Student Handbook
JUCUA American Law Program
sponsored by the

The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law & Faculty of Law and Administration, Jagiellonian University

The American Law Program (JUCUA-ALP) is a program jointly sponsored by the Jagiellonian University Law School and the Columbus School of Law of The Catholic University of America. The program, taught by Catholic University law professors, provides students a foundation in the law and legal system of the United States using American legal education methods. Students demonstrate fluency in English through a competitive entrance examination. The program then broadens and deepens the knowledge of English through students’ reading, writing about, listening to, and speaking on material regarding substantive American law and the American legal system. Jagiellonian students, who successfully complete courses offered in eight weeks of instruction, may receive ten credits toward their Jagiellonian degree with a single grade awarded, which represents the average of the individual grades in the courses they took. Students receive a separate Jagiellonian grade for the Legal English course. Students are required to complete both the set of courses on American law and the Legal English course in order to receive credit toward their Jagiellonian degree. Students receive a certificate at the end of the program showing the individual courses successfully completed and grades received in both the American letter grade and JU numerical grade systems. Students admitted to the JUCUA LL.M. program enroll in the courses taught by CUA professors for credit toward the LL.M. degree. (See the JUCUA-LL.M. Handbook for other information specific to the LL.M.)

1. Entrance Exam and Invitation to Participate

Notice will be given to Jagiellonian University students of the date and time of the entrance exam for the JUCUA-ALP. Students interested in the program must take the exam at this appointed time. No rescheduling is permitted.

Applicants who are selected and enroll in the program will receive an examination number that they must use for all exams in the ALP. Both grading of the entrance exam and course examinations follow the usual U.S. practice of anonymous grading in which the grader is not aware of the test taker’s identity.

Specifics of the date, time, and length of the exam are posted online at http://amerykanska.wordpress.com. One part of the exam requires answering true-false or multiple choice questions about readings in English. Students also are required to answer one or more essay questions. Essay question(s) are on general topics such as the applicant’s interest in the program, relevant background, or thoughts on legal policy topics. They are not meant to test current knowledge of law but rather to assess the ability to write and argue in English.

The entrance examination is monitored by proctors. Any applicant for entrance attempting to speak to another test taker during the exam or to look at another applicant’s test will fail the exam and be barred from seeking entrance to the program at all future times. If any questions or problems arise during the exam, an applicant should speak to the proctor and not to another test taker in the room.

The results of the admission test will be available at the office of the Program (ul. Bracka 12, room 204/205), and online at http://amerykanska.wordpress.com, as soon as possible after the exam. If additional spaces open, the JU-administration of the Program will announce it, and students may request to be considered for them.

2. Admission to the Program

Prior to commencement of the first course, students invited to participate in program must sign onto the http://amerykanska.worpress.com web site and read this student handbook and its appendices. (Paper copies of the documents are available in Bracka 204/205 as well.) The student must come to Bracka 204/05 and after reading the Handbook and its appendices sign an agreement affirming the terms of participation in the program. This agreement affirms that the student has read this handbook including the Honor Provisions Appendix, that they will abide by the Honor Provisions and attendance requirements, and that they are committed to attending classes and taking examinations on the posted dates. Affirmation of this agreement constitutes initial admission to the program. Students should read the terms carefully before indicating their agreement because failure to abide by them will result in exclusion from the program.

On enrollment, students should inform the Program about their current e-mail, phone, address and areas of interest, and leave one photo showing their face (paper version). The photos will be used exclusively for the facebook of the Program.

Students undertake to check their e-mails at least once a week or when they are asked to by the teachers or staff of the Program.

Attendance on the first day of the first course, and successful completion of the first course is required to maintain admission. Any student who does not attend the first class in the first course will be deemed to have dropped the program. An excused absence for illness or some other emergency preventing attendance on the first day of class must be approved, normally in advance of the first class, by the JU ALP Co-Director, Filip Wejman.

Students of the Program are required to pay a fee of PLN 1000.00 (One Thousand) not later than September 30. In case of JU-students, JU-employees or JU-Ph.D. students the fee is PLN 250.00 (Two Hundred Fifty). The tuition paid by LL.M. students for all components of that degree program substitutes for this payment. The payment of the fee is a necessary condition for successful completion of the Program. The fee is to be paid to:
Uniwersytet Jagiellonski
Wydzial Prawa i Administracji
ul. Gołębia 24
31-007 Kraków
PEKAO SA O/Kraków
71 1240 4722 1111 0000 4853 4484

title: “Ryczalt za Szkole Prawa Amerykanskiego”

3. Expectations Regarding Class Preparation, Attendance, and Exams

Students passing the entrance exam are highly qualified, and teachers will expect of them the quality and quantity of performance that would be appropriate for an American student in a program of the same scope and duration. American professors are urged to have materials for their courses available at least one to two weeks in advance, and materials may be available even earlier. Students in the program will be notified when materials can be picked up or viewed on the TWEN site which can be accessed with the WESTLAW number. In most cases, students will have at least an assignment that is expected to be prepared for the first day of class. It is recommended, however, that students read through the full set of course materials to get a general sense of their content and identify legal terms and concepts about which they have questions. Then, as material is assigned, the student can study it more carefully in preparation for each class. As is common in American legal education, students are expected to read assigned materials in advance of class meetings and to be prepared to answer questions and participate in class discussion.

Appendix B (The Schedule) to this Handbook gives students notice of the dates that classes will be offered and when exams will be scheduled if other than during a regular class period. Any student who cannot attend classes to complete EIGHT weeks of course work SHOULD NOT accept an invitation to participate in the program. Students are expected to attend every class of every course in which they are enrolled. An attendance sheet will be circulated on which the students must write his or her name. Signing in for someone else is a violation of the Honor Provisions. If some unavoidable obligation requires a student to miss a particular class meeting, e.g., a conflict with an obligation in one of the JU clinics or with regard to some other law school course, or illness, the student should give the teacher a written statement of the reason the class must be missed.

Exams normally will be given after the end of the course and the professor’s return to the U.S. Thus the exams will be shipped to the professor. The professor may decide to vary from the timing of this exam by giving the exam during the last class period or may offer some “take-home” option. The professor also may specify that consultation of some materials may be permitted during the exam. If these variations are exercised, students will be notified in the first day or two of the course. Students should assume, however, that they must be available to take the exam at the date posted when they affirm agreement to take the program. As specified in the honor provisions, the professor is expected to clarify questions about terms and conditions for the exam including materials that can be consulted, but students are required to ask questions to clarify ambiguity if there is any confusion.

4. Receipt of Credit in the Program and Grading

Jagiellonian students will receive ten credits for successful completion of the program. Successful completion requires achieving at least C in exams for courses constituting at least EIGHT weeks of class work. Because TWELVE weeks of classes are offered this year, a student may miss four weeks of courses.
Students, however, MUST attend and successfully complete the first course offered: American Legal Research. If the student fails this course because of insufficient attendance, he/she fails the whole Program. If the student fails this course because of insufficient performance on the exam (receives a grade below C), he/she does not fail the Program.

Students are encouraged to take as many courses offered as possible. If a student successfully completes courses beyond the eight week requirement, the grades for courses beyond the eight week requirement be dropped before the grade average is calculated by the administrative office of the JUCUA-ALP toward the grade for the American Law Program. The course, and grade, however, will appear on the certificate the student receives in the program. In other words, a student who attends and takes more than the exams required for eight weeks of classes will benefit both from the additional course work and the possibility of dropping their lowest grade(s) in courses in the program. THE ADMINISTRATION WILL ALWAYS CALCULATE THE BEST EIGHT-WEEKS AVERAGE. (However, a two-week course is an indivisible unit for which the student must attend both weeks and a single grade is given for both weeks.)

CUA professors usually are teaching a regular teaching load at CUA in addition to these courses. They will vary in the speed with which they can complete the grades. JU students often may have to decide whether to take an additional course without knowing all grades from previous courses.
Students receive American grades from the professors. American grades translate into JU-grades as follows:
A+, A, A- converted to 5
B+ converted to 4+
B converted to 4
B- converted to 3+
C+ and C converted to 3
C-, D or F converted to 2: No credit, the exam is failed.
There is no possibility for retest. If a student fails a course, the student must gain substitute credits by taking another course in order to complete the required eight credits. This policy has been approved in 2007 by the the Dean of the JU Faculty of Law and Administration.
Please note that a C- is a failing grade while C is a passing grade. That is because C is the bottom grade indicating acceptable work in the American grading system. Thus it is the grade comparable to a 3 in the JU system. C-, D and F all indicate grades falling below a standard demonstrating minimal acceptable competence in the subject.
Any student who does not submit an assignment required in the course including the in-class exam, a take-home question, a final memo, an oral presentation, or any other required assignment will be deemed to have withdrawn from the course. That person will receive no grade and no credit for the course.
Fifth year students who need grades submitted in May with regard to qualification for their master’s defense should be sure that Ms. Kobierzynska is aware of that. These names will be asterisked so professors submitting grades for courses in April and May will be sure these grades are done in time.

In case of emergency the student must seek the permission to miss the exam from Filip Wejman.
As is common in American law schools, examinations will be submitted by the number received when the student took the entrance exam, and grades will be posted by examination number. If a professor chooses to give a part of the grade on some basis other than anonymity, e.g., an oral presentation, students will be notified at the outset of the class. After the professor submits the grades for the course, the professor will be given student names associated with exam numbers so the professor will be aware of performance if a student later asks for a recommendation or has some other contact with the professor. The professor also may take under consideration the attendance statistics of the students. As is the practice at Catholic University Law School, once grades have been submitted by a professor, the professor is not permitted to change the grade unless there has been some type of clerical error. No student should request a review of the grade unless there is a possibility of clerical error.

5. Contact With Professors Outside of Class

Professors may offer opportunities to meet with students outside the class period, e.g., a chance to sign up for coffee before or after class. You are encouraged to take part in any such opportunities offered because these chances for more casual exchange can be very valuable. Professors will let students know if they are willing to be in contact after the course and, if so, how to reach them.

6. WESTLAW numbers

You will receive a WESTLAW number that will allow you to do legal research and check course materials on the American Law Program TWEN site. WESTLAW is a very valuable resource for research in comparative materials. You may use it in conjunction with any of your law school courses, both in the American Law Program and otherwise, e.g., with regard to research for a master’s thesis. You, however, may not use it with regard to employment outside the law school. The American Legal Research course is required. In that course, you will learn how to use WESTLAW, the benefits it has for you, and the restrictions on its use.