- Students may enroll in any of several dual degree programs established by the Thurgood Marshall School of Law, in cooperation with other schools and colleges of Texas Southern University. Admission candidacy of a Dual degree program must be approved in advance by the Dean of the School of Law upon the recommendation of the Interdisciplinary Programs Committee.
- Students must adhere to the following:
- Students wishing to enroll in a dual degree program shall petition the Office of the Dean. Such petition shall state the proposed program's objective and include a comprehensive plan of proposed study.
- The Office of the Dean shall assign each petitioning student a faculty advisor. The faculty advisor shall assist the student with the preparation of the comprehensive plan of proposed study.
- Admission to the dual degree program shall be open to all law students who are academically eligible under the School of Law's Academic Rules (presently, 2.0 grade-point average). Any eligible applicant to the joint-degree program with a grade-point average of less that 2.5 shall be admitted to the program with the understanding that satisfactory progress and continuation in the program may require that the grade point average be improved. For purposes of review, the Interdisciplinary Programs Committee will determine if satisfactory progress is being made by considering the following factors: 1) the number of and reasons for "Incompletes" in course work; 2) failure to maintain a 2.5 cumulative grade-point average in the School of Law; 3) the student's standing in the non-law degree program; and 4) progress made and plans for satisfying the writing and optional oral defense requirements of the joint-degree program.
- Upon approval of the student's petition, the Committee shall recommend that the Dean approve the dual degree candidacy.
- The Office of the Dean will conduct a semi-annual review of each dual degree candidate's progress. The advisor from the other shcool or department within Texas Southern University will provide the Office of the Dean with data on the student's progress in that school's program.
- Continuation in a dual degree program shall be dependent upon the student's satisfactory progress in each of the dual degree fields. Incomplete work or other evidence of unsatisfactory progress may lead to a decision by the Interdisciplinary Programs Committee to reduce the student's workload directed toward the non-law degree or to take other appropriate action. Continued unsatisfactory progress may result in dismissal from the dual degree program. It is expected that dismissal from the dual degree program will occur only under extreme circumstances, and that limited course load requirements will assure educationally sound progress toward the dual degrees.
- Failure to maintain good standing (2.00 cumulative grade-point average) shall result in termination of dual degree candidacy. Upon return to good standing, a student will be restored to joint candidacy only after securing the approval of the Office of the Dean.
- Student enrolled in dual degree programs must earn a minimum of 75 credit hours required for the J.D. at the School of Law. In addition, a minimum of 15 credit hours must be earned by successfully completing offerings outside the School of Law pursuant to the approved dual degree program. Said credit hours shall be awarded as provided in paragraph (g) below.
- Credit hours shall be awarded on the following basis:
- One Credit hour for each of the first 6 credit hours awarded by the cooperating department or school;
- One credit hour for every two credit hours awarded by the cooperating department or school beyond the first six, on the condition that the student: a) has successfully completed all the requirements for the non-law degree component of the dual degree as of the time the student is otherwise eligible to receive the J.D. degree, or b) had, in the opinion of the Committee, substantially adhered to the schedule of non-law offerings approved by the committee upon the student's entering the dual degree program, with such amendments to the schedule as the Committee may have approved, so long as the student continued in the program.
- Completion of the dual degree program shall be dependent upon submission of a written work product evidencing the synthesis of disciplines in original research. The written work product requirement may be satisfied by a paper, which meets the law school's writing requirement, a master's thesis, or another product of comparable scholarship. At the option of the student, a timely oral defense of the written work may be required where the student must demonstrate the capacity to relate the doctrine and discipline of the two fields of the dual degree. The oral defense will carry one unit of credit, may not be taken on a pass/fail basis, but may be retaken in the event of an unsatisfactory performance.
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