Annual Report 2005-2006 - Osgoode Hall Law School - York ...

Graduate Program in Law
The 2005-06 year was one of transition. The number of new admissions had already been increased for
September 2005, but a much more significant increase will occur as a result of decisions made in spring
2006, to take effect in September 2006. In less than two years, the Graduate Program will have grown from
an average of 24 new students per year, to more than 50. The plan calls for the Program expansion to be
limited to 60 new students. As of fall 2006, most of the planned expansion will have been completed.
A Graduate Program that works well for 24 new students per year needs considerable re-thinking if it is to
more than double in size. The goals for the newly expanded program are, as follows:
1. To ensure that the quality of the Graduate Program, and the levels of student satisfaction, is increased,
not decreased as a result of the growth of the program.
2. To provide a vibrant and supportive intellectual environment for all students in the program.
3. To ensure that all students receive the supervisory and intellectual support to which they are entitled.
4. To ensure that students are aided in their timely completion of their degrees.
5. To promote students’ intellectual and career efforts, through support for their conference
presentations, publications, the Graduate Student Conference, career advice and support.
6. To ensure a smoothly functioning administrative support system for the Graduate Program and all its
students.
7. To increase the number of opportunities for exchanges and similar enrichment.
8. To increase graduate student participation in all aspects of the Graduate Program and intellectual life
at Osgoode.
Key Accomplishments of 2005-06
l. Quality and satisfaction
In 2005-06, serious recruitment efforts were undertaken, such as campus visits and the creation of new
publications, and display materials. The result was that the number of applications increased (while
applications were down in many other faculties), to the point where the original enrollment targets
provided by York’s Faculty of Graduate Studies were exceeded (and additional resources were made
available to Osgoode). Despite the expansion, there is every indication (from the faculty assessments of
applications, for example) that quality of new admissions has been maintained.
In the summer of 2006, a graduate assistant was hired to coordinate and expand the recruitment efforts,
including sending letters to Graduate alumni and to graduates of the Osgoode Professional Development LLM.
As well, a student satisfaction survey (adapted from the York University survey) was circulated to all
students along with the 2006 Progress Reports, and the anonymous feedback will be tabulated and serve
as a baseline to assess progress in student satisfaction.
It should be noted that 11 applications were received for the prestigious SSHRCC competition, eight went
forward to SSHRCC, and four students won these awards (36 per cent success rate). The number of excellent
PhD applications was higher than for LLM, and the entry class for 2006-07 is weighted toward the PhD.
ANNUAL REPORT 2005-2006 13