Paralegal Program
Assessment Report
Fall 1998

I. Introduction

The Assessment Plan for the Paralegal Program was developed and refined throughout the 1997/1998 academic year, and was approved by the Institutional Assessment Committee in May, 1998. The plan includes five assessment measures of student outcomes. However, because the plan was still being developed, there is no data for some of those measures, as indicated below. The following is the best information we have available at this time. The 1998-1999 report will be more complete.

II. Summary of data

A. Internships
All Paralegal majors are required to complete an internship of at least 4, but not more than 12, credits, with one credit being the equivalent of 40 hours of work at a law office or other suitable environment offering relevant experiences under the supervision of an attorney. The Program considers the internship to be the primary and most important opportunity to assess each student's development and competency following completion of the majority of the curriculum.

The numbers of students who interned in 1997-98 are as follows: 2 in the fall of 1997, 11 in the spring of 1998, and 25 in the summer of 1998, for a total of 38 interns.

The student's performance is assessed by the supervising attorney, using an evaluation form provided by the faculty internship supervisor after the conclusion of the internship. Attached is a composite of the evaluations returned by 31 of 38 of the supervising attorneys.

All of the 38 interns submitted a self-report. Attached is a composite of representative comments extracted from those reports. The comments chosen from the interns' reports are those which the Paralegal faculty deemed most significant in assessing not only the individual students' performances, but the program's curriculum, course content, and instructional methods.

B. Capstone Courses
Assessment forms for each student in courses identified as capstone were not completed during 1997-98 because those forms were not yet developed and approved as part of our assessment plan until near the end of spring semester, 1998. These assessment measures will be completed during the 1998-99 academic year, and the results will be included with next year's report.

C. Graduating Senior Survey
All seniors were given an exit survey form approximately midway through the term in which they were to graduate. In fall semester, 1997, completed surveys were received from 6 of the 11 seniors. For those graduating in spring or summer of 1998, 15 of 28 were completed and returned.

Attached is a compilation of the ratings and comments from the 21 completed surveys.

D. Graduate Surveys
Surveys were not done during the 1997-98 academic year. Surveys are being done this year of those who graduated summer 1997 and later. The results will be included with next year's assessment report.

E. Employer Surveys
Surveys were not done during the 1997-98 academic year. Surveys are being done this year of the employers of those students who graduated summer 1997 and later. The results will be included with next year's assessment report.
 

III.  Commentary

A. Curriculum
In general, the feedback was very positive and indicated to us that we have a strong curriculum that more than adequately prepares students for their work. This is especially evident in the internship assessments, and in the past has been very evident from graduate and employer surveys. We are confident that we are providing what our students need for entering their profession.

Some comments indicate a need to do more in specific areas, such as writing, drafting, larger projects, etc. These comments relate more to individual courses and instructional methods than to the curriculum structure per se. We have modified some courses to take into account the students' suggestions, specifically by providing a greater experiential approach. Specific examples include an increase in drafting projects in Methods and Materials of Litigation and other courses, and enhancing the computer applications portion of Law Office Systems after consulting with persons outside the program.

B. Budgeting
Assessment of our students and our program reveals that faculty and facilities resources are adequate. There is a need for more computer technical support and software if we are to offer the necessary skills training in technology. In spring semester 1999, we will have a new adjunct faculty member teaching computer applications in Law Office Systems. He works in legal computer software consulting, development, and installation. We anticipate that he will be in a better position at the end of the semester to offer advice as to how we can better meet our students' needs.
 

C. Retention, Recruitment, and Public Relations
The results are encouraging for retention of current students and recruitment of future students, based especially on comments from interns. The responses indicate that our students are well prepared for their internships and permanent employment. This information can be shared with current and prospective students. Students want to know that they will learn what they need for employment, and we can give them assurance of that. The program enjoys a good reputation among the legal community.

D. Revisions to the assessment plan
We are not prepared to draw any conclusions as to whether changes should be made to the assessment plan, given the fact that we have limited data and have only had the plan in place for less than a year.

[[Note:  If you would like to have a copy of the data summaries that accompanied the foregoing text, contact Willie Hallford:  hallford@mhd1.moorhead.msus.edu]]  [[If you would like to view a similar data summary directly on the web, go the Accounting Department's report.]]