{ prima facie } the Temple Law newspaper

By James Barger, Prima Facie Editor-in-Chief

Students listed numerous reasons why they dislike Temple Law's grading policy, at a recent breakfast with several members of the faculty. Students particularly focused on their disapproval of the relatively low GPA median at the center of the grading curve.

The discussion took place at a November “leadership breakfast” attended by members of the Faculty Administrative Committee and invited student leaders, such as representatives from student organizations. The four faculty members were Profs. Theresa Glennon, Richard Greenstein, David Hoffman, and James Shellenberger. Dean Marylouise Esten also attended.

An e-mail Dean Esten sent to participants said “[m]embers of the Faculty Administrative Committee . . . would like to hear your ideas and thoughts about the grading policy and changes to it.”

The law school's class rank reports, as posted on law.temple.edu, state that “[t]he Law School Faculty has adopted a grading policy which recommends a mean grade in all courses other than upper-level writing courses (800 and 900 level courses) of 2.85."

The following is a partial list of the comments and suggestions at the breakfast:

• The grading policy, including the relatively low GPA median, was implemented to put students on notice when they are statistically in danger of failing the bar exam after graduation, according to Profs. Hoffman and Shellenberger. Before the current grading policy, many students did not prepare properly for the bar exam because they thought their law school grades were an indication that they would do well on the bar exam.
• Prof. Shellenberger read some statistics that show a significant increase in bar passage since implementing the grading policy and lowering the average grade.
• Dean Esten said the law school has graphs of the statistics that provide a dramatic picture of the relationship between grades and bar passage at Temple Law over the past several years. Dean Esten offered to show the graphs to one student who expressed concern about grades at the breakfast. However, she later explained that the graphs reveal too much private information to allow her to release them for publication in Prima Facie.
• Prof. Hoffman said the committee that researched possible solutions for the previously low bar passage rates found that law school GPA was the only factor that correlated significantly with bar passage. For example, undergraduate GPA, LSAT, program choice (full-time/part-time), and course selection (e.g. taking “bar” classes) did not have any predictive power.
• The law school should consider granting students an “A” for 1L Legal Research & Writing courses, according to one student, rather than a “pass” grade, in order to boost grades while maintaining the current grading policy in other courses.
• One student said she likes Temple Law's grading policy. She said her experience has been that Philadelphia law firms understand the policy. “If you come out of Temple with a 3.5, they know that's better than a 3.6 or 3.7 at [other law schools],” she said.
• A student asked how LL.M. students affect the grading curve in each class. The faculty members said LL.M. students can choose whether they want a grade or merely a pass/fail indication. If they choose to receive a grade, that grade is calculated along with all the others in the class for purposes of the curve.
• However, most LL.M. students choose pass/fail, they said.
  Students expressed general concern about seeking jobs outside the Philadelphia area. At least one student expressed concern about looking for international law jobs outside the United States.

• Faculty members pointed out that students can refer employers to class rank, to put grades in proper perspective, although several students said many employers have GPA minimums or simply don't given proper attention to the class rank. The law school does not disclose individual class ranks, but does publish class rank statistics on the law school website, Dean Esten said.
• There is a “psychological effect” of letter grades and GPAs that cannot be offset by pointing out the class rank information, said one student. He mentioned the “shock factor” of a potential employer seeing a “C+” instead of a “B-” on a transcript.
• One student said small and mid-sized law firms are less likely to understand or recognize the Temple Law curve, because they do not engage in frequent hiring.
• Some students expressed opinions that the grading policy encourages students to enroll in more upper-level writing courses than they otherwise would, purely so they can avoid the grading curve. Upper-level writing courses are exempt from the recommended mean grade policy, according to the law school's class rank reports.
• Several students expressed concerns that some professors adhere more strictly to the grade curve than others.
• A student at the breakfast said another Temple Law student warned her not to take a particular class. She said the advice was “If you want to take that course, there's a very high possibility you're not going to get higher than a 'B.'”
• Another student said she had been warned to avoid a class taught by one of the professors at the breakfast. She said she was told “The chance you're going to do well [in that professor's class] is very low.”
• There was some discussion of whether the grading policy should be mandatory, rather then “recommended.”
• One student said she feels extra stress during job interviews because she usually does not know if the interviewer already understands the Temple Law grading policy.
• There was some discussion of the possibility of the law school modifying the grading policy. In response, one student pointed out that raising the GPA median would current students' grades look worse, because they would still carry grades earned under the stricter rules on their transcript – and calculated into their overall GPA. A faculty member mentioned the possibility of phasing in a change over several years, if such a change is ever made.
• Prof. Shellenberger alluded to one strategy students employ to take advantage of an up-side of the grading policy. In Temple Law's Rome summer program, many students are non-Temple students who will only receive a “pass/fail” mark on the transcripts at their respective schools. So, those students tend to worry less about earning an “A” and, therefore, make the grading curve more forgiving for Temple students who might study more in the same class.

The law school publishes professor evaluations and grade distribution reports that students can use to judge how closely each adheres to the recommended grading policy.