I. ATTENDANCE AND INSTITUTE STANDARDS
ATTENDANCE POLICY
General Policy. Students are expected to attend every scheduled class, workshop, Friday Speaker event, announcement session, and any special class that is set by a professor, teaching assistant, or PLSI staff. The PLSI program runs for eight weeks. Being present and engaged in all scheduled activities and classes is mandatory. Missing one day of class could be the equivalent of missing more than a week in law school. It is detrimental to your success to miss classes and events. We understand that illness and family issues may arise. Please keep us informed if they do. The program is too short and concentrated to allow for absences. Professors may have additional requirements.
Absences include zoom attendance due to COVID, and depending on the learning format of each course, absences may take the form of failure to join scheduled synchronous remote class sessions; failure to participate in remote class activities; failure to meet deadlines for submission of assignments; and tardiness/leaving class.
Tardiness and Leaving Class. Please arrive at all classes and events early and plan to stay for the duration. Being on time means that you are already late. Timeliness is an evaluation factor for the program. We start our events at the scheduled time. Late arrivals, early departures, and breaks during class are distracting and negatively affect the learning environment. The schedule provides plenty of time for bathroom breaks, coffee refills, and meals. Absences include tardiness and leaving class.
Exceptions. Students may miss a class for medical reasons only and with notice to the PLSI Director and professor. The PLSI Director may also request appropriate documentation. Attending a routine doctor’s appointment is not a sufficient reason to miss class and students are expected to schedule routine medical appointments around their class schedules. The Attendance Policy requires that faculty and staff trust the word of their students when they say they are ill, and it requires that students report the reason for their absence truthfully. The usual codes of conduct and rules of academic integrity are still in place.
COVID 19. Students who are experiencing COVID-like symptoms, test positive for COVID or are engaging in self-quarantine at the direction of their local health department or their health care professional, should not attend class in-person. Students must:
- Provide reasonable advance notice, to PLSI Director and professors
- As they are able, attend live class sessions remotely via zoom if available, or listen to recorded classes where available
- As they are able, keep up with homework
- Submit assignments as directed by professors
- Work with their professors to reschedule appointments, and other critical academic activities
Students Who Test Positive for COVID-19. If a student tests positive for COVID 19, in addition to immediately letting us know, the student must follow the CDC guidelines for quarantine and other precautions before returning to classes and other PLSI activities. If the student can attend class remotely, they must do so.
Zoom Attendance
The 2025 PLSI is scheduled to be entirely in person. If we must move classes online, each student must abide by the PLSI 2025 Netiquette expectations provided on a separate sheet. Professors may have additional requirements.
If a student must miss a class due to COVID symptoms or positive test results, the student is expected to attend by zoom. Attendance by zoom must be approved in advance by the PLSI Director and the professor and is limited to students in isolation due to COVID symptoms or positive test results. PLSI is not a hybrid learning environment. Professors are not required to interact with students who are in the Zoom session. We cannot guarantee zoom access if notice is given less than 2 hours before class starts.
Students Who Are Unable to Attend Class Remotely. If the student is too sick to attend class remotely and misses more than a couple of classes, the student may be withdrawn from the program. The PLSI Director will make this determination in consultation with the PLSI professors.
Notice. In case of a medical emergency, students should seek medical attention first and notify the PLSI Director later.
Sanctions. Unapproved absences will not be tolerated. Students who miss class without permission or with excessive absences may be dismissed from the program.
Professors’ Attendance Policies. Students are expected to review the syllabus for each of their classes and ensure they understand each professor’s expectations for attendance, participation, and submission of assignments.
II. STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT
CONDUCT IN AND OUT OF THE CLASSROOM
Students, professors, tutors, PLSI staff, and AILC staff are expected to be civil and respectful to each other and to every other person within the law school and university. Additionally, all students are bound by the PLSI’s Code of Professionalism and Civility, UNM’s Visitor Code of Conduct, https://pathfinder.unm.edu/visitor-code-of-conduct.html, and UNM’s housing policies, if living in the dorms.
HONOR CODE & ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Integrity of the highest order is expected of each student.
Every student shall be honest and candid with other students, faculty, staff, and administrators and shall conduct themself in a professional manner. Every test, examination, and document produced by the student must be the product of the student’s own research, knowledge, and writing.
A lawyer should be one whose record of conduct justifies the trust of clients, adversaries, courts, and others with respect to the professional duties owed to them. Failure to conduct oneself with honesty, trustworthiness, diligence, and reliability may constitute a basis for denial of bar admission, including academic misconduct.
HONESTY IN ACADEMIC MATTERS
Each student is expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty and integrity in academic and professional matters. The PLSI has the right to take disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, against any student who commits academic dishonesty.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, dishonesty in tests or assignments of any kind; claiming credit for work not done or done by others; and non-disclosure or misrepresentation in completing applications to PLSI or law schools.
RECORDING CLASSES
A student may record a class only with the professor’s consent. Recording PLSI workshops, speaker events, or other official PLSI meetings or events is not allowed.
ACCESS TO EDUCATIONAL RECORDS
Those who have access to a student’s educational record are:
- PLSI personnel
- The student
- Any law school representative or other official to whom the student has given written permission to see the student's records.
- Any party designated in a valid court order. (It is not PLSI policy to release information based solely on a subpoena.)
EATING AND DRINKING IN THE CLASSROOM
Eating is not allowed in the classroom during orientation, workshops, Friday Speaker events, announcements, examinations, moot court practice, and any special classes. While each professor will indicate whether eating and drinking are permitted during class, please be aware of how loud certain foods can be and how distracting those noises may be to other students. Opening cellophane wrappers, getting the last drop in the bottom of a cup with a straw, and crunching on chips can prevent a nearby student from hearing an important point made by the professor. Please be courteous (and quiet!).
CELL PHONE & LAPTOP USE
Turn off your cell phone when you enter the classroom or leave it in your locker.
Accessing social media, texting, shopping, and other use of the internet predictably disrupts the learning environment. Therefore, laptop computers, tablets, etc. shall only be used for educational purposes that are relevant to classroom lectures or assignments. Use of laptops in the classroom is a privilege that can be taken away.
STUDENT ADDRESSES AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS
The student is expected to provide to the PLSI a current address and telephone number during the program and to immediately update the information if it changes. This information will be released to other PLSI students only with your written permission.
ACCOMODATIONS
If you need accommodation for undertaking and completing coursework and examinations, you should contact the PLSI Director right away to ensure your needs are met in a timely manner. DO NOT disclose your need or approved plans for accommodations to your professors.
To be eligible for accommodation for academic adjustments, students must provide the PLSI Director with appropriate documentation. The documentation must include a disability diagnosis. Disability documentation typically comes from a school, a medical or mental health provider, a vocational rehabilitation agency, or an evaluator such as an educational diagnostician or a neuropsychologist. For more information on what documentation is needed, refer to the following UNM webpage: https://arc.unm.edu/students/what-documentation-does-arc-need.html.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, “reasonable” academic accommodations may be made for any student who notifies the Director of the need for an accommodation. The PLSI Director is not legally permitted to inquire into such needs. Hence, you must take the initiative to notify the AILC.
LAW SCHOOL ACCESS AND CLOSURE
The law school hours are Monday to Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The law school is closed on Saturday and Sunday. Students must not enter the school when it is closed. Generally, the law school is open every day of the year EXCEPT when closed for holidays. Please note that the access and closure times could change.
PARKING
Law School parking lot requires a L lot parking permit during the hours of 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. There are no restrictions after hours and on weekends. Illegally parked cars are ticketed and towed.
EXAMINATIONS
The student shall comply exactly with the class professor’s examination instructions. Professors are encouraged to release exam instructions in advance of the examination to provide the opportunity for students to review and ask questions. Separate memos will be distributed before examinations to provide the policies and procedures for midterm and final examinations. The following applies to all examinations:
- Unauthorized materials must not be used during the examination.
- Electronic devices, other than a laptop computer for taking the exam, are NOT permitted in the examination room. This includes, but is not limited to apple watches, fit bits, cell phones, tablets, earbuds, headphones, or other similar devices.
- A student shall not communicate in any manner with another student or any other person, except the teaching assistant or proctor, during the examination.
- A student shall not show or display his or her examination answers to another student.
- A student shall not look at another student’s examination answers.
- A student shall not discuss an examination already taken with another student who will take the examination later.
- A student shall not encourage or counsel anyone to violate these provisions.
PAPERS, MEMORANDA, AND BRIEFS
Papers, memoranda, and briefs must be the product of the student’s own research, knowledge, and writing. Plagiarism is a violation of this code.
Plagiarism is defined as the knowing use of the ideas or words of another without indicating such use fully and accurately. The student is plagiarizing another’s work unless the student:
- Cites fully and accurately the source of any idea taken from another person;
- Places quotation marks around material used from a source and cites fully and accurately such material; or
- Cites fully and accurately material paraphrased from a source.
GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SOFTWARE
Definition. Generative artificial intelligence (Generative AI) is a type of AI system capable of generating text, images, or other media in response to prompts at skill levels that at least appear similar to a human.
General Policy. Generative AI software is quickly being adopted in legal practice, and many internet services and ordinary programs will soon include generative AI software. At the same time, Generative AI presents risks to our policies around plagiarism and the academic honor code. For this reason, we adopt the following default rule:
Generative AI software
- May be used to perform research in ways like search engines such as Google, for correction of grammar, and for other functions related to completing an assignment.
- Must not be used to compose any part of a submitted assignment.
- Must not be used for any purpose in any exam situation.
- Must not be used in any way that would constitute plagiarism if the generative AI source were a human or organizational author.
Exceptions. Professors have discretion to deviate from the default rule. Please review their policies carefully and ask questions early!
LAW LIBRARY
The law library is vital to the success of the PLSI and to its students. The library staff provides invaluable services to the American Indian Law Center as well as to the PLSI. Every student shall respect the integrity of the library’s collection and facilities and shall respect the rights of others in their use of the library.
During the summer, the law library is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm. The library offers after-hours access, and students are allowed to use the library’s after-hours access. The library will provide further information regarding this access and will require that you agree to the rules for after-hours access in writing.
REPORTING VIOLATIONS
Every PLSI student, professor, tutor, and staff member shall report a violation of this code to the PLSI Director.
DETERMINING VIOLATIONS
The PLSI Director shall investigate and determine if a violation occurred.
SANCTIONS FOR VIOLATING THIS CODE
The PLSI Director, in consultation with the professors of the class where the violation took place, shall determine the appropriate sanction for a violation of this code. Sanctions may be, but are not limited to verbal reprimand, written reprimand, written reprimand with copy to the student’s file either temporarily or permanently, recommendation for grade change, suspension or expulsion from the program, or any combination of these.
