Committee Meetings and Minutes

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Paralegal Advisory Committee

Meeting Minutes

Current Status of Minutes: Final
Date	September 15, 2016
Time	12:00 PM - 1:00 AM
Location	RGC

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

Item # 1:	• Program Location
Presenter	Shawn Slack
Discussion	o Coker: Commented on the necessity of convenience while she was enrolled in ACC paralegal program. She would have had to leave early from work if at other location than RGC. o Woods: Commented that students in his courses have asked if the ACC paralegal program will move the Advanced Legal Document Preparation course from RVS, expressing night danger concerns. Woods also explained that while using testing center for his Real Property course in Summer 2016, more than half the students used RGC location, when they could have used any testing center. He also noted that among the students that did not use RGC for testing, some said they could not use RGC only because it was closed on Saturday. o Varela: Noted proximity of OAG and other state agencies for students doing internships. Also expressed concern regarding loss of networking opportunities within legal profession if program was moved around or split into multiple campuses. o Vote: Committee unanimously agreed that the ACC paralegal program should remain at RGC.

Item # 2:	• Instructor Minimum Qualifications Requirements
Presenter	Shawn Slack
Discussion	o Varela: Asked if ACC paralegal program might miss out on out-of-state lawyers relocating to Texas that are interested in teaching, but cannot due to Texas law license requirement. Varela agreed that knowledge of Texas specific laws, and especially procedures, are important for paralegals to know and he gave an example about hearing schedules being ambiguous in Texas and how a paralegal has to know what it means in order to calendar it. o Coker: Reflected on her experience as a student in the program, stating that her professors were dedicated, competent, and teaching at ACC because they are passionate about Texas law. She gave an example about medical board filing dates being open to interpretation and how paralegals usually do the calendaring and, in order to do this, one must have Texas specific knowledge of the rules. Coker stated a JD with a license to practice law in Texas was necessary to convey the type of information paralegals in Texas need to know. o Woods: Gave an example about Real Property practice being very state specific and pointed out instructors without a Texas bar card would not know the relevant law. Woods added that in addition to our minimum requirements, an instructor who has practiced law would be most qualified to know the kind of information paralegals need to be successful. o Vote: The Committee unanimously agreed the Minimum Credential Qualification Requirements should remain unchanged.

Item # 3:	Program Expansion
Presenter	Shawn Slack
Discussion	o Woods: Pointed to the success of the current program and advised not to change for the sake of change. He added that students have told him they usually take one or two courses per semester, but sometimes they want to get through the program faster. He also noted that some individuals have night jobs and cannot attend our courses in the current format. Woods suggested there was a lot of potential in trying a daytime or full-time program, but that the night program must be protected because a large population has to go at night. Woods noted that the two night Intro to Law sections needed protection if either one did not make due to a daytime offering competing for students. o Coker: Noted we could not know what students we are missing until prospective students are given a chance to enroll, but she pointed out that night classes worked best for her when she was in the program, noting she could not have enrolled in daytime sections. Coker credited ACC for giving her a career and stated the only reason she was able to do the program was due to night classes. Coker suggested the paralegal program might find some new students that are majoring in other areas if they see Intro to Law as an option on the daytime schedule. Coker also suggested looking into how the program might entice students into the program by offering other opportunities to use paralegal courses in other award plans if the student does not want to continue in the paralegal program. o Vote: The Committee unanimously agreed that the paralegal program should offer one section of Intro to Law during the daytime at Northridge in Spring 2017 in order to test the marketplace.

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