espresso bar serving Starbucks coffee, tea, lattés, cappuccinos and much more.

The Subway Café is located in the Hotung and Sport and Fitness Center Lobby. Offering all of the standard Subway salads and subs, the café also offers a full variety of breakfast sandwiches, coffee, espresso-based drinks, pastries, and other savory snacks.

The Bon Appétit catering office provides a variety of services at Georgetown Law, from coffee breaks to formal dinners. Contact Keith Crunk, Catering Director, by email at catering@law.georgetown.edu to place a catering order or stop by the food service office (located in the main dining area in McDonough Hall) to discuss catering needs.

There are beverage and snack vending machines in several locations: the Market Café seating area, in the kitchen next to the Faculty Lounge on the 5th floor of McDonough Hall, in the 3rd floor copy room of the Edward Bennett Williams Law Library, in the TV lounge located in the Gewirz Student Center, and in the Staff Lounge located on the lower level in Gewirz. Additional vending is located in the Sport and Fitness Center on the 3rd and 4th floors and in the Hotung International Building on the 1st and 6th floors. Also available is a self-check out micro-market called Legal Eats on the 1^st floor (canteen) area of the Edward Bennett Williams Law Library.