Program Policies
Admission and Retention
Course Enrollments
Course Substitutions
Course
Substitution Paperwork
Incompletes
Plan of Study
Prerequisite
Overrides
Program
Internship Requirement
Transfer
Students: Minimum Program Hours
Transfer
Students: Transfer Credit
Students who wish to be Legal Assistant (Paralegal) Studies Program
(Program) majors must apply for admission to the
Program. Students may be admitted to the Program
in the fall or winter terms. Applications for a
winter term will be due by December 1 of the
preceding fall term. Applications for a fall term
will be due by April 1 of the preceding winter
term. Admission to the Program is competitive. A
limited number of admissions is available.
See
Notes to Admission and Retention Policy,
below.
Program Admission Requirements.
Program admission criteria are: (1) admission to the University as
an undergraduate or second bachelor’s degree
candidate; (2) completion of ENGL 121 with a grade
of "B" or higher*; (3) completion of LEGL
211, Introduction to Paralegalism and Legal
Terminology, with a grade of “B-” or higher; (4)
completion of LEGL 304, Legal Writing, Research,
and Analysis I, with a grade of “C+” or higher;
and (5) a cumulative EMU GPA of at least 2.5 on a 4.0
scale. **
Program Retention Requirements.
In addition to secondary admission requirements, Program majors
will be required to: (1) complete each Program
core course (
e.g., all courses having an
LEGL prefix [except LEGL 211 and LEGL 304 – see
above], as well as BEDU 220) with a minimum grade
of “C”; (2) maintain a cumulative GPA of at least
2.5 on a 4.0 scale; and (3) maintain a cumulative
major GPA of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale. A
student whose cumulative GPA or cumulative major
GPA falls below 2.5 will be placed on Program
probation for the next succeeding term. If the
student fails to raise his or her cumulative GPA
or cumulative major GPA, or both, as the case may
be, to 2.5 or higher with the grades earned during
the probationary term, the student will be
dismissed from the Program. For purposes of this
policy, a student who is placed on Program
probation as the result of a deficient GPA at the
close of a winter term will have until the close
of the next fall term to raise his or her GPA to
2.5 or higher. If a student earns lower than a
“C” in any Program core course (except LEGL 211
and LEGL 304 – see above), the student will be
allowed to repeat the course two times. If the
student fails to earn a “C” or better in the
repeat course, the student will be dismissed from
the Program.
* Students applying for admission to the Program as Second
Bachelor’s Degree candidates must present evidence
of having completed an acceptable college-level
English composition course with a grade of “B” or
higher. A remedial English composition or writing
course is NOT an acceptable college-level English
composition course.
** Transfer students seeking admission
to the Program must present evidence of having
completed equivalent courses with the minimum
required grades, and must also present evidence of
having satisfied the minimum GPA requirement.
Notes to Admission and Retention Policy:
This policy is effective beginning with the Winter 2005 term.
If you want to declare the Program your major
prior to the close of the Fall 2004 term, you
may do so
online
by sending an
email to Academic Advising. If you want to
declare the Program your major after the close of
the Fall 2004 term, you must complete and submit
the Program Application Form to the Program
Coordinator. Program application materials are
available from the
Program Coordinator.
After this policy becomes effective, admission
to the Program will be competitive. A limited
number of seats in each entering Fall and Winter
term class will be available. Seats in each
entering class will be awarded based on: (1) cumulative
GPA; (2) grades earned in the prerequisite courses (ENGL
121, LEGL 211, and LEGL 304); and (3) an interview
with the Program Coordinator. Timely
application for admission to the Program does not
guarantee admission. Likewise, because
admission to the Program is competitive, the fact
that you have satisfied the criteria set forth in
the Admission Policy does not guarantee your
admission. A student who is
declined admission for any term is free to re-apply
for admission in a later term.
While the minimum cumulative major GPA and
cumulative overall GPA to be retained in the Program
are 2.5, the Program Coordinator strongly recommends
that your cumulative major GPA and cumulative
overall GPA be 3.0 or higher. Success in the
Program correlates with success in finding and
keeping employment as a practicing paralegal.
If you are a Program major and you intend to
continue on to law school, you will need a
cumulative overall GPA higher than 3.0 in order to
be competitive for admission to the vast majority of
law schools.
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Every course has an enrollment limitation, or
cap. With the exception of LEGL 416, all Program
Courses are filled on a first-come, first-served
basis. Inability to enroll in a Program Course,
whether caused by untimely registration or otherwise,
may lead to delays in your graduation.
Every course also has enrollment minimums.
For example, during the Fall and Winter terms, most
courses (other than those offered through the Office
of Continuing Education) must enroll at least 10
students. If this minimum enrollment is not
met, University or College of Technology policy
may require that the course be cancelled.
If a course in which you have enrolled is cancelled
because of low enrollment, you should contact the
Program Coordinator
if you need help in making other arrangements.
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Each Program Course is part of the curriculum
because it is designed to impart skills and competencies
that are essential or useful to legal assistants
and other legal professionals. Substitutions
for required Program Courses will be granted only
under exceptional circumstances, and only if the
student can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the
Program Coordinator that he or she has the competencies
of the course for which substitution is being sought.
In every case, a student seeking a course substitution
must obtain the permission of the Program
Coordinator before taking the course that the
student will seek to have substituted for a Program
course.
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If the Program Coordinator approves a Program
Course substitution, you are responsible for completing
the paperwork necessary to have the substitution
made a part of your University record. The
required Course substitution form and instructions
for completing the form are available from the Program
Coordinator.
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Incompletes are strongly discouraged. The
University policy on incompletes is as follows:
An incomplete
(I)
grade may be awarded only when a student has
completed the majority of the work of a course and
the student's work has been of acceptable quality
("C" or better for undergraduate
students...) but the required amount of work has
not been completed because of illness, necessary
absence, or other satisfactory reasons. It is never
applied to poor work or nonattendance of class by
the student. It means the student has informed the
instructor of the reason for the requested
incomplete, and the instructor has agreed to the
request.
If you receive a grade of incomplete (I) in a
course, you should not re-register for the course.
An I grade must be replaced by a grade within one
calendar year from the end of the semester or
session in which the grade was given. The initiative
for removal of an incomplete rests with the student.
If not converted by the end of the one-year period,
the incomplete will remain as a permanent part of
the student’s record.
The Program construes
"illness, necessary absence, or other satisfactory
reasons" to include: (1) a death in your immediate
family (meaning parents, grandparents, and siblings,
and aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews where the
relationship is not more distant than first
degree); (2) a documented illness, injury, or
condition for which you are under a physician's
care and which incapacitates you for an extended
period of time; (3) being called to active duty in
the United States Armed Forces during the term in
which the incomplete is requested; or
(4) other extraordinary circumstances which, in
the judgment of the instructor of record for the
course, would prevent a reasonable person from
completing the course requirements in a timely
manner. Where the phrase "instructor of
record for the course" is used in this policy, if
the instructor of record is a member of the
Program's adjunct faculty, then that phrase means
both the adjunct faculty member and
the Program Coordinator, and all requests must be
delivered to, and permissions must be secured
from, both the adjunct faculty member
and the Program Coordinator.
Every request
to take an incomplete must be in writing and must
conform to the requirements subsection .30 of
Rule
100, except that the ten day limitation therein
does not apply. Appropriate documentary
evidence must be included. The written
request must be delivered to the instructor of
record for the course. Oral requests will
not be considered. Permission from the
instructor of record for the course must also be
in writing. Except in cases of unforeseeable
emergency, a request must be submitted prior to
the close of the last week of regularly scheduled
classes for the term in which an incomplete is
being requested.
In all cases, the discretion to
allow a student to take an incomplete is vested in
the instructor of record for the course. It
is the policy of the Program to exercise that
discretion in favor of denying a request for an
incomplete. The burden is on the student
requesting the incomplete to demonstrate, by clear
and convincing evidence, that he or she has
satisfied the criteria for taking an incomplete. If
the instructor of record for the course is a member of the
adjunct faculty, then the determination of the
Program Coordinator as to whether an incomplete
will be granted shall be final.
The Program adheres
strictly to the one-year completion requirement.
Exceptions to this requirement will be considered
only when a student is able to demonstrate
extraordinary circumstances which, in the judgment
of the instructor of record for the course,
reasonably prevent the student from completing the
course requirements within one year.
Permission to extend the time for completion of an
incomplete beyond the one-year period must be
secured by the student from the instructor of
record for the course and, pursuant to University
policy, from the Associate Dean of the College of
Technology. Every request to extend the
period of completion beyond the one-year period
must be in writing and must conform to the
requirements subsection .30 of
Rule 100, except
that the ten day limitation therein does not
apply. The request must be delivered to the
instructor of record for the course and the
Associate Dean of the College of Technology.
Permission from the instructor of record for the
course and from the Associate Dean of the College
of Technology to extend the time for completion
must also be in writing.
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The Program offers legal courses (those with
an "LEGL" prefix) based on a Standard
Schedule. This Standardized Schedule was
created so that each Program major can develop a
plan of study leading to graduation. The Program
Coordinator is available to help you with your
plan of study. However, it is your responsibility
to plan your studies through graduation. This
means that you must be familiar with: (1) all University
Basic Studies requirements, including all prerequisite
courses; (2) all
Program course requirements (Second Bachelor's
Degree students click here),
including all prerequisite
courses; and (3) all University graduation requirements.
Failure to develop and follow a plan of study may
cause delays in your graduation.
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Prerequisite
Overrides
Prerequisite overrides are strongly disfavored.
Course sequences are designed in a way such that
later courses build upon skills and competencies
taught in their prerequisites. A prerequisite
override will be granted only under exceptional
circumstances, and only if the student can demonstrate
to the satisfaction of the Program Coordinator
and the course instructor that his or her learning
and performance in the course will not be impaired
on account of the override. A prerequisite
override does not excuse the student from taking
the overridden course, nor is an override considered
to be fulfillment of the overridden course.
A prerequisite override only allows the student
to take a sequential course out of order.
BTE Department policy mandates that only the instructor
of record for a course may override a prerequisite
to that course, unless the instructor of record
for a course is an adjunct instructor. If
the instructor is an adjunct, then the student
must consult the Program
Coordinator for assistance.
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All Program majors must complete the required
Program Internship, LEGL 416. All
questions about the Internship, including but
not limited to the timing of the Internship, the
suitability of a location for the Internship,
the suitability of clinical Internship work, and
the substantive work that must be completed as
part of the classroom and clinical Internship
components, should be directed to the instructor
of record for the class or the
Program Coordinator.
LEGL 416 is offered every Winter term. If
needed because of anticipated graduations, LEGL
416 may also be offered during the Spring term.
As with all Program courses, the fact that LEGL
416 is offered does not guarantee that there
will be sufficient enrollments to meet the
required course
minimum. Enrollment priority for LEGL 416 will be based
upon anticipated date of graduation. For
example, a student who reasonably expects to graduate
at the end of the Winter 2005 term would be
given enrollment priority for Winter 2005 LEGL 416 over
a student who expects to graduate at the end of
the Spring, Summer, or Fall, 2005 term.
Absent advance written permission, you may not
begin your clinical internship work (e.g.,
your field experience) prior to the time that
you begin LEGL 416. The location of your
Internship, as well as the general nature of the
substantive clinical Internship work you will
do, must be approved in advance.
Your clinical Internship work must be properly
supervised. If you are working in an
office where legal services are being provided,
you must be supervised by a licensed attorney.
Under no circumstances are you to engage in
activities that might constitute the
unauthorized practice of law. If you are
uncertain about whether any task you are asked
to complete might constitute the unauthorized
practice of law, you should consult with your
supervising attorney. You should also
consult with the instructor of record for the
class, or with the
Program Coordinator.
The Program has established more specific guidelines
and rules regarding the Program Internship.
These guidelines and rules are incorporated in
the "Sponsoring Interns Handbook." You must
familiarize yourself with these guidelines and
rules. Failure to follow this policy, or
the more specific guidelines and rules in the
Sponsoring Interns Handbook, may
result in failure to receive credit for, or a
passing grade in, LEGL 416. This may result
in your graduation being delayed.
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Regardless of the number of hours accepted by
the University for transfer credit, and irrespective
of any other courses that may be required, all students
seeking a Bachelor of Science degree or a Second
Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Legal
Assistant Studies must complete a minimum of 24
semester hours of Program Courses, including at
least 15 hours of legal courses (those having an
"LEGL" prefix) at Eastern Michigan University.
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If you are a declared Legal Assistant Studies
major (major code BT04), then the Program Coordinator
is your Program academic advisor. Pursuant
to University policy, the Program Coordinator has
authority to approve transfer credit for certain
Program Courses. Specifically, the Program
Coordinator has authority, in his or her discretion,
to approve transfer credit for courses having an
"LEGL" or "BEDU" prefix.
The Program Coordinator cannot approve transfer
credit for any courses with prefixes other than
these. The Program Coordinator cannot approve
transfer credit for any University Basic Studies
Courses (other than those with a "BEDU"
prefix), nor can the Program Coordinator approve
transfer credit for Program Courses that are offered
through other departments (e.g., "ACC";
"LAW"; "PLSC"). Students
seeking transfer credit for a non-LEGL or non-BEDU
course must consult with the College of Technology
Academic Advisor, Bob
Teehan, or with the department offering the
courses for which transfer credit is sought.
For LEGL and BEDU courses, the Program Coordinator
may approve transfer credit in appropriate cases.
If the Program has an articulation
agreement in place with the institution from
which the student seeks to transfer credit, then
the articulation agreement will be followed, except
as noted below. If the Program does not have
an articulation agreement in place with the institution
from which the student seeks to transfer credit,
then the Program Coordinator will determine, on
a course-by-course basis, if transfer credit is
appropriate. Transfer credit is more likely
to be approved if the institution from which the
student seeks to transfer credit has an American
Bar Association (ABA) approved program, but ABA
approval, in itself, does not guarantee that transfer
credit will be approved.
The Program is ABA-approved. In order
to maintain our ABA approval, we must ensure that
the Program meets a variety of ABA guidelines.
The Program Coordinator may refuse to approve transfer
credit in any case where, in the Program Coordinator's
opinion, approving transfer credit may be contrary
to the letter or spirit of the ABA guidelines.
Likewise, the Program Coordinator may refuse to
approve transfer credit in any case where, in the
Program Coordinator's opinion, approving transfer
credit might jeopardize the Program's ABA approval.
Regardless of the number of transfer credits
approved, all transfer students must satisfy the
Minimum Program Hours policy.
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