Essential Performance Standards for All Degree Programs
UC College of the Law, San Francisco (“UC Law SF”)
Adopted by Faculty Vote on December 4, 2024
UC Law SF is committed to ensuring that our graduates acquire the skills expected of lawyers or other professionals whose work intersects with the law. To achieve these competencies, students must perform functions reflected in the essential performance standards listed below. These standards derive from our mission statement,[1] requirements of the American Bar Association and state bar associations, and widespread industry practice and expectations such as those reported by the National Association for Law Placement and the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System. Additionally, UC Law SF is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for students who experience access barriers and require accommodations to satisfy our program of legal education. In determining what qualifies as a reasonable accommodation, it is important to identify these essential performance standards for our students. Nothing in these standards is intended to deter or exclude students for whom reasonable accommodations for a disability will allow successful participation in and completion of the program.
Essential Performance Standards
All students enrolled at UC Law SF must be able to meet all of the following performance standards, with or without accommodations, each of which the faculty as a body after reflection on our mission and program learning outcomes has determined to be essential:
Attendance and Assessment
1.1 Adhere to the law school’s attendance policy and course-specific requirements, and punctually attend classes, fieldwork, and other assigned observational or performance-based activities prepared and ready to participate.
1.2 Satisfy exam, paper, and other assignment policies in all enrolled courses and academic offerings.
1.3 Give and receive feedback to facilitate learning and develop one’s professional identity in the legal profession.
Behavioral Skills
2.1 Exercise the good judgment, honesty, integrity, and interpersonal skills required to work under stressful conditions and changing circumstances.
2.2 Manage course loads and academic demands that may be mentally and emotionally taxing.
2.3 Monitor one’s own behavior and performance, and identify when one needs to access and utilize available resources.
2.4 Conduct oneself in a civil manner in all academic and professional environments.
2.5 Effectively work alone, and with others, including students, faculty, and staff.
2.6 Adhere to UC Law SF’s conduct codes and other policies.
Communication Skills
3.1 Communicate with others in a timely, candid, and respectful manner.
3.2 Listen attentively and recall important content.
3.3 Initiate communication and engage with members of the law school faculty and administration without the assistance and intervention of third parties.
Critical Thinking and Learning Skills
4.1 Follow directions, make reasonable inferences, and organize and synthesize information.
4.2 Research, solve problems, apply concepts, and navigate systems.
4.3 Understand large amounts of complicated material from a variety of sources (e.g. written material, lectures, and audio and video presentations, etc.).
4.4 Extract and organize ideas that can be communicated to others.
4.5 Set goals, formulate and execute plans, and adjust as needed.
4.6 Be exposed to, engage with, and debate fact patterns and ideas that may be controversial or unpopular, as contemplated by the UC Law SF Academic Freedom Policy.
Participation
5.1 Be prepared to ask and answer questions – both planned and extemporaneous — in class in the manner appropriate for the class format determined by the instructor.
5.2 Satisfy other participation policies in all enrolled courses and academic offerings, which may include presenting in front of others.
Time Management Skills
6.1 Meet deadlines, keep scheduled appointments, and complete course assignments, exams, and administrative tasks within the approved timeframe.
6.2 Practice strategic time management, including prioritization, short and long-term task planning, accountability, and exercising judgment in scheduling.
6.3 Respond to emails and other correspondence from faculty, administration, staff, and other professional contacts in a timely and professional manner.
6.4 Manage competing demands and heavy workloads.
Notes on Accommodations
While these performance standards delineate the necessary abilities of all students and the law school’s fundamental learning objectives, they are not intended to deter or exclude students for whom reasonable accommodations for a disability will allow successful participation in and completion of the program. UC Law SF is committed to training students with disabilities and provides reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals who apply for admission and are enrolled as law students. Otherwise qualified individuals will not be excluded from admission or participation in UC Law SF’s education programs and activities based on their status as a person with a disability.
UC Law SF adheres to a formal process for assessing need and assigning accommodations through the Disability Resource Program (DRP). Reasonable accommodations are reviewed on a case-by-case basis through an interactive and confidential process between the student and DRP in accordance with these essential performance standards and consistent with applicable law. Accommodations are deemed unreasonable and may be denied if they fundamentally alter an essential academic or technical requirement that is necessary to the curriculum of the student’s particular program, including these performance standards. It is the responsibility of a student with a disability, or a student who develops a disability, to self-disclose to DRP and request accommodations. DRP will engage in or facilitate the interactive process to determine eligibility and potential reasonable accommodations, which may or may not be consistent with accommodations a student was assigned in the past. DRP may be contacted at DisabilityResourceProgram@uclawsf.edu.
[1] UC Law SF’s mission is to “provide a rigorous, innovative, and inclusive legal education that prepares diverse students to excel as professionals, advance the rule of law, and further justice.”