Policies & Procedures

Guidelines for Working Students

The Skills Training Committee of the ABA's Section of Legal Education and admissions to the Bar has developed the following guidelines for students working part-time while in law school:

1. Full-time students should accept part-time employment only after the first year of law school, and then only to the extent that it does not interfere with their ability to attend law school classes, perform assigned clinical work, complete written assignments, and prepare adequately for examinations.
   
   
2. Students attending law school on a full-time basis should scrupulously adhere to the ABA rule limiting part-time employment to no more than 20 hours per week.
   
   
3. Students working part-time should recognize their professional obligations to their employers and their clients, and should observe the highest standards of professional competence in their work.
   
   
4. Students should recognize the special obligation of confidentiality arising from the employment relationship.
   
   

Interview No-Show Policy

If you have a major conflict regarding your scheduled interview time/s that does/do not involve classes, contact the Career Services Office at 404-413-9070 to change or make other arrangements.

If you have scheduled interviews but in the interim period accept a job offer, at no time are you obligated to continue interviewing. However, you must contact the Career Services Office NO LESS THAN 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE to cancel.

Students are expected to keep any interview appointments they accept, unless they have accepted a job offer. A "no show" will be subject to appropriate disciplinary actions. Any interviews, whether on or off-campus, should be canceled NO LESS THAN 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE. Failure to cancel a scheduled interview at least 24 hours in advance will be viewed as a "no-show" and appropriate disciplinary steps will be taken. Disciplinary actions may include writing a letter of apology to the employer with "cc" to the Director of Career Services and the Associate Dean and forfeiture of the use of the Career Services Office.

Reciprocity Policy

Georgia State University College of Law Career Services Office maintains the following Reciprocity Policy:

Reciprocal services are available on a one-to-one basis to 3rd-year students and graduates of other ABA-accredited/NALP member law schools who permit Georgia State University 3rd-year students and graduates use of their services.

Requests for reciprocity may only be made to one law school in the Atlanta area.

Requests for reciprocity must be made in writing by a Career Services official two weeks prior to any visit. Requests must include the address of the student/graduate. The student/graduate should wait for a copy of our written response, which will include a reciprocity card, before contacting this office. No walk-ins or phone requests will be considered.

Reciprocity is granted for a period of three months and will expire on the date listed on the reciprocity card. All students/graduates granted reciprocity must sign in at the reception desk each visit. A request for renewal will be treated as a new request.

Reciprocity is available throughout the year except during Fall On-Campus Recruitment, August 1 through November 1.

Reciprocity services include access to employment listings and office review of materials in the Career Planning Resource Center. Services do not include participation in on-campus interviews, job fairs, blind listings, mailings, resume referral or counseling.

Applicants granted reciprocity must state in cover letters to employers that the job listings were provided by Georgia State University College of Law Career Services Office through a reciprocal agreement with their school.

The Career Services Office reserves the right to terminate reciprocity privileges of individuals who violate these regulations or misuse our facilities and services.

Requests for reciprocity can be submitted online.

Registration Policy

In order to use any of the services of the Career Services Office (CSO), you must register with us each academic year. Registration/release forms are available in the CSO. Please do not neglect to complete the registration form and return it to us, along with ten copies of your current resume for our files.

You are required to maintain a resume file in the CSO, containing at least ten current resumes. This is primarily for your convenience, and you may obtain a resume from your file whenever you need one. After completing the registration form and submitting ten resumes, you will be eligible to use all the services of the Career Services Office.

Guidelines for Reporting Grades

Students may include their cumulative numeric average on resumes provided they do not round their average. Rankings are based upon numeric averages and are very specific; a change of two or three hundredths of a point can mean a substantial change in a student's rank. For example, an average of 84.57 may NOT be reported as 84.6.

Semester averages may be included on resumes as long as they are clearly labeled as such and are reported in addition to the overall numeric average.

Students who have not yet been ranked may provide their current average on the resume and include a statement concerning the date by which official ranks will be available.

Resume Accuracy Policy

The Career Services Office (CSO) has produced a booklet entitled "Resume, Cover Letters and Interviews" to assist you in preparing your resume. Please pick up a copy in the Career Services Office and consult with a member of the Career Services staff for additional assistance.

Resume fraud is an honor code violation, and will not be tolerated. Disciplinary action will be carried out by the Honor Court and the Dean of the College of Law. Resumes will be randomly checked by the Career Services Office for accuracy. If there is a misrepresentation, the student:

1. Will be reported to the Dean and to Honor Court;
   
   
2. May be barred from using the Career Services Office for the remainder of the academic year;
   
   
3. Must correct the misrepresentation on the resume; and
   
   
4. Must notify all employers to whom the resume was sent of the misrepresentation.

Guidelines for Reporting Class Rank

Official Rankings

A violation of these rules may constitute an honor code offense or may prompt administrative disciplinary action.

Students at the Georgia State University College of Law will normally receive three official rankings during the course of their studies. These are the first and second interim rankings, which are calculated when students complete specific requirements and the final ranking, which is calculated upon graduation. Rankings are only calculated at the conclusion of a Spring semester.

The first interim ranking is based upon those courses which comprise the first-year full-time program (see the catalog for a description of this program), and is calculated only when a final numeric grade is recorded in all of these courses. Full-time students will normally be ranked at the completion of their first year in law school, while part-time students will normally not be ranked until the completion of their second year. For part-time students, we calculate a ranking average which usually differs from their overall average. This is done by factoring-out all grades except those received in the classes which comprise the first-year full-time program. Electives and second-year classes would not be considered in this ranking.

The second interim ranking is calculated when the student has received a final grade in all of required second-year courses (see the catalog for a listing). This ranking is based upon the cumulative numeric average.

The final (or graduate) ranking is performed following graduation. Since rankings are performed only at the end of Spring semesters, students who graduate in either the summer or fall will be ranked with students graduating the following June.

Reporting Rankings on Resumes

Students may report only their official ranking on their resume, and may not estimate based upon previous ranking lists. Class ranks are reported in terms of the student's position relative to the number of students being ranked (the ranking "cohort"). For example: "number 10 out of a class of 100 students." When reporting rankings on resumes, both the student's rank and the number of students in the ranking cohort must be reported. The student may state the ranking in this manner or by calculating the percentile, such as "upper 10%."

If the class ranking is included on a resume, it must be the most recent ranking. Students may include prior rankings as well, so long as the most recent ranking is included.