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Subject:                       Academic Practices

In this memorandum I offer a brief overview of some of our academic policies and practices. You will find this information useful as you plan your courses.  In addition, please review the community-wide memorandum, “Our Educational Environment,” that is sent out the first week of the semester. 

Please call my cell (203) 605-7184 or contact me by e-mail at yair.listokin@yale.edu with any questions you may have about our academic procedures.

Teaching: Getting Started

Academic Calendar:  The academic calendar is available online and it indicates the starting and ending dates for each term, the examination periods, and recesses.

In-Person Teaching: Unless you have previously been given permission for remote teaching, all teaching is In-Person.

As the COVID-19 situation is fluid, the University might make policy changes to in-person teaching. I will communicate any policy changes that would affect your in-person teaching.  The University will send other COVID-19 updates throughout the semester, therefore, please check your Yale email address periodically.  In addition, you can find updates at the University’s website, https://covid19.yale.edu/ . 

Classroom Assignments: The Registrar, Heather Abbott, (203) 432-1641, makes classroom assignments.  If you require IT classroom assistance, please call the IT Helpdesk (203) 432-0821 or email av.law@yale.edu. Your faculty assistant can coordinate with IT on your behalf as well.

Course Materials: Your syllabus and course materials must be made available to students on Canvas (http://canvas.yale.edu ), the web-based course management system. Your assistant can introduce you to Canvas and manage the logistics of having materials scanned or posted on the system.  You can also reach out to canvas.law@yale.edu for support or call the YLS IT services help desk at (203) 432-0821. In addition, help documentation is available on the web at law.yale.edu/canvas-help. You should consult the important information regarding copyright laws and procedures that can be found at http://library.law.yale.edu/copyright-clearance .

Make-up Sessions: If you must miss a class session, you should arrange a make-up class.  Your assistant will help you to reserve a classroom for a make-up class.  Because classrooms are in short supply, check room availability before telling your students when a make-up class will take place. You may also use Zoom to make up a class, but please note we do not support hybrid (some people in-person/some people by Zoom).

Office hours: You should post to Canvas weekly office hours (two hours or so is standard) and announce them to the class and in your syllabus.  You may hold office hours in person and/or by Zoom. During good weather days, many instructors choose to meet their students outdoors and take advantage of the seating in both courtyards. 

Classroom Technology Support: YLS Media Services offers a variety of instructional, audiovisual, and media-related services. All classrooms have built-in computers, projectors, screens, and cameras, and they can support video conferencing. For routine classroom support, please have your assistant submit an AV request https://av.law.yale.edu/ or email the AV team av.law@yale.edu. For further information, contact Nick Cifarelli via email at nicholas.cifarelli@yale.edu.

Class Attendance, Student Papers, and Grades

Attendance: The Law School requires regular class attendance for a student to receive credit for a course.  You may have more specific attendance requirements, which you should announce at the beginning of the semester. It’s also a good idea to have your attendance expectations noted on your course syllabus.

Student Papers: Each Yale Law student must complete two papers before graduation: a Substantial Paper and a Supervised Analytic Writing (SAW).  Visiting Professors may supervise and approve either type of paper.  Lecturers and Visiting Lecturers may supervise and approve only Substantial Papers written in connection with their course(s). 

A Substantial Paper is “a significant written project” for which at least two units of academic credit are awarded.  Substantial Papers often are completed in connection with a seminar or course offered for at least two credits.  SAW papers are “closely supervised” by a faculty member and are “designed to increase the student’s proficiency in legal research, analytic reasoning, and writing” (quoted text is from the YLS Bulletin).  Three units of academic credit typically are awarded for successful completion of an SAW paper. 

Although professors have considerable latitude to interpret the standards for Substantial Papers, most view the Substantial Paper as a more intensive enterprise than a typical seminar paper, and many professors require students to complete at least one preliminary draft.   For papers written to satisfy the SAW requirement, most professors require several drafts.  The faculty is virtually unanimous in requiring that students submit at least two drafts of papers written to satisfy the SAW requirement.  Some colleagues interpret the applicable SAW standard as requiring a paper “of publishable quality.”   

The Student Scholarship site on the YLS website contains statements from the permanent faculty concerning their standards for a Substantial Paper and Supervised Analytic Writing.  You may find it helpful to have a look at some of those statements here: https://studentscholarship.law.yale.edu/people/faculty

You should announce in class whether you will agree to supervise Substantial Papers or SAWs and, if so, what your criteria and deadlines will be.

Fifth-Term Certification Rule: Every student must complete either a Substantial Paper or an SAW before they are permitted to register for a fifth term (third year) at the Law School.  A student who does not meet the fifth-term certification requirement may not register for classes and must take a leave of absence from the Law School to complete the writing requirement.  The final grade for an SAW or Substantial Paper written to satisfy the fifth-term certification requirement must be submitted no later than August 1 of the summer before the student’s third year.  An instructor must certify whether the grade he or she is submitting is for a paper that satisfies the SAW requirement or the Substantial Paper requirement.

A student is responsible for notifying you that they will require a fifth-term certification for a paper being written for you.  Students ideally should collaborate with you in advance to establish a timetable that leaves ample time for them to complete their papers and for you to grade them in advance of the August 1 deadline. As a practical matter, however, you should take affirmative steps to find out whether any of your current second-year students are relying on a certification from you.  If any of your students is relying on you for certification, please make very clear to the student your expectations about the timing of completion of the paper.

Extensions of Paper Deadlines:  Instructors ordinarily have discretion to grant extensions except that students must comply with the August 1^st deadline for the fifth-term certification requirement.  Yale Law School professors traditionally have been quite liberal in granting extensions beyond the end of the semester.  Keep in mind, however, that lengthy extensions of paper deadlines can disserve the students.  You should announce in class your deadlines for all papers and your policy on extensions.

Grades:  Students should know the basis upon which they will be graded.  For example, will class participation be taken into account in arriving at a grade for the course? If your course has several requirements, such as response papers as well as an examination, how will performance on the various undertakings be weighted?  In the course syllabus and in a class session early in the term, please make clear the basis for grading in your course.

The Registrar’s Office will give you access to the online Faculty Grading System, a link to that system is found on the YLS Website Faculty page or supply you with a grade sheet for your course, if you prefer.  If you prefer a grade sheet, you should complete it, signed by you, and return it to the Registrar, Heather Abbott.  Grades are due as soon as practicable after the end of the term. Spring grades for graduating 3Ls are due by May 26 and May 31 for continuing students. When submitting grades for students’ written work, please be sure to indicate whether a paper qualifies as an SAW or a Substantial Paper. Finally, please keep in mind that for exam courses of over 25 students, our grading norm is one-third Honors.

The fifth-term certification requirement serves as the final deadline for grading Substantial Papers and SAWs submitted to satisfy that requirement.  By August 1, 2023, you will be expected to have graded and certified any Substantial Paper or SAW submitted to you by a second-year student during this academic year. 

Examination feedback: We take pride in offering our students feedback on their examinations.  Some faculty write individualized comments on each examination or prepare an individualized written statement about the student’s performance.  Others compare every examination to a checklist and share the checklist with their students.  Some professors provide students with “shadow grades” that furnish more detail than our grading system permits; for example, students may be given a raw score and a curve for the class.  Other faculty members write a memorandum discussing the examination and describing common strengths and problems; still others make the best examinations available as models for other students to see.  Yet others hold individualized meetings with each student about the examination.  One of these approaches may suit you, or you may have a different way of providing feedback.  But doing so in some form is pedagogically essential.

Contact information beyond the term: Students may need to contact you after the teaching term (for recommendations, to discuss grades or papers, etc.).  Please furnish your students and the Registrar with contact information, including address, telephone number, and e-mail address.

Administrative Support

Administrative Assignments: The welcome letter you received contained your assistant’s name and email address. They should be able to answer most questions about routine administrative matters. If you have questions about your administrative assignment, please contact Kelly Moore (kelly.moore@yale.edu )Contact tracy.standish@yale.edu for this memo.

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