UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE FORMS
Revised 3-1-06
Academic Program Approval
This form is a routing document for the approval of new
and revised academic programs. Proposing department should
complete this form. For more
information, call the Faculty Senate Office at 831-2921.
Submitted by: Prof. Sheldon D. Pollack phone number:
Action: revise minor in Legal Studies
(Example: add major/minor/concentration, delete
major/minor/concentration,
revise major/minor/concentration,
academic unit name change, request for permanent status, policy change,
etc.)
Effective term: 06F
(use format 04F, 05W)
Current degree: N/A
(Example: BA, BACH, BACJ, HBA,
Proposed change leads to the
degree of: N/A
(Example: BA,
BACH, BACJ, HBA,
Proposed name: N/A
Proposed new name for revised
or new major / minor / concentration / academic unit
(if applicable)
Revising or Deleting:
Undergraduate major / Concentration:_________________________________
(Example: Applied Music – Instrumental degree BMAS)
Undergraduate minor: Legal Studies
(Example: African
Studies, Business
Administration, English, Leadership,
etc.)
Graduate Program Policy statement change:____________________________
(Attach your
Graduate Program Policy Statement)
Graduate Program of Study:__________________________________________
(Example: Animal Science: MS Animal Science: PHD
Economics: MA Economics: PHD)
Graduate minor / concentration:______________________________________
List program changes for
curriculum revisions:
The following curriculum
revisions were approved by the Legal Studies Executive Committee, upon the
recommendation of the Legal Studies Curriculum Committee:
(1) Require
either CRJU/LEST 301 (Introduction to Legal Studies) or POSC/LEST
380 (Introduction to Law), instead of requiring both courses;
(2) Require
one 3-credit substantive law course from among the following ten courses:
ACCT
350 (Business Law I), ACCT 351 (Business Law II), ACCT 352 (Law and Social
Issues in Business), COMM 345 (Legal Issues of the
Mass Media), CRJU 320 (Introduction
to Criminal Law), CRJU 375 (Criminal Procedure), POSC 401 (Topics in
Constitutional Law), POSC 402 (Civil Liberties: Individual Freedom), POSC 403
(Civil Liberties: Equal Protection), and POSC 405 (Constitutional Law of the
United States);
(3) Require
the one-credit course LEST 210 (The Law and You);
(4) Replace
the present requirement for LEST 401 (Senior Seminar in Legal Studies) with a
requirement for either LEST 401 or any upper-level law-related
course that has a significant research paper/project, with the approval of the
instructor and the Director. LEST 401
will continue to be offered whenever possible.
A list of pre-approved upper-level courses that can be used as a
substitute for LEST 401 will be made available to students. These presently include: CRJU 446, 475, FREC
450, POSC 401, POSC 402, POSC 403, POSC 404, POSC 405, and POSC 604;
(5) Require
two 3-credit electives (both of which must be outside the students major, in
two different department, and neither required by their major); and
(6) The
net result of these changes is the total number of credits required for the
LEST minor shall be reduced from 18 to 16 credit hours.
List new courses required for
the new or revised curriculum:
(Be aware that approval
of the curriculum is dependent upon these courses successfully passing through
the Course Challenge list. If there are no new courses enter “None”)
None
Other affected units:
(List other departments affected by this new or revised
curriculum. Attach permission from the
affected units. If no other unit is
affected, enter “None”)
None
Rationale: The following are the reasons for the proposed curriculum
revisions listed above:
(1) Because
of changes in the relevant faculty teaching the two LEST required courses, CRJU
301 (Introduction to Legal Studies) and POSC 380 (Introduction to Law), as well
as an overlapping of the material covered in these classes, the two courses
have become very similar to each other.
In addition, CRJU and POSC majors often take the majority of the seats
in these two classes, leaving few seats for LEST minors who are not CRJU or
POSC majors. Therefore, to avoid
redundancy and over-crowding, we propose requiring that LEST minors take one or
the other, but not both courses;
(2) The
original intention behind the requirement that students take both CRJU 301 and
POSC 380 was that students should take one introductory theoretical legal
studies course (i.e., CRJU 301) and one substantive law course (i.e., a course that emphasizes legal reasoning, statutory
interpretation, and/or the analysis of appellate court opinions). As noted above, these course
are now very similar in content and both are taught as introductory theoretical
legal studies courses. Therefore, we
propose that students be required to take either CRJU 301 or POSC
380, and that they also be required to take one three-credit substantive law
course from a list of ten such courses.
This means that minors in LEST will again be required to take one
introductory legal studies (CRJU 301) course and one substantive law course
(from the list of pre-approved courses);
(3) We presently
offer a very popular and successful one-credit course, LEST 210 (The Law and
You). In this course, professionals and
academics from the Delaware/Philadelphia area community are brought in as guest
lecturers to advise the students about the various aspects of legal practice,
the legal profession, and the academic study of law in graduate school and law
school. The course is open to the
university community, and the majority of the students who presently take the
course are not legal studies minors.
We propose that our own minors be required to take this course. (There will still be open seats for
non-minors, and there is room for additional students in the classroom
traditionally used in Gore Hall.) The
Executive Committee believes that the course is important and germane to the
curriculum of the program, and hence, should be part of the curriculum for all
legal studies minors;
(4) Students
presently are required to take LEST 401 (Senior Seminar in Legal Studies), a
capstone seminar in which students must write a major research paper on a
law-related topic. Because LEST has no faculty of its own, we have great
difficulty in staffing this required course with a fulltime LEST faculty member
during the fall or spring semesters. (It
is offered periodically during winter session.)
Because of this, few of our minors can actually take this required
senior seminar. Accordingly, the
Director presently allows students to satisfy the requirement for LEST 401 by
taking another upper-level law-related course that has a significant research
paper/project, with the approval of the instructor and the Director. This
proposal merely codifies current practice.
LEST 401 will continue to be offered whenever possible. An official list of pre-approved upper-level
courses that can be used as a substitute for LEST 401 will be made available to
students. These include: CRJU 446, 475,
FREC 450, POSC 401, POSC 402, POSC 403, POSC 404, POSC 405, and POSC 604. The Director and instructor still must
approve the substitution. LEST 401 or any
course used as a substitute for LEST 401 does not count as one of the
two electives required under Item 5 below or as the substantive law course
required under Item 2 above;
(5) We
will reduce the number of required (3-credit) electives from three to two. Both of the two electives must be taken outside
the student’s major department, in two different departments, and neither can
be required by the student’s major. Any
course used as a substitute for LEST 401 does not count as one of the two
electives; and
(6) The
net result of these changes is that the total number of credits required for
the LEST minor will be reduced from 18 to 16 credit hours, which we believe is a
more appropriate number for a minor with a required major research project.
Program Requirements:
(Show the new or revised curriculum as it should appear in the
Course Catalog. If this is a revision,
be sure to indicate the changes being made to the present curriculum.)
Minor in Legal Studies
(present requirements as
listed in the current 2005-2006 catalogue)
CURRICULUM Credits
LEST 301 Introduction to Legal
Studies 3
(same as
CRJU 301)
LEST 380 Introduction to Law 3
(same as POSC 380)
LEST 401 Senior Seminar in Legal
Studies 3
(or
substitute approved by the Director of LEST)
Three electives (selected from the list below) 9
No more than one of the three
electives may be: (a) required by the student's major, or (b)
offered by the student's major department; and the student must take
elective courses from at least two different departments outside the student's
major.
Electives: (list follows)
Minor in Legal Studies
(with proposed revisions)
CURRICULUM Credits
LEST 301 Introduction to Legal
Studies 3
(same as
CRJU 301)
or
LEST 380 Introduction to Law 3
(same as
POSC 380)
LEST 201 The Law and You 1
LEST 401 Senior Seminar in Legal
Studies 3
(or
substitute approved by the Director of LEST)
One substantive law course 3
(selected
from the list of ten substantive law courses below)
Two electives (selected from the list below) 6
Total credits 16
Neither of the two electives
may be: (a) required by the student's major, or (b) offered
by the student's major department; and the student must take the two elective
courses from at least two different departments outside the student's major. Any substitute course for LEST 401 does not
count as one of the two electives or as the substantive law course.
Electives: [same list of electives as
in 2006 catalogue]
Substantive law courses:
ACCT 350 (Business Law I)
ACCT 351 (Business Law II)
ACCT 352 (Law and Social Issues in Business)
COMM 345 (Legal Issues of the Mass
Media)
CRJU 320 (Introduction
to Criminal Law)
CRJU 375 (Criminal Procedure)
POSC 401 (Topics in Constitutional Law)
POSC 402 (Civil Liberties: Individual Freedom)
POSC 403 (Civil Liberties: Equal Protection)
POSC 405 (Constitutional Law of the
ROUTING AND AUTHORIZATION: (Please do not remove supporting
documentation.)
Department Chairperson Date
Dean of College Date
Chairperson, College Curriculum
Committee___________________________________ Date_____________________
Chairperson, Senate Com. on UG or GR
Studies Date
Chairperson, Senate Coordinating
Com. Date
Secretary, Faculty Senate Date
Date of Senate Resolution Date
to be Effective
Registrar Program
Code Date
Vice Provost for Academic Programs
& Planning Date
Provost Date
Board of Trustee Notification Date
Revised