Adopted and effective Mar. 7, 2018
This policy sets forth the terms of a subject area “concentration” (“Concentration”) for students at the University of Mississippi School of Law. To receive recognition for a Concentration in a subject area, a student must complete, with a minimum 3.0 grade point average, at least: (1) 24 credit hours in a certain subject area that include (2) 9 credit hours in core courses in the subject area (“Core Courses”) and 3 credit hours that represent intensive work the subject area (“Intensive Credit Hours”), and satisfy any other requirements set forth in this Policy. All credits counted toward a Concentration shall be graded.
To receive recognition for a Concentration, a student must submit to the Registrar a completed: (1) Notice of Intent to Complete the [name] Concentration prior to the end of their 2L year and (2) Statement of Completion of the [name] Concentration prior to the last day of classes in the term for which completion is recognized.
Faculty Approval & Designated Faculty Member
The subject areas in which a student may obtain a Concentration, and the initial iteration of the Concentration, shall be approved by the faculty. For each Concentration subject area, the Dean shall designate a faculty member to oversee the Concentration, including the identification of Core Courses, Intensive Credit Hours and subject area classes. All credit-earning activity that counts toward a Concentration shall be substantially related to the applicable subject area.
Core Courses
The designated faculty member shall identify classes and other credit-earning activities that may count toward the minimum of 9 Core Course credit hours for the Concentration. Each Core Course shall be substantially related to a foundational aspect of the subject area. The law school shall offer every Core Course at least once each fall or spring term. A single Core Course requirement may use an “either/or” or “1-of-3” format (e.g., Corporate Finance, Business Planning or Essential Business Concepts may be a single Core Course requirement; only one of these must be offered each fall or spring term).
Intensive Credit Hours
The designated faculty member shall identify classes and other credit-earning activities that may count toward the minimum of 3 credit hours of intensive work in a Concentration subject area. Intensive Credit Hours shall represent in-depth experience in the subject area, such as a clinic, externship, writing that satisfies the Upper Level Writing Requirement, or skills class.
Publication
A description of each Concentration approved by the faculty, and the applicable Statement of Intent to Complete and Statement of Completion, shall be listed as appendices and appended to this policy. The requirements for a Concentration shall be posted on the law school’s website.
Limits on Credit-Earning Activities
A student may satisfy the credit hour requirements only by earning credit hours that were identified in the list of eligible credit-earning activities for a given term (in this Policy, “term” includes intersession and summer terms) or approved by the designated faculty member for the Concentration prior to enrollment for the term (e.g., an Externship or Individual Study) in which the credit hours are earned. The list of eligible credit-earning activities shall not include any 1L credit hours.
Concentration Grade Point Average
The student must have at least a 3.0 grade point average for all credits counted toward satisfying the Concentration credit hour requirements. Excess hours, that is, credit hours earned but not needed to be counted to in order complete the Concentration, may be excluded from the calculation of the Concentration GPA, except that the gpa calculation shall include at least the minimum number of credits counted toward each of the Core Course and Intensive Credit Hour requirements.
Appendix A: Business Law Concentration
Appendix B: Criminal Law Concentration