|
One of the most
comprehensive legal education Academic Support
Programs (ASP) in the country is administered by the
Southern University Law Center. The Academic Support
Program's Pre-Law, Academic-Year, and Academic
Counseling components facilitate the learning
experience of students so they can adjust, succeed,
and excel in law school. ASP supports diversity in
the Law School by taking an active role in improving
student retention and performance.
The Academic Counseling component was
established for the purpose of addressing principal
causes of academic difficulties. Students are
encouraged to discuss with the dean any problems
impeding academic success.
The Academic Support Program is designed to
assist students who have not been in an academic
setting for a number of years, and for those making
the transition from undergraduate education to
professional legal education and for students who
have learning or physical disabilities. The program
provides opportunities to analyze and synthesize
precedent, interpret statutes, construct policy
arguments and train students to write and speak with
clarity and precision.
The office is staffed by the dean and academic
counselor, a counselor, an administrative assistant
and 39 second and third-year law students who work
as teaching assistants (TAs) for the first-year
subjects. The program offers a series of first-year
weekly academic sessions during the fall and spring
semester. A schedule for these sessions is posted on
the TWEN site, plasma and bulletin board. In
addition, teaching assistants post study materials
throughout the semester and have regularly scheduled
office hours.
The dean, three tenured professors, a judge, the
director of legal writing, two legal writing
instructors, and six teaching assistants teach in
the summer pre-law program. Twenty-two tenured and
tenure track professors and thirty-nine teaching
assistants teach in the Academic Year Program. The
dean of academic support provides program oversight,
supervision and training.
Academic Support starts building the foundation
of knowledge and understanding of the structure and
content of the legal system, law school pedagogy,
and learning theory through its four-week Summer
Pre-Law Program. Through instruction in three
substantive courses, students are introduced to the
Socratic method and are introduced to legal skills,
emphasizing legal writing and legal analysis through
a skills orientation component of the program.
Participation is selective. Because most students
welcome any assistance offered to help them succeed
in law, students do not object to being invited to
attend the summer program.
The Academic Year Program, mandatory for all
students enrolled in first-year courses, helps
students understand doctrines and develop or refine
their study and analytical skills. The program
consists of weekly sessions of two-hours each during
the semester where emphasis is placed in study
techniques, analytical skills and exam writing. Each
session or seminar is designed to help students
become independent learners. The substantive law is
used as a tool for teaching students how to read and
analyze cases, how to brief cases, how to organize
their notes and briefs, how to outline, how to
prepare for exams, how to analyze exam questions,
how to organize exam answers, and finally how to
write exam answers.
The required legal writing courses for first and
second year students emphasize clarity,
organization, legal analysis and exposition.
Individual and small group instruction in
communication skills is also provided.
Through the Office of Academic Support Programs,
the Law Center provides reasonable and appropriate
testing accommodations in accordance with the
Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
The specific objectives of the Academic Support
Program are:
-
To assist
participants in developing the legal study
skills and habits that will enable them to
perform to their potential;
-
To develop the
participants' exam-writing and analytical
skills;
-
To provide
positive reinforcement to the participants
that they can excel; and,
-
To provide a
means of identifying those students who are
having problems, and refer them to the right
resources for assistance, such as the
professor teaching the substantive course,
the legal writing instructors for writing
assistance, and the counseling and medical
centers where appropriate.
Berryl
Gordon-Thompson, Esq.
Dean and Academic Counselor
Office of Academic Support Programs
Email:
bthompson@sulc.edu
Telephone: (225) 771-4913
Fax: (225) 771-5895
Eric W. Claville, J.D.
Academic Counselor
Email:
eclaville@sulc.edu
Pamela Thomas-Anderson
Administrative Assistant IV
Email:
panderson@sulc.edu
Mailing address:
Southern University Law Center
Office of Academic Support Programs & Academic
Counseling
Post Office Box 9294
Baton Rouge, LA 70813
Physical address:
Southern University Law Center
Office of Academic Support Programs & Academic
Counseling
2 Roosevelt Steptoe Drive, Suite 220
Baton Rouge, LA 70813
|
Contact
Information
Office: (225) 771-4913
Fax: (225) 771-5895 |