Dean’s Certification
Why Law Schools Ask
Just like character and fitness questions, law schools will often ask applicants about their academic and professional conduct, personal history, and possible misconduct. Law school admissions officers are interested in admitting trustworthy, responsible, and accountable persons to their programs. To ensure that, law schools may request additional verification of applicant information. This is often called a dean’s certification and is an important of the application process for some law schools.
It is less common for law schools to request a separate certification of enrollment, academic misconduct, and non-academic misconduct records. However, there are still law schools across the United States that require applicants to submit a dean’s certification for admission to a juris doctor (JD) program. Applicants may be required to submit it with their application, when accepting admission, or when submitting their seat deposit. If a law program requires this additional step, you will receive specific instructions on this. Don’t be concerned if you don’t receive an email or correspondence requesting this.
At the University of Kansas, there is not a centralized process for requesting enrollment, disciplinary, and student conduct records from a single office. Jayhawk Pre-Law Advising can assist KU students with navigating this process, but the form or certification instructions you receive will often provide specific records sought. Please note that Jayhawk Pre-Law Advising staff are mandatory reporters and may be required to report certain acts such as sexual misconduct, gender-based harassment, and discrimination, in accordance with university policy and relevant state and federal laws.
Requests for certifying student conduct and discipline can be sent to Student Conduct and Community Standards (SCCS). Please note, student conduct records are not retained indefinitely. If you have graduated from KU or have not been enrolled recently, contact SCCS for further information.
Requests for certifying academic conduct can be sent to the academic division you graduated or are graduating from. For example, a design student may contact School of Architecture & Design Student Academic Services and Success, or a philosophy student may contact College Undergraduate Academic Services for certifying academic misconduct records. Typically, your undergraduate student services office or coordinator can help provide the certification or connect you with the appropriate person. Each academic division has one or more individuals designated to have access to university-wide records related to academic misconduct.
Records kept by University of Kansas Police Department, City of Lawrence Police Department, and Douglas County Sheriff's Office are not maintained by any of the campus offices above. Contact these law enforcement agencies directly if specific information is needed for character and fitness questions.
We have compiled a list of common university offices that may collect, store, and/or release the frequently requested information in a dean’s certification below.