Committee Meetings and Minutes

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Paralegal Advisory Committee

Meeting Minutes

Current Status of Minutes: Final
Date	September 2, 2020
Time	12:00 PM - 1:00 AM
Location	Google Meet

Members Present
No member attendance has been recorded.
Guests Present
No guest attendance has been recorded.

Item # 1:	For a signed copy of the meeting minutes in pdf format please contact the department at sslack@austincc.edu or 512-223-3713.
Presenter
Discussion	Members Present: o President, Nova Coker, Certified Legal Assistant, Case Manager at Sharp & Cobos, Attorneys-at-Law, and ACC Paralegal Program Advanced Technical Certificate Graduate o Megan Becker, Paralegal, Law Offices of Joel A. Levine o Cullen McMorrow, Staff Attorney, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality o Enrique Varela, Assistant Attorney General, Senior Attorney, General Litigation Division. o Mario Aguilar, Austin Community College Full-time Faculty, Paralegal Department o Secretary, Shawn Slack, Austin Community College Department Chair, Paralegal Department o Caroline Taylor, Senior Legal Assistant, Office of the Attorney General Members Unavailable: o Reagan Wood, Commercial Real Estate Broker, Principal, Land Dev Brokerage o Judge Woodie Jones, Of Counsel, Alexander Dubose Jefferson & Townsend; Retired Chief Justice, Court of Appeals Old Business • Report on ABA Approval Process by Shawn Slack. New Business • Assess Effectiveness of Paralegal Program o Curriculum Planning  The chair gave an update regarding the switch to 100% online due to the pandemic and solicited advice regarding how to structure program once f2f sections can be offered again. Major factors driving these decisions were identified as student demand, faculty availability/interests, and labor market concerns regarding perceived and/or actual limitations of online learning. Committee discussed some of these, such as the convenience of synchronous online learning and the benefits of developing relationships and interpersonal communication skills in f2f environments. Advisory committee will revisit this issue again in the spring meeting. o The committee reviewed the department’s written assessment plan and discussed the written goal of providing a blended curriculum and whether that should be revised. Committee will revisit this issue in spring meeting. o The committee reviewed the internship evaluation rubric and summary of spring 2020 results to assess graduate performance. The committee concluded that the results continue to indicate the program is operating effectively. o The chair solicited recommendations for addressing needs of legal community with regard to recent changes and trends in the legal field related to remote-working. The committee advised that video conference technology needs to be addressed by the program and contextualized for paralegals, especially with regard to hearings and client meetings. Zoom and MS TEAMS were identified as the most commonly used platforms by courts and state agencies. Committee also noted that video conferences have changed the process for hearing preparation which should be addressed. • Job Market Assessment o The chair gave an update regarding the decrease in job postings the department is receiving since the beginning of the pandemic. The department will not change anything at this time because the pandemic has created too many uncertainties. • The Texas Law Library is physical closed but has increased online services during the pandemic. The committee reviewed the current online library services available at the Texas Law Library. No recommendations were made at this time. The committee discussed the preference for Westlaw over Lexis. • Adjourn

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5930 Middle Fiskville Rd.
Austin, Texas 78752-4390
512.223.4ACC (4222)

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