Minutes of Advisory Board

Present: David Jordan, Robert Krimmer, Joanne Kalter-Flink, Sandy Thomsen, Vilma Bernal, Anel Flores, Curtis Kates, Jonathan Jackman, Barry Morinaka, Elise Lampert, Richard Walker, James Burch, Stephanie Beerman,

David Jordan opened the Board Meeting at 10:00 am with a welcome, and each participant then introduced themselves to the group.

Prof. Jordan then discussed the objectives and role of the Advisory Committee. Prof. Jordan then asked the members to read the attached Program Update, and Sandy Thomsen than asked about "hybrid classes" and Vilma Bernal and Barry Morinaka gave examples of how they work and the advantages of such classes. The Paralegal Program will implement these "hybrid" classes for the first time this Fall.

Next the meeting reviewed the proposed Bylaws, and moved to accept them, without any revisions or amendments. The meeting then moved to the Employer Survey and discussed the survey.

The Board then discussed the following items, and established "ad hoc" sub-committees to review and report back to the Board:

1. Employer Survey - Jonathan Jackman, Bob Krimmer, and Curtis Kates will meet to identify employers for the Employer Survey, and how to implement the survey into the relevant paralegal market for Mission College.

2. Certified Legal Assistant Exam - Robert Krimmer will review the requirements for the CLA, and whether Mission could become a testing center for the CLA exam, and also provide CLA preparation to Mission College Paralegal Certificate graduates.

3. ABA approval - Prof. Jordan will put together materials on the "accreditation and compliance" statement for our Paralegal Program, and why we are not ABA approved. These materials will be given to Joanne Kalter-Flink and she will advise the Counselors who are asked questions about ABA approval.

4. Curriculum - Prof. Jordan will add as a "recommended courses" for the AA degree - Accounting I.

5. Job Fair - Prof. Jordan suggested that Mission College have a Job Fair. The Business and Law Department through the VTEA program will plan a Job Fair next Fall or Spring, and it will include jobs and employers for paralegals.

6. Internships - a number of Board Members suggested that Internships serve a very valuable part of our student's education. Although our program no longer has a formal Internship Program, there are a number of volunteer internships the students can join. First is the Self-Help Legal Access Center in Van Nuys, which include Domestic Violence training for out students. On Saturdays, there is also a Workers Rights Clinic in which students help individuals to document wage claims, and other work related matters under the supervision of an attorney. Finally, we are working with L.A. Legal Aid Foundation to develop some internships for our students.

7. Advertising - Elise Lampert mentioned that she receives a monthly publication from the San Fernando Valley Bar Association and that the Valley Extension Paralegal Program has an advertisement placed there. Elise will look into Mission College Paralegal Program also having advertising for our program in that publication. On a side note, we need to investigate how to increase our position with "Google" and other search engines since many of our students locate our program through the internet.

8. Child Advocacy - Elise Lampert indicated that our program might consider training Child Advocates. This concentrates on Special Education Law in California. Since Mission College, and the LACCD chronically suffers from underfunding from the State, and it is difficult to increase our curriculum offerings, it was suggested that we contact Community Extension and propose such Child Advocacy Training through our extension program. Elise Lampert is to contact Vilma Bernal to describe the nature of such training, and Vilma will contact Diane Astadurian, Director of our Community Extension program to see if additional legal courses, including Child Advocacy Training can be offered to our paralegals and to the concerned public.

9. Jobs with Government Agencies - Richard Walker suggested that we contact the Attorney's General Office for jobs for our paralegals. Richard said he would work on this project of identifying the government agencies and who we should contact for job placement for our paralegal students.

10. Alumni Newsletter - James Burch suggested that an Alumni Newsletter be developed to assist with staying in touch with our former paralegal students and to assist us in tracking the success of our students in obtaining meaningful paralegal employment. Both James Burch and Stephanie Beerman agreed to work on this project. Prof. Jordan has established a list serv for students and this will also help in staying in touch with our paralegal graduates. This type of networking amongst former students is very valuable for our current students in searching for employment once they graduate.

11. Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis - Bob Krimmer suggested that we should obtain Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis for our students, and training in both as part of our program. He said that the skills of legal research is very important for our students. Anel Flores, Sandy Thomsen, and Barry Morinaka will work on finding the costs of such programs and how we can afford them in our Paralegal Program.

The Advisory Board was adjourned at 11:15 am.

updated: 5/17/05