The combined BESc/JD program allows students to complete both the BESc degree and the JD degree in six academic years instead of the seven years required if the degrees were taken separately.
Successful applicants to the combined program will enter first-year Law after completing three years of Engineering at Western. After one year in the Law School, students in the combined program will take a combination of Engineering and Law courses in Years Five and Six.
Application Information
Students applying to the combined program will apply in the third year of Engineering to the Associate Dean (Academic) of Engineering. A separate application must also be submitted to the Faculty of Law in accordance with the submission deadlines advertised in The University of Western Ontario academic calendar, indicating the student’s intention to pursue the combined program. To be eligible for the combined program, students must have a cumulative, weighted average of 80% or stand in the top 10% of their class in their first three years of Engineering. In addition, candidates must meet the minimum LSAT requirement established by the Law School Admissions Committee.
Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee a position in the combined program.
Years One, Two and Three
Students must take required courses in the relevant Engineering program.
Year Four
Students must take first-year Law. No courses outside of Law may be taken during this year. With respect to the Faculty of Engineering requirement that students take courses that expose them to the impact of technology on society, ethical issues, economics and the thought processes in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Law 5130 Legal Ethics and Professionalism will satisfy the ethical issues requirement and Law 5125 Foundations of Canadian Law will satisfy the thought processes of the Humanities and Social Sciences requirement.
Years Five and Six
Students will take, as approved, required and elective courses from both the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Engineering.
Students must take:
(a) the two compulsory upper-year Law courses;
(b) at least three Law core-group courses;
(c) additional Law courses totaling at least 25 credit hours, of which one course must have an essay requirement of at least two credit weights;
(d) courses that expose them to the impact of technology on society and to economics, as follows:
- the impact of technology on society: one of Law 5615 Biotechnology Law, Law 5605 Advanced Issues in Technology Law, Law 5350 Media Law, Law 5600 Advanced Intellectual Property, Law 5620 Information Law, Law 5625 Intellectual Property, Law 5630 International Protection of Intellectual Property or Law 5610 Advanced Patent Law, or an approved Law Selected Topics course, and
- economics: Law 5220 Income Taxation, or an approved Law Selected Topics course; and
(e) Engineering courses as detailed in the Faculty of Engineering section of the Academic Calendar for each of the specific combined degree programs: Chemical Engineering and Law, Civil Engineering and Law, Electrical Engineering and Law, Integrated Engineering and Law, Mechanical Engineering and Law, and Software Engineering and Law.
Progression Standards
Once admitted to the combined program, students must maintain a minimum year weighted average of 75% in their Engineering courses and a B average in their Law courses.
Failure to Meet Progression Standards
A student who fails to meet the combined program progression standards in any year must withdraw from the combined program. However, if that student has met the progression standards of either the Engineering or JD program, he or she will be allowed to proceed to the next year of that program. If that student has satisfied the progression standards of both individual programs, he or she may continue in either program and may petition the Faculty whose program was not selected for permission to complete that program at a later date. A student who is required to withdraw from the combined program and continues with either or both of the individual programs must complete all the degree requirements of the individual program or programs in order to graduate from that program or those programs.
Exchange Programs
Students enrolled in the combined program may be eligible in Year Five or Six for an exchange program offered only through the Faculty of Law. This will require advanced planning with both Faculties.
Dean’s Honor List
Students are considered for the Dean’s Honor List in the Faculty of Engineering in Years One, Two and Three. In Year Four, they are considered for the Dean’s Honor List in the Faculty of Law. A
student who takes Law courses totaling at least 12 credit hours in each of Years Five and Six of the program is considered for the Dean’s Honor List in the Faculty of Law in each of those years on the basis of those courses.
Dean’s Honor List eligibility for Engineering in Years Five and Six will be determined by the Faculty of Engineering.
Graduation with Distinction
Eligibility to graduate with distinction for each degree is determined by each Faculty.
Fees
Tuition fees for the combined programs are set by the University. Contact the Office of the Registrar, Western Student Services building, RM 1120, 519-661-2100 or at www.registrar.uwo.ca for details.
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