Academic Support Program

The Academic Support Program (ASP) is administered by Professor Corie Rosen and is designed to teach students skills and foundational concepts that will enable them to perform the high level analysis required to excel at the College. Through courses, program meetings, and one-on-one advisement, the program seeks to target the individual strengths and weaknesses of each student who participates. The overall goal of the program is to help each participant maximize his or her potential in the law-school setting.
 

The fall semester ASP program consists of a 1L class that meets twice weekly and an upper level class that meets once weekly. These classes are open to students who meet certain pre-selection criteria, and may be required for certain participants. The curricular focus of the first-year class includes learning style theory, approaches to legal thinking, methods of Socratic dialogue, approaches to casebook reading and briefing, organization of essay exams, strategies for multiple choice exams, modes of time management, and structure for outlining. The upper-level class focuses more deeply on self-regulated learning techniques synthesis of doctrinal material. All coursework is administered in a skill-test-skill format and includes lectures, Socratic dialogue, class discussion, essay exercises, collaborative peer reviews, and professor-led group and individual feedback sessions. The 1L-level class also includes structured, collaborative review groups which meet during reading week to discuss the overall themes of first-year doctrinal courses.
 

In the spring, students whose GPAs fall into the lower range of the bell curve, or who seek out participation based on interest, are either invited or independently admitted into the Legal Analysis course. Using methods similar to those applied in the fall semester first-year program, Legal Analysis I expands and deepens students' understanding of the legal analysis task, focusing on the advanced skills each student needs to succeed in law school. Individual counseling and advisement and structured, collaborative review sessions are also available to spring course enrollees.
 

Although ASP class admission is typically done by pre-selection or invitation only, non-program students may be able to meet with Professor Rosen or ASP program peer teaching assistants by appointment. In addition, the ASP program will facilitate events throughout the year, including, but not limited to exam workshops and guest speakers, which will be open to the entire student body.