Program Review for Legal Assisting
Program Review Framework & Criteria
I. Connection: From interest to application (Qualitative, program head and dean)
1) Please provide a description of any changes to the program since the last cycle and the appropriate updates to the catalog (general education changes, program requirement changes, ancillary program costs for students, hours/credits of credentials, etc.).
The following changes were made to the program since the last program review cycle...
1. Math courses throughout the VCCS were redesigned with new courses; therefore, the Math requirement for this program has been updated to include MTH 130 in place of MTH 120.
2. Since Legal Assisting is a Career and Technical Education program, ENG 111, College Composition I, was changed to ENG 115, Technical Writing. ENG 112 was replaced with a Humanities Elective to satisfy SACSCOC requirements.
3. The ADJ 130 course, Criminal Law, is designed more for students studying law enforcement; therefore, LGL 218, Criminal Law, was substituted for ADJ 130.
4. The Legal Assisting Advisory Committee recommended coursework in basic grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.; therefore, AST 107, Editing/Proofreading Skills was added to replace the Approved Elective. The Committee also recommended coursework in basic bookkeeping/recordkeeping; therefore, AST 136, Office Recordkeeping was added.
5. The BUS 125, Applied Business Math, and the LGL 226, Real Estate Abstracting, courses were removed from the program to provide space for the new courses recommended by the Legal Assisting Advisory Committee.
6. SDV 101, Orientation to Legal Assisting, was removed from the program.
7. In accordance with college policy, SDV 108 was removed and replaced with SDV 100.
Total credits for the program is 64.
2) How do students find out about the program? Please provide examples of advising activities, marketing materials, or other outreach and engagement events designed to recruit students to the program.
The Legal Assisting program is advertised in the Patrick Henry Community College (PHCC) catalog as an Associate of Applied Science degree. Students who express interest in working as a paralegal or legal assistant in law offices, law enforcement agencies, court systems, etc. are advised to enroll in the Legal Assisting program. A few years ago, a brochure was developed which includes information about the duties of a legal assistant, the qualities of a good legal assistant, and estimated Employment Wage Statistics for a career in Legal Assisting.
II. Entry: From application to pathway entry (Qualitative, program head and dean)
1) Please provide a description of your program credentials and how they stack into one another.
The Legal Assisting program is an Associate of Applied Science degree. It is a stand-alone program; therefore there are no credentials that stack into the Associate Degree.
Questions for consideration:
1.a. What is the employability (or transferability) of each credential?
1.b. Do all credits from a sub-credential transfer into the parent credential?
N/A
1.c. What is the timeframe of completion for all credentials within the program (i.e. is the program setup to award sub-credentials prior to the parent credential)?
The timeframe of completion for all credentials within the program is two years. There are no sub-credentials to award.
2) Program enrollment, if applicable, disaggregated by specialization (Quantitative, IE)
| Type | 14/15 | 15/16 | 16/17 | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 | 20/21 |
| Headcount | 36 | 28 | 17 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 14 |
| FTE | 23.70 | 17.57 | 7.57 | 0.83 | 4.57 | 8.43 | 7.50 |
a. Annual program FTE and HC over the last review cycle (To include SCHEV program ratios and SCHEV class ratios)
III. Progress: Pathway advancement (Quantitative, IE)
1) Student learning outcomes data
| Outcome | Assessment | Benchmark | Prior Changes | Outcome Trend |
| Produce a Variety of Legal Documents | Project (LGL 126) | 75% will score a "C" or higher | Peer editing project (13/14), Project change for grammar/punctuation (15/16) | Sample size too small for trend data |
| Display accepted ethical behaviors and interpersonal skills | Final exam (LGL 200) | 75% will score a "C" or higher | Customer service training added (13/14), Benchmark change (16/17), Discussion boards added to prep for exam (17/18) | Increase from 81% to 100% meeting benchmark |
| Apply personal computer operations and applications | Project (ITE 115) | 75% will score a "C" or higher | Collaboration on project modifications (13/14), Outcome removed (14/15), Outcome added (16/17), New textbook (17/18), Collaboration with adjunct personnel for objectives alignment and assessment (18/19) | Consistent benchmark, maintaining at 75% |
| Display acceptable workplace attitudes and skills | Internship evaluation (LGL 290) | 75% will score an overall average of 4 or higher | Internship revisions (13/14), Examples provided of good/bad workplace behaviors (15/16), Incorporated Advisory Committee feedback into curriculum (18/19) | Increased from 85% to 100% meeting benchmark |
| Understand the role and responsibilities of a legal assistant regarding the Unauthorized Practice of Law | Discussion board (LGL 110) | 75% will score a "C" or higher | Outcome added (17/18) | Sample size too small for trend data |
2) Program credit attainment (15/12 in one semester, 30/24 for those who enrolled in two consecutive semesters)
| Year | 14/15 | 15/16 | 16/17 | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 |
% of cohort enrolled full-time for at least one semester* | 44% (36) | 43% (28) | 29% (17) | 33% (3) | 50% (8) | 55% (11) |
*Cohort size in ( )
3) Program retention and persistence relative to the start date of the program (subsequent term calculation)
| Type* | 14/15 | 15/16 | 16/17 | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 | 20/21 |
| Persistence | 100% (3) | 100% (2) | -- | 0% (3) | 100% (2) | 100% (3) | 100% (2) |
| Retention | 0% (3) | 50% (2) | -- | 0% (3) | 100% (2) | 67% (2) | 50% (1) |
*First-time in college students only, cohort size in ( )
IV. Completion: Credential attainment (Quantitative, IE)
1) Sub-credential attainment and timeframe (are students completing sub-credential prior to or at the same time as parent credential?)
Not applicable.
2) Parent credential attainment and timeframe, if applicable, disaggregated by specialization
| Type | 14/15 | 15/16 | 16/17 | 17/18 | 18/19 | 19/20 | 20/21 |
| Number in Cohort | 36 | 28 | 17 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 14 |
| % who graduated in cohort | 31% | 25% | 24% | 33% | 13% | 0% | 35.71% |
| Number who graduated | 11 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
Out of those who graduated, % who completed within 150% of program time | 36% | 43% | 25% | 0% | 100% | -- | 100% |
a. Are students completing within 6 semesters (150% of graduation time)?
V. Transition: Employment or transfer post-credential (Quantitative, IE)
1) Transfer outcomes (students who transfer with associate degree, students who transfer without)
| Academic Year | Cohort Size | Total Transferred | Transferred with Assoc. (%) | Transferred without Assoc. (%) |
| 2014-15 | 36 | 4 | 50% | 50% |
| 2015-16 | 28 | 2 | 50% | 50% |
| 2016-17 | 17 | 2 | 50% | 50% |
| 2017-18 | 3 | 0 | -- | -- |
| 2018-19 | 8 | 0 | -- | -- |
This is a non-transfer degree, so a high rate of transfer should not be expected.
2) Student perspective/satisfaction
| Question | 2018-19 Rating (n=1) | 2019-20 Rating (n=0) |
| The courses I took at PHCC prepared me for my educational goals. | 100 | -- |
| The faculty at PHCC are fair and supportive of students. | 100 | -- |
| The faculty at PHCC demonstrate thorough knowledge of the subject matter. | 100 | -- |
| In the courses I took at PHCC, classroom activities and outside assignments were appropriate and meaningful. | 100 | -- |
| I would recommend the faculty at PHCC. | 100 | -- |
VI. Sustainability: Future Program Outlook (Mixed methods, IE, program head and dean)
1) Program forecast (major expenditures, changes, personnel needs, etc.); any future costs should be explained in this section)
I do not anticipate any major expenditures or changes with the Legal Assisting program. Since I am full-time faculty for the Administrative Support Technology programs, I rely on adjunct faculty to teach in the Legal Assisting program. I generally have three adjunct faculty, who teach two classes each, during the fall and spring semesters.
a. Any other pertinent information relevant to the review process should be provided here (e.g. community need, state/federal requirements, external accreditation, SCHEV low enrollment warning, etc.)
I frequently receive requests from law offices and the clerks’ offices, at the courthouses, asking for legal assisting students. Two students (one graduate and one in the final semester) gained employment in the past six weeks. A third student is completing an internship this semester and the employment opportunity, from the internship, looks promising.
SCHEV issued a low enrollment warning for the program. Although the enrollment numbers appear low this semester (fall 2020), they are up compared to previous years. The numbers are...
Course Fall 2020 Fall 2019 Fall 2018
LGL 110 6 - up 67% 2 - down 50% 4
LGL 115 7 - up 100% 0 0
LGL 117 3 – down 33% 4 - up 75% 1
LGL 125 5 - unchanged 5 - up 60% 2
LGL 200 6 - up 50% 3 - up 67% 1
LGL 290 2 - up 100% 0 - unchanged 0
LGL 299 2 - up 100% 0 - unchanged 0
b. Employment forecast for program (Analyst data)
| Job Link | Mean Salary | Are there more or less jobs in our service region relative to national mean? | Past 5 year job growth | Next 5 year projected growth |
| Offices of Lawyers | $45,334 | Less: For every 10 positions nationally, there are 2.8 positions locally | -1.5% | -1.5% |
| Service Region Means | $32,551 | -- | -0.2% | -0.6% |