academic support program policy

UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING COLLEGE OF LAW ACADEMIC SUPPORT PROGRAM  

The following represents the policy of the Faculty of the University of Wyoming , College of Law with respect to the delivery of academic support services at the College:  

1)         The Faculty of the University of Wyoming , College of Law believes that it is an integral part of the College's mission to provide the academic support necessary to assure each student a satisfactory opportunity to complete the program, to graduate, and to become a member of the legal profession.  ( ABA Law School Standard 303, Interpretation 303-3).  

2)         The Faculty further believes that this mission is best accomplished by creating and maintaining a formal academic support program (hereinafter called "the Program").   

3)         The Program will be supervised by a "Director."  It is the preference of the Faculty that the Director be a full time faculty member, tenured or tenure-track, for whom supervision of the Program will typically represent one-half of the Director's course load per semester.     

4)         Recognizing the great diversity of opinion among legal educators regarding the appropriate scope and design of academic support programs, the Director, following consultation with faculty members, shall design and maintain the Program to the extent feasible around those pedagogical principles and structures representing the consensus view of the academic support community as contributing most to the broad mission of academic support outlined above.  Initial experience has shown that the consensus of the academic support community is best revealed through periodic review of scholarly literature and assessment of academic support programs offered by law schools throughout the country.  

5)         The Program will operate in a way that is consistent with the culture of the College.  Because the College has developed a culture in which academic support is frequently, though often informally, provided throughout the curriculum, the Director will carefully coordinate the Program with successful academic support methods already existing within the College.  Furthermore, the Director will routinely consult with faculty members to ensure that the Program is identifying and responding to the needs of the College.      

6)         The Faculty anticipates that the Director will ensure that the following academic support services for students will be carried out:  
-    Workshop presentations on various law school study skills such as case briefing, note taking, outlining, legal analysis, time management, stress management, and examination skills;  
-    Creation and maintenance of an informational academic support web page containing academic support materials and links to other resources on the College of Law web site and the internet;  
-    Individualized counseling of students seeking assistance whenever necessary or appropriate, with an open door policy during the fall semester;  
-     Supervision of a program emphasizing individualized counseling of students who have been invited to participate because they have experienced difficulty taking examinations or have otherwise experienced academic difficulty as identified by the College's administration based on consultation with the faculty.     

 7)        To the extent feasible, the Director will maintain an open door policy for all students, not just for first year students, and not just for students experiencing academic difficulty.  However, the Faculty recognizes that during the spring semester the Director's primary focus will be on first year students who have experienced academic difficulty in their first semester, and that, accordingly, depending on the number of such students, the Director may have to rely primarily on designated office hours to meet individually with other students during the spring semester.  

8)         The Director will support any efforts that may be instituted by the College in connection with Bar examination preparation and assistance pursuant to the College's academic plan. (Action Item 12 of the College of Law 's Academic Plan 2004-2009).   

9)         The Director will work with the College's administration to assist in planning and conducting orientation activities related to academic support, such as study skills workshops and presentations by the Director and faculty members about methods for students to achieve success during the first year of law school.  

10)       The Director will work with the College's Legal Writing Director to develop complementary approaches to providing students experiencing academic difficulty with writing assistance.  

11)       The Director will work with the College's library faculty to develop a collection of library materials in the area of academic support.                

12)       The Director will submit to the Dean at the conclusion of each academic year a report on the operation of the Program during the year.  In addition, the report will:  
-  Summarize the activities of the Program during the year;  
-  Contain the identities and outline the experiences of students who have been invited to participate in a program of individualized counseling;

--  Detail the subsequent academic progress of students who had been invited to participate in a program of individualized counseling during the preceding year;  
-  Summarize information obtained from surveys to be provided to all students, faculty and staff at the end of the academic year to assess the effectiveness of the Program.  

13)       At the beginning of each academic year the Director will set goals for the Program in consultation with the Faculty and the Dean, and with reference to the information contained in the report discussed in the previous paragraph.  While the ultimate objective of the Program will be to improve student academic performance generally, goals that may evidence progress toward that objective include:  
-  Increased student and faculty awareness of the Program  
-   Increased student participation in the Program  
-    Increased quantity and quality of academic support offerings in comparison to pre-Program academic support offerings  
--     Improved performance for students identified as being at academic risk  
-     Improved student satisfaction with the College's academic support efforts  

Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006