A student who seeks readmission to the School of Law after academic exclusion, withdrawal, or failure to return after a leave must file a petition with the Vice Dean stating what equities speak to his or her readmission. If a student seeks to return after academic exclusion, the student will only be readmitted with an affirmative showing that the prior disqualification does not indicate a lack of capacity to complete the Law School's legal education program and be admitted to the bar. The Vice Dean will forward the petition to the Petitions and Academic Standards Committee, which will render a decision that includes a statement of the considerations that led to its decision regarding the student's readmission.
If readmission is granted, the student may be placed on probation and subjected to conditions of probation, which must be met by the student for advancement. The transcript of a student readmitted under probation will be so noted. Once the probation conditions have been satisfactorily completed, the transcript will note the student's removal from probation. If the conditions of probation are not satisfactorily met, the student will be excluded automatically. The student does have the right to petition again.
The Petitions Committee does not have the authority to "order" that an excluded student who has completed their first year be readmitted to take the first year over again. The Petitions Committee may, however, recommend that an excluded student be readmitted to the first year. Still, such a recommendation should be made only in extraordinary circumstances, which circumstances should be detailed by the Committee accompanying such a recommendation. This recommendation may be for the next or subsequent academic year.
If the Committee does so recommend, the ultimate decision as to whether an excluded student will be readmitted to retake the first year and, if so, whether that student will be re-offered financial aid is strictly an administrative decision, which the Dean and the Assistant Dean of Admissions will make. The ultimate readmission decision will consider not only the extraordinary circumstances found by the Petitions Committee but also issues of class size and financial aid availability. The Dean and the Assistant Dean of Admissions may also decide that readmission to the first year is appropriate but defer such readmission to a subsequent Academic Year.