Peralta Community College District
Annual Program Update Template 2010-2011
Each discipline will complete this form to update program reviews developed in 2009-2010. These will
be reviewed at the college level and then forwarded to the district-wide planning and budgeting
process. The information on this form is required for all resource requests – including faculty staffing
requests – for the 2011-12 budget year.
I.
Overview
Date Submitted:
10/18/10
Dean:
Stacy Thompson
BI Download:
10/07/2010
Dept. Chair:
Margaret Dixon
Discipline:
PARLG
Campus:
Merritt
Mission
The Paralegal Studies program, previously known as legal assisting, was first
offered at Merritt College in 1974. The paralegal performs various
administrative tasks and provides staff support for attorneys in a law office. The
mission of the Paralegal Studies program is to:
-Provide students with the education, skills, knowledge and training to enable
the students to perform as top level Paralegals in the legal community
-Educate and train students to draft legal documents, conduct legal research
and perform other legal tasks
-Prepare students for the law office work environment and how to effectively
communicate and interact with attorneys
-Provide students with a basic understanding of law and the legal profession,
the state and federal court structures and the justice system
-Educate students in areas of substantive law, including Family Law, Criminal
Law, Estate Planning and Probate Procedures, Tort, Legal Research and Business
Law
Page 1 of 7
II.
Student Data
A. Enrollment
Fall 2008
Fall 2009
Fall 2010
Census Enrollment (duplicated)
340.0
327.0
430.0
Sections (master sections)
11.0
10.0
10.0
Total FTES
32.47
30.63
41.77
Total FTEF
2.09
1.8
1.89
FTES/FTEF
15.51
17.02
22.06
Enrolled
329.0
311.0
N/A
Retained
245.0
256.0
% Retained
74.0
82.0
N/A
N/A
329.0
179.0
54.0
84.0
25.0
311.0
193.0
62.0
55.0
17.0
B. Retention
C. Success
Total Graded
Success
% Success
Withdraw
% Withdraw
III.
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Faculty Data (ZZ assignments excluded)
Fall 2010
Contract FTEF
Hourly FTEF
Extra Service FTEF
Total FTEF
% Contract/Total
1.4
0.49
0.0
1.89
73.94
IV. Faculty Data Comparables F2010 (ZZ assignments excluded) (Z assignments excluded)
Contract FTEF
Hourly FTEF
Extra Service FTEF
Total FTEF
% Contract/Total
Alameda
Berkeley
Laney
Merritt
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
1.4
0.49
0.0
1.89
73.95
Page 2 of 7
V.
Qualitative Assessments
CTE and Vocational: Community and labor market
relevance. Present evidence of community need
based on Advisory Committee input, industry need
data, McIntyre Environmental Scan, McKinsey
Economic Report, licensure and job placement rates,
etc.
Transfer and Basic Skills: Describe how your
course offerings address transfer, basic skills, and
program completion.
There is a growing need for trained paralegals.
Paralegals services are very instrumental in the
success of many law firms. California labor
market information indicates that there will be
approximately 970 annual openings throughout
California until 2016.
Paralegal students can receive a degree and
certificate in the Paralegal Department. All
Paralegal classes are offered in the evening.
This allows students to work while enrolled in
the program. The course offering time has
been beneficial for the students in the program.
Students are being prepared to leave the
Paralegal program being able to perform
effective legal analysis and communicate legal
analysis through written documents. Basic
skills in English and writing is imparitive for a
career as a Paralegal. All instructors address
this need by including different writing
assignments in the curriculum and using rubrics
and checklists to assest the students' various
abilities/skills.
Page 3 of 7
VI. Strategic Planning Goals
Check all that apply.
Describe how goal applies to your program.
Advance Student Access, Success & Equity
Engage our Communities & Partners
Build Programs of Distinction
Create a Culture of Innovation & Collaboration
Develop Resources to Advance & Sustain Mission
The Paralegal Program is the only Paralegal
program in the district. We are striving to make
this program at Merritt the center for those
seeking a Paralegal career, and build the
program as a Program of Distinction that is
known to produce well educated and trained
indivisuals ready to work.
The Parlegal Program has a wide range of
subject areas that can be explored, so
collaborating with other departments is a
natural next step in the program. Currently,
Paralegal is in the process of collaborating with
the Administration of Justice Program, and the
Cooperative Education Department. Paralegal
would also like to collaborate with the English
Department to create a learning community
which will help the students with their basic
skills. By collaborating with other diciplines,
our students become aware of the links
between diciplines and learn that Paralegal is
not an isolated program.
VII. College Strategic Plan Relevance
Check all that apply
New program under development
Program that is integral to your college’s overall strategy
Program that is essential for transfer
Program that serves a community niche
Programs where student enrollment or success has been demonstrably affected by extraordinary
external factors, such as barriers due to housing, employment, childcare etc.
Other
Page 4 of 7
VIII. Action Plan








Please describe your plan for responding to the above data. Consider curriculum,
pedagogy/instructional, scheduling, and marketing strategies. Also, please reference any cross district
collaboration with the same discipline at other Peralta colleges.
Include overall plans/goals and specific action steps.
1. Marketing/Increase enrollment – need marketing tools – website, brochures, participate in job fairs
and career fairs etc., train all Peralta Counselors re Paralegal program
2. Continued assessment of the program, student learning outcomes, so that students can continue to
be successful and instruction is improved
3. Technology – improve computers in classrooms, increase use of computers/technology in all
classes, purchase more legal programs related to calendaring, billing, research, legal document
programs etc.
5. Improve Community involvement in the Paralegal program –
o create advisory board
o Develop partnerships in the legal community
o better determine the legal community’s needs and make sure Merritt College Paralegal
Department can serve those needs
6. Increase/Improve Internship Program – continue to increace enrollment; increase employers
participating in program; improve placement of Paralegals in positions upon completion of certificate
IX. Needs
Please describe and prioritize any faculty, classified, and student assistant needs.
1 - Part-time Instructor
Please describe and prioritize any equipment, material, and supply needs.
Laptop
LexusNexus Computer Software
Miscellaneous: computer paper and ink, pens, legal pads, flashdrives, whiteboard markers and erasers
Please describe and prioritize any facilities needs.
Continued contract with the Law Library - Approx. $300 a year
Computer Lab with current Paralegal software available on all computers, i.e., calandaring, billing, legal
research programs.
Page 5 of 7
X.
Course SLOs and Assessment
Fall 2010
Number of active courses in your discipline
11
Number with SLOs
11
% SLOs/Active Courses
100%
Number of courses with SLOs that have been assessed
11
% Assessed/SLOs
100%
Describe types of assessment methods you are using
Exams, Research paper, quizzes
Describe results of your SLO assessment progress
Paralegal has completed 100% of the programs SLOs. The following describes our assesmet results:
It is helpful to have periodic meetings to discuss issues.
Because of the wide range of skill levels, it is challenging to teach and to grade writing assignments because
of their [students] varying needs
Students could use improvement of their analytical abilities as it relates to written and oral communication of
that legal analysis.
Using a rubric is helpful.
Provide students with more feedback by giving more feedback on assignments
Page 6 of 7
XI. Program Learning Outcomes and Assessment
Fall 2010
Number of degrees and certificates in your discipline
2
Number with Program Learning Outcomes
2
Number assessed
0
% Assessed
0%
Describe assessment methods you are using
Review Success percentages; Review assessment results from SLO review
Describe results of assessment
We are in the process of asessing during the Fall 2010 Semester. Assessment results will be available
Spring 2011
Page 7 of 7