Paralegal Program Update (4/11/03)

Recent law  in California, Business and Professions Code Sections 6400 (Legal Assistants), and 6450 ( Paralegals), requires "Paralegals" obtain a certificate of completion of a paralegal program at a paralegal program approved by the American Bar Association., or a degree from, a post secondary institution that requires the successful completion of a minimum of 24 semester, or equivalent, units in law-related courses and that has been accredited by a national or regional accrediting organization or approved by the Bureau for Private Post secondary and Vocational Education. This is very good news for our program since the new law approves either an ABA program or a Community College program like Mission's.

1. Online Paralegal Certificate

In response to our students' expressed needs, we launched our entirely online paralegal certificate during the Summer of 2003 in which we offered 11 onlne clases. This program is unique and Mission College is probably the only California Community College which offers its program entirely on-campus, or online, or a combination of both on-campus and on-line. We have significantly increased enrollment. in our program. The online students are an excellent addition to our already excellent program. View the background, goals, and enthusiasm the online student brings to our program by looking at their introductions posted at the commencement of their online class.

2. Paralegal Path to Law School

A Dream Deferred. Many Paralegal students aspire to become lawyers but dismiss the dream because of the educational preparation and the financial resources necessary to achieve such the goal. Like most people, they mistakenly believe that all Law Schools require a Bachelor of Arts Degree and many years of expensive preparation. The truth is there is a large group of Law Schools in California that do not require a B.A. degree but admit students with either an Associate in Arts Degree or 60 units of General Education courses. There are Nineteen Schools that are fully accredited by the California State Bar Association. Our Law Department is offering a direct and inexpensive path to law school as an option within our Legal Assisting/Paralegal program.

A group of 25-30 students will visit Glendale University College of Law on Friday evening, April 11, 2003, and receive a tour, and orientation from Dean Darrin Greitzer, dean of the law school.

3. New Webpage

Over the Winter Session (January 2003), the former webpage was streamlined to provide a new and simple webpage with concise pages, easy explanations, and a clear description of the 3 different programs offered in our program. The students now have an easier path to follow when they select one or more of the programs we offer our Paralegal Students which include the Paralegal Certificate, the Associate of Arts Degree in Legal Assisting-Paralegal Studies, and now the new Paralegal Path to Law School.

4. Smart Classrooms

Prof. Jordan recently had his article on "Smart Classrooms" published in the Paralegal Educator, a publication of the American Association for Paralegal Education. The article highlighted the use of the "high tech" classroom in legal education, and the many benefits to the Paralegal Student.

5. Pacific Regional - AAFPE Presentation
Prof. Jordan will make a presentation at the AAFPE Pacific Regional meeting in Costa Mesa on April 4th, entitled "Forms and Pleadings in an Online Class".
It is essential to train the Paralegal in the classroom and online to prepare Forms and Pleadings. Preparation of Pleadings and Forms is a Core Competency (see details at AAFPE website: http://www.aafpe.org/core.html#Table). MIssion College is committed to such Core Competencies. Of course, the online environment does present special obstacles and opportunities to train paralegals in Forms and Pleadings.

6. Online Law Faculty

Our online law Faculty have been meeting once a semester to review the online program, contents, procedures, and grading. The online law faculty have been providing a unique experience and education to our online students. They excel at that task and are to be highly commended for their innovation, and dedication to online paralegal education.

7. Law Jobs

In an effort to assist our paralegal students to obtain jobs, a new weekly service of useful links to jobs and job hunting is now sent to over 250 paralegal students, past and present.

The Classified Ads in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, and other law jobs are posted on the internet at "lawjobs", and the students are notified regularly by email of these jobs to keep them abreast of the legal job market, and to assist them with their job search. The Paralegal Student is encouraged to keep their resume "up to date" and to do an "electronic resume", and to "post it" on the "electronic resume bank" provided by the Mission College Paralegal Program. Also students can now put up a very nice professional resume at Yahoo.com (http://careers.yahoo.com), and employers much prefer receiving an "electronic resume" to an email which has an "ugly attachment" which just does not seem to open.

8. Paralegal Graduation Ceremony

Since 1997, Paralegals have had their own graduation ceremony. This year the Graduation is scheduled for June 7th, 2003, Saturday, at 1:30 pm in the Campus Center. Our College President Dr. Adriana Barrera, and Dean of Vocational Studies, Eloise F. Cantrell, PhD will preside over the graduation ceremonies.