Welcome to University of Wisconsin Law School! This web page has been designed to help adjunct faculty become familiar with the administrative rules and processes relevant to teaching. If you have questions, concerns, or exigencies not covered in the information below, please contact Associate Dean Kevin Kelly

Table of Contents

This web page contains information divided into seven main sections:

1. Administrative Matters

The Administrative Matters section covers:

  • Appointment Letters
  • Honorarium
  • University I.D. Card
  • Biography
  • Parking
  • Bus Pass
  • Mailboxes
  • Faculty Lounge
  • Emailing your Students
  • Student Mailboxes
  • Posting Initial Assignments
  • Course Descriptions
  • Course Syllabi
  • Student Course Evaluations
  • Rescheduling and Canceling Classes
  • Text Books & Related Materials
  • Duplicated Materials

2. Instructional Technology

The Instructional Technology section covers:

  • Network User Names
  • Your NetID
  • Email Class List
  • A/V & Computer Equipment for your Class
  • Course Material Copied or Posted to Web
  • “Online Course” Options

3. Law Library

The Law Library section covers:

  • Circulation Privileges
  • Copy Privileges
  • Course Reserve
  • Journal Routing
  • Runner Privileges
  • LexisNexis & Westlaw

4. Academic Matters

The Academic Matters section covers:

  • Information on Syllabus Requirement
  • First Day of Class
  • Grading System
  • Attendance: General Requirement
  • Penalty for Absence
  • Seating Assignments
  • Students with Disabilities
  • Upper-level Writing Requirement

5. Examinations

The Examinations section covers:

  • Exam Form and Content
  • Scheduling and Exam Length
  • Exam Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
  • Penalty for Failure to Complete Course
  • Rescheduling Examinations
  • Rules for Conducting Examinations
  • Examinations to be Kept on File

6. Grades & Grading Procedures

The Grades & Grading Procedures section covers:

  • Grading System
  • Law School Grading Rules excerpts
  • General Rules
  • Pass-Fail Option
  • Grade Table
  • Grading Consistency in Multi-Sectioned Courses
  • Average Grades
  • Anonymous Grading System
  • Decoding Exam Numbers - Extra Credit
  • Grade Distributions
  • Reporting of Grades
  • Finality of Grades – Appeals
  • Grading Grievances
  • Temporary Grades for Graduating Students
  • Final Grade Reporting

7. Student Affairs

The Student Affairs section covers:

  • Nonacademic Misconduct
  • Illness during the Semester
  • Law School Rules
  • Student Handbook

Administrative Matters

Appointment Letter

Your official Appointment Letter from the Dean's Office will be mailed to you before the semester begins. If you are a new adjunct or it has been several years since you last taught at the Law School, you may be required to fill out certain forms for payroll or other administrative purposes (an I-9, W-4 and direct deposit forms) and authorize the University to conduct a criminal background check.

If you will be co-teaching a course or seminar and dividing the honorarium, both instructors must fill out the relevant forms. Please be prompt in completing any requested paperwork, and return it to Kelly Hallmark, Payroll and Benefits Specialist.

Honorarium Information

Your appointment letter will describe your honorarium.

University I.D. Card (Wiscard)

Once your adjunct appointment has been entered into the UW system, you may receive a University I.D. card, which carries with it certain University library, athletic facilities, and other privileges. ID cards are available at the Wiscard office in Union South, Room 149, 1308 W. Dayton Street. Please call the Wiscard Office at 608-262-3258 prior to heading to the office to ensure your information appears in the system. If your card is more than five years old, it will have to be replaced, which will require a visit to the Union South. Learn more about how to get your WiscCard.

For information about the location of the Wiscard office at the Union South, and their hours of operation, see the Wiscard Contact Information.

Biography

The Law School is proud of its adjunct faculty and wishes to share a biography of all adjuncts in the Faculty & Staff Directory (apply Adjunct filter to view). Please email your biography and photo to news@law.wisc.edu.

Parking

The most convenient lots with public parking nearest the Law School are listed below. Unfortunately, the Law School is not able to provide reimbursement for parking expenses. 

To view the current availability of each parking lot, reference either the UW Visitor Parking Availability or the City of Madison Current Hourly Parking Availability.

Bus Pass

If you have a valid UW ID card (Wiscard) you may get a Madison Metro bus pass, which good for the entire academic year. Distribution for the fall term begins August 1. For more information, see the UW Employee Bus Pass Program.

Mailboxes

All lecturers are assigned the use of a mailbox outside the Main Office on the fifth floor of the faculty tower. Please note that because mailboxes are scarce, lecturers are typically required to share with other lecturers. You should therefore make sure to check the mailbox carefully to find all mail addressed to you. We ask that you make a point of checking your mailbox at least once per week.

Emailing Your Students

Please see the Instructional Technology section below.

Hardcopy Materials

If you have hard-copy materials to be delivered to a student in your class outside of normal class meeting times, you may leave them at the Main Office, with Adam Bushcott (Room 5110), and tell the student to pick up the materials from the Main Office. 

Posting Initial Assignments

If you have an initial assignment it should be emailed to students or posted in Canvas prior to the first day of class.

Course Descriptions

To enable us to advise students effectively about your course, an up-to-date description should be submitted to Angela Nash. Course descriptions should be no more than one page in length, and can be as short as one or two paragraphs.

Course Syllabi

A syllabus for the course should be made available to students on the first day of class. It should contain all of the information mentioned in the first section of the "Academic Matters" section of this Manual, below. 

Student Course Evaluations

Toward the end of the semester, students will receive an email advising them that they may go online to provide comments with respect to their courses. (This replaces the former system wherein instructors passed out course evaluations for students to fill out.)

Once you have submitted your final grades, the completed evaluation forms will be mailed to you for your consideration.  Instructors who set aside time to conduct in-class evaluations tend to secure higher percentage participation, which provides a more accurate view of student opinion.  Instructors should leave the room while students are completing the evaluation. 

Rescheduling & Cancelling Classes

If it becomes necessary to cancel and/or reschedule a class, please email students and/or post the announcement to your course Canvas page. Please contact Associate Dean Kevin Kelly if you need help reserving a classroom for a rescheduled class and/or would like us to post a notice on the classroom door informing students that class has been cancelled.

Textbooks & Related Materials

As soon as you have decided which books and related materials your students must purchase for your course, please post that information in MyUW via the Faculty Center. Do this as soon as possible so that required texts and materials can arrive in time for the start of the term. You can also post textbook information on your course Canvas page. If you have any questions or need assistance posting your textbook information, please contact Angela Nash

Legal publishing houses will often provide instructors, on a complimentary basis, a copy of the available text for the subject you teach. If you wish to review available texts, please contact Associate Dean Kevin Kelly for further information. Also, if you teach a subject that is also taught by some of the Law School’s regular faculty, please feel free to contact them to get their ideas on the relative merits of various texts.

Questions sometime arise regarding copyright issues and materials you may want to reproduce for your course. The UW-Madison Administrative Legal Services website has information on Copyright Laws and how to use them.

Duplicated Materials

If you will be using duplicated materials, those materials should be taken or emailed to the Law School Copy Shop as soon as possible, and well before the start of the semester. The Copy Shop can be reached at 608-262-0668 or at copyshop@law.wisc.edu.

Mandatory Preventing Sexual Harassment & Sexual Violence training

 All persons receiving a paycheck from the University of Wisconsin-Madison are required to complete mandatory training in preventing sexual harassment and sexual violence.  Please go to Preventing Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence at UW Madison to complete the training within 30 days of receiving your appointment letter.

Instructional Technology

Please fully review this section prior to the start of classes.

Some services should be set up or activated by you as far in advance of the first day of classes as possible. The following information and more is also available at Help@Law or by contacting help@law.wisc.edu.

Your NetID

If you have an appointment with the Law School, you are eligible for a "NetID."

Your NetID gets you:

Please be sure to forward the information about your NetID to Angela Nash at angela.nash@wisc.edu. 

To activate your NetID:

  1. Go to https://www.mynetid.wisc.edu/activate 
  2. Enter your 11-digit photo ID number and your birthdate
  3. Note: If you haven't taught in a semester or more, you may need to reactivate your NetID.

If you have not already obtained a University I.D. Card (Wiscard), please contact Angela Nash to ensure that you have a valid, active appointment, and to obtain your ten-digit Campus ID number, which you will need in order to activate your NetID.

All technical questions related to your NetID, your @wisc.edu email account and the web portal should be directed to the DoIT Help Desk.

Your @wisc.edu email may be forwarded to a personal account, if desired. If you wish to use your @wisc.edu account for Law School email instead of the address we currently have on file for you, please notify Angela Nash

Email Class Groups

Your class lists are available online using your NetID. For help getting started, see the UW-Madison G Suite - Class Groups Knowledgebase document.

A/V & computer equipment for your class

All classrooms are wired with built-in computers/projectors. To request any other audio-visual equipment or service, email help@law.wisc.edu. You may request equipment and services for individual classes or for the entire semester.

Course Materials Copied or Posted on the Web

The Copy Shop is responsible for printing course materials.

To give students the greatest flexibility, the Copy Shop can upload all course packs received to a class Canvas page upon your request, which will make the electronic version freely available to students enrolled in your class. If a student wants a hard copy, the Copy Shop is happy to print it for him or her, and the student can simply stop by the Copy Shop or go to the Copyshop Coursepack Online Ordering form to purchase the paper copy.

Notice

ALL duplicated and/or distributed course materials must abide by copyright law. Anything submitted for duplication or posting on reserve MUST be in the public domain or be covered by Fair Use guidelines, or you must obtain permission from the copyright holder to duplicate and distribute the material. There are no exceptions. The Copy Shop staff will submit materials they feel violate copyright law to the Ad Hoc Copyright Compliance Committee for review. Materials may be returned to you so that you may obtain the necessary permissions. See the Copy Shop's Copyright Policy page for details.

Canvas

Canvas is a campus supported learning management system used for creating online course pages. This is the primary tool you will use to create an online course site for students. You can get started creating your Canvas course here. If you have questions or need support creating your Canvas page, please contact help@law.wisc.edu.

Law Library

Locating Library Materials

With a collection of over 640,000 volume equivalents and hundreds of databases, the UW Law Library ranks among the top academic law libraries nationally. The library provides print and electronic access to a full range of state and federal law, international law, and the law of certain foreign jurisdictions.

As a member of the campus library system, Law Library users may also draw upon the over six million resources of the UW-Madison campus libraries. 

Search the UW Madison library catalog.

Circulation Privileges

During teaching semesters, adjuncts may have law faculty/staff check out privileges. Present your Wiscard at the Circulation Desk to check out items from any UW Madison Library. You may also request items to be delivered to the Law Library Circulation Desk from other UW Madison and UW system libraries using the UW Madison library catalog.

Proxy Privileges

An assistant who is an enrolled student or current employee of the UW-Madison can be authorized to check out campus items for you, however, you will be responsible for any overdue fees or replacement costs.

To designate a faculty proxy, you can fill out the proxy form on the UW Madison Libraries website or contact Circulation Staff at 265-6649 or circ@law.wisc.edu.

Copy Privileges

A copy card for course related copying or printing can be checked out at the Circulation Desk. Scanners are available for free.

Course Reserves

The Course Reserve collection is located at the Circulation Desk. Required readings and audio-visual materials can be placed on Course Reserve each semester. Adjuncts may supply the item to place on Course Reserve or ask that the Law Library provide it, if possible. Personal copies submitted by adjuncts will be barcoded and labeled to indicate the course, and returned at the end of the semester.

To place materials on Course Reserve, stop at the Circulation Desk or contact Circulation Staff at 265-9546 or email circ@law.wisc.edu.

Electronic Course Reserves

The UW has designated Canvas for use in creating electronic course reserves. If you would like assistance in setting up a course, please contact the Help Department at 608-262-5242 or help@law.wisc.edu.

LexisNexis / Westlaw/ Bloomberg Law

Access to LexisNexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg Law is available for adjunct faculty of the UW Law School engaged in teaching courses, giving lectures, or conducting seminars for law students. These IDs are provided at the discretion of each vendor and must be used for educational purposes only. Access may be granted up to four weeks before the beginning of the semester in which an individual will teach and ceases upon the close of the semester.

To obtain passwords for LexisNexis, Westlaw or Bloomberg Law, contact Emma Babler, Reference & Technology Law Librarian.

Research & Instructional Support

The Law Library offers a full range of services to support faculty and student research. Reference librarians are available in person, or by phone, email or online chat to provide guidance on resources best suited to your research needs. For more information, see the Law Library Faculty Services.

Librarians also offer instruction on the use of many legal databases and applications. If you would like to meet with a librarian or schedule an instructional session for your class, please contact Jenny Zook, Reference & Instructional Services Librarian.

In addition, the reference staff has compiled Research Guides on a variety of legal topics which might be included on your course syllabus. We will be glad to tailor a Research Guide for your class. For more information contact Kris Turner, Assistant Director of Public Services.

Academic Matters

Syllabus Requirement

Every Law course must have a syllabus and each syllabus must have particular content to meet certain federal and/or accreditation requirements.

View the Law School's Faculty & Staff Resources: Course Templates & Forms for helpful resources, including:

*Please note that specifying how credit hours are met by your course is one of the required items for your syllabus.  (This even includes the suggested language on the minimum time students are expected to put in outside of class.)

If you have any questions or if you need assistance as you prepare your syllabus, please let Associate Dean Kelly know.

Grading System

We advise that you settle all student questions with respect to grading (including the existence of the Pass-Fail option) very early in the semester. Grading is done on a 4.3-scale letter-grading system unique to the Law School. The letter grades are as follows: A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F. Chapter 2 of the Law School Rules governs the grading system.

Instructors in upper-level courses may have the discretion to determine whether to grade courses and seminars on a Pass-Fail basis. Pass-Fail can sometimes be “mandatory” (that is, each member of the class will receive either a Pass or Fail). More commonly, you can allow your students an individual option to elect to take the course on a Pass-Fail basis or receive a letter grade.

Pass-Fail grading is explained in Law School Rule 2.01 (points 3 and 4) and Rule 2.03. (Note: Trial Advocacy courses are exclusively graded by Pass-Fail; thus, Trial Advocacy is a “mandatory” Pass/Fail course.) If you need advice regarding the selection of a grading system, you may contact Associate Dean Kevin Kelly.

Attendance

View the Law School Rules - Chapter 5: Attendance Rules for information about attendance, including:

Students with Disabilities

Because of blind grading and the need to protect the confidentiality of students with disabilities, instructors have almost no role in providing accommodations for students with disabilities at this law school. Below is an explanation of how our system works. Basically, instructors should send students seeking any accommodations to the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Lauren Devine. In very rare situations, such as a student with severe hearing or visual disabilities, the Assistant Dean will come to professors for help in accommodating a student in the classroom. Please contact Lauren Devine any time that you have questions about students with disabilities.

*Connect with the McBurney Center for Disabilities

Upper-Level Writing Requirement

Should your course involve a significant amount of writing, students may ask if they may meet the Upper-Level Writing Requirement in your course. This is what is entailed:

To meet the Upper-Level Writing Requirement in your or any other course, a student needs to submit draft written work to the instructor that is cumulatively at least 20 pages, double-spaced, in length (can be one paper or several papers). The instructor then gives feedback to the student on the legal writing aspect (as opposed to, or in addition to, substantive law content) of the draft and returns the draft, with comments/feedback to the student in time for the student to incorporate the instructor's legal writing suggestions/guidance via a re-write before submitting the final paper.

You do not need to follow the draft submission process for all students writing papers for your course--only those who may still need to meet the Upper-Level Writing Requirement (some will have already done so in another course) and wish to do so in your course. For students not wishing to meet the Upper-Level Writing Requirement in your course, they can simply submit final papers as usual, as opposed to also submitting a preliminary draft.

One Important Note: students attempting to meet the Upper-Level Writing Requirement in your course should not have their final grade in the course enhanced or lessened by the draft-submission/writing feedback process.

The Upper-Level Writing Requirement is meant to be a separate skills-building exercise and students fulfilling it in one course or another should not be advantaged or disadvantaged, grade-wise, from other students in the course who are not meeting the requirement in that same course.

As far as timing, the drafts just need to be submitted to you early enough in the semester to enable you to evaluate them and return them, with comments, in sufficient time so that students can incorporate your suggestions in a rewrite for the final paper. Precise deadlines with regard to draft submission and final paper submission are up to the instructor, who will communicate same to the students (hopefully early-on in the course).

As far as the legal writing guidance you give, we allow all of our instructors (Faculty, Academic Staff, Adjuncts) to use their own best judgment re what constitutes effective legal writing. This is typically a subjective business, to be sure, but many of our adjunct faculty doubtless have to write quite often (and also see examples of bad writing from other attorneys)—so you will be in an excellent position to evaluate the students' legal writing and offer suggestions for improvement when necessary.

Examinations

Exam Form & Content

While lecturers do their best to guard exam content, the reality is that students can acquire copies of old exams -- especially because their circulation is highly valued. For this reason, no exam, whether on file in the library or not, should be considered protected. Both lecturers and regular faculty should compose new examinations each semester in the interest of fairness and accuracy in evaluating a student’s mastery of the course material.

Scheduling & Exam Length

The schedule of proctored final examinations to be given in the Law Building is set prior to the start of the semester. The length of the final examination usually coincides with the number of credits for the course (e.g., a two-credit course will generally conclude with a two-hour final exam, three-credit courses will have three-hour exams, and so on). Proctors for exams will be arranged by the Law School, although you are certainly welcome to proctor your own exam. Exams should be prepared and ready for duplication four working days prior to the exam date. Finally, you have the option of having “Take-home” examinations in lieu of a proctored exam. Take-home exams can generally be taken by students at a time of their choosing at any point throughout the entire examination period. Administration of take-home exams is typically handled by the Law School’s front office personnel. Take-home exams should be prepared and ready for duplication by the last day of classes of the semester.

Exam Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Consistent with Federal and State laws, the Law School provides academic and physical accommodations to qualified students with disabilities. Students with disabilities who request accommodations for examinations should be directed to Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Lauren Devine. The Assistant Dean will work with the McBurney Disability Resources Center to determine the proper accommodation upon receiving documentation of the disability. If the accommodation involves extended time or physical changes in the exam environment, the Office of Student Affairs will administer the examination. The Office of Student Affairs will endeavor to protect the identity of students receiving accommodations.

Penalty for Failure to Complete Course

In any cases where withdrawal is not authorized under Law School Rule 6.01(1) or (2), the student who fails to complete a course or to hand in an examination paper shall receive a grade of F for the course.

Rescheduling Examinations

The policy of the Law School is that all students must take examinations at the scheduled time unless there exist extraordinary and compelling circumstances. The policy is designed to handle most typical circumstances, and is usually administered by the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Lauren Devine.

Read through the full policy in Law School Rule 6.03: Rescheduling Examinations

In the interest of consistency and fair treatment, and to protect blind grading, students who request to reschedule an examination should be directed to Student Affairs. Professors should not approve any exam reschedule prior to consulting the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs.

Rules for Conducting Examinations

Read through Law School Rule 6.06 for guidance regarding the administration of final exams.

Examinations to be Kept on File

Pursuant to Law School Rule 6.08, all examination bluebooks, final papers, etc., must be retained on file for one year.

Grades & Grading Procedures

Grading

The overriding concern of the Law School regarding grading is that students be treated fairly and consistently, particularly with respect to students in other sections of the same course. For that reason, the Law School has adopted the grading rules and guidelines that are outlined below. When assigning grades to your students, you should follow the stated guidelines.

Grading System

We advise that you settle all student questions with respect to grading (including the existence of the Pass-Fail option) very early in the semester. The Law School discontinued using the 65-95 grading scale. All grading is now done on a 4.3-scale letter-grading system unique to the Law School.

The letter grades are as follows: A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, F. The GPA equivalents of those grades are: A+ = 4.3; A = 4.0; A minus = 3.7; B+ = 3.3; B = 3.0; B minus = 2.7; C+ = 2.3; C = 2.0; C minus = 1.7; D = 1.0; D minus = 0.7. Chapter 2 of the Law School Rules governs the new grading system.

Instructors in upper-level courses may have the discretion to determine whether to grade courses and seminars on a Pass-Fail basis. (Pass-Fail can sometimes be “mandatory” --that is, each member of the class will receive either a Pass or Fail –- or, more commonly, you can allow your students an individual option to elect to take the course on a Pass-Fail basis or receive a letter grade.) Pass-Fail grading is explained in Law School Rule 2.01 (3)-(4) and Rule 2.03. (Note: Trial Advocacy courses are exclusively graded by Pass-Fail; thus, Trial Advocacy is a “mandatory” Pass/Fail course.) If you need advice regarding the selection of a grading system, you may contact Associate Dean Kevin Kelly.

Excerpts From The Law School Grading Rules

2.06 Grading Consistency in Multi-Sectioned Courses

  1. Faculty teaching courses for which several sections are offered in the same semester are expected to consult in order to maintain a consistency in the grading patterns of the sections. Consistency can be maintained by agreement in advance to an approximate grading pattern, agreement to follow a pattern set by the first instructor to finish grading, or submission of all grades after all grading has been completed and post-grading consultation has occurred.
  2. Consistency does not require that there be no differences in the grading curves between sections. However, faculty should be convinced that any differences between sections reflect differences in student performance and not just differences in faculty grading patterns.

2.07 Average Grades

  1. Unless an exception is approved by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, the mean grade for each course shall fall between 3.2 and 3.4 on the 4.3 (A+ to F) scale. Instructors should design their courses so that final grades will comport with this average grade expectation. The size of course enrollment, subject matter, and nature of assignments are not sufficient, without more, to alter the average grade expectation.

  2. Exceptions may only be granted on a showing of extraordinary circumstances, such as cases when the incoming cumulative GPA of the students enrolled in a course already exceeds 3.4, or when students in a course in a particular semester perform unexpectedly better or worse than students in the same course in prior semesters, most especially in a lower-enrollment course. An instructor should not expect to receive additional exception(s) under this paragraph for consecutive, or nearly consecutive, offerings of the same course.

  3. An instructor submitting grades with a mean falling outside the limits prescribed in paragraph 1 above must provide the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs with a written explanation for the deviation from the prescribed means. The Associate Dean may prescribe a form for the submission of such explanations.

Anonymous Grading System

Pursuant to Law School Rule 6.10, all students taking examinations are identified by an anonymous exam number rather than by name. Prior to the end of the semester, all instructors who do not otherwise have access to the Law School's on-line grade-entry page (accessible by UW Net I.D.) are given specially prepared grading sheets listing their students' anonymous exam numbers. Besides the anonymous exam numbers, grading sheets contain the overall grade point average for the class. This number can be used as a reference in the grading process.

Adjusting Grades for Non-anonymous Graded Content:

For those adjunct faculty who do not have access to the Law School's on-line grade-entry page (accessible by UW Net I.D.), Associate Dean Kevin Kelly can assist you with any necessary adjustments to your final grades for any non-anonymous factors (e.g., attendance; class participation; non-anonymous papers/ assignments/ projects, etc.) Contact him at kevinkelly@wisc.edu or at 608-262-4041. 

Excerpts From The Law School Grading Rules

2.08 Grade Distributions

  1. The following table establishes target ranges for the distribution of grades. Instructors should endeavor to fit within these ranges in assigning grades, unless circumstances peculiar to that course or the students enrolled in it justify a different pattern.
    Grade Range Distribution
    0-1.7 (F to C-) 0-15%
    2.0-2.3 (C & C+) 5-20%
    2.7-3.0 (B- & B) 30-50%
    3.3-3.7 (B+ & A-) 25-40%
    4.0-4.3 (A & A+) 0-20%
  2. The Associate Dean shall study the grading patterns of all instructors. If they deviate significantly from these ranges over several courses, the Associate Dean shall consult with the instructor in an effort to come to some agreement whether the deviations are appropriate, given the subject matter of the course and the type of students enrolled.

2.09 Reporting of Grades

  1. Instructors are responsible for reporting their grades in conformity with the deadline policies adopted by the faculty.
  2. Grade entry is accomplished by utilizing the Law School's on-line grade reporting system. The on-line grade reporting system may be modified from time to time, but should contain:
    1. a method for calculating the average and median grades for the course;
    2. a method for calculating the current combined cumulative average for all the students included on the grade sheet, to the extent that it is available; and
    3. a method for generating a table depicting the number of times each individual grade was given.
    4. a method for permitting instructors to include, along with their individual grades, a brief description of the method of testing or other basis for grades and any explanation desired by the instructor concerning special or unusual circumstances pertaining to the course.

Finality of Grades - Appeals

2.11 Grading Grievances

  1. There shall be no appeal from a grade on the allegation either that the grader misapplied the criteria for grading the exam, or that the criteria were themselves ill-chosen; faculty members should be scrupulously careful in constructing the exam, choosing grading criteria and applying those criteria. Once a grade has been turned in, that grade may be changed only if it is the result of an error in computation, or an error in transcription.
  2. Students who believe they have been the victim of discrimination based on race, sex, religion, national origin, or other similarly arbitrary grounds, may seek redress from the office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, with a right of appeal to the Petitions Committee. Disputes concerning the right to, or extent of, any disability-related accommodations shall be resolved using the appeal process set forth as part of the ADA Campus Policies, and shall not be regarded as grading grievances under this section.
  3. A student who wishes to challenge the nature, quality, or fairness of an examination or other graded exercise for a particular course, rather than his or her particular grade on that examination or exercise, may bring a grievance to the attention of the office of the Associate Dean.

Temporary Grades for Graduating Students

Instructors teaching upper-level courses will often have students who will be graduating at the conclusion of the semester. Such students are instructed to notify their instructors on their exams or final papers that they expect to graduate that semester. To enable the Law School to ensure it only certifies degree-eligible students for bar admission, you are asked to inform the Law School of any graduating student in your course whom you feel either likely failed the course or has otherwise not completed the coursework requirements in full.

Final Grade Deadline

The deadline for turning in final grades is four weeks from the last day of the examination period. If you will need an extension to finish grading exams, you may contact Associate Dean Kevin Kelly (608-262-4041).

Student Affairs

Nonacademic Misconduct

University rules prohibit conduct in the classroom that severely affects the physical and learning environment of students. Any such conduct should be reported to the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Lauren Devine.

Illness During the Semester

Students whose illnesses render them incapable of performing should be encouraged to report their condition to Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Lauren Devine. The University is well prepared to offer a full range of treatment and counseling options, and its policies are designed to accommodate the needs of students who cannot perform their academic work because of illness.

Student Health & Safety

Please contact the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Lauren Devine, if you have concerns about any of your students. This would include if you notice that one of your students appears to be in distress, stops coming to class or demonstrates significant attendance issues, exhibits troubling behavior, or if you grow concerned for any other reason. Emily is available to meet with the student and to discuss available campus and community resources. As always, of course, please call 911 if you observe a student behaving in a dangerous or suicidal manner. We appreciate your continued assistance in fostering a safe and supportive Law School environment.

Sexual Harassment

Please be aware of the Sexual Misconduct Resource and Response Program as well as Policies & Procedures and Faculty Legislation. These rules are applicable to adjunct faculty. Additionally, the University's Office of Equity and Diversity publishes a required online training concerning sexual harassment, including pertinent information and references.

Law School Rules

A complete version of the Law School Rules is available online.

Student Handbook

A complete version of the Law School’s Student Handbook, parts of which you may find enlightening, is also available online.

Conclusion

Again, we hope your experience teaching at the Law School is both enjoyable and rewarding. If there are any problems or concerns, please contact Associate Dean Kevin Kelly at 608-262-4041 or kevinkelly@wisc.edu. Thank you, again, for your invaluable contribution to our Law School community!

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