Volume 5 Winter 2011 Number 2 - Charleston Law Review

SCHULZE FINAL.doc1/20/2011 6:14PMCHARLESTON LAW REVIEW [Volume 5A. Law School Academic Support ProgramsThe term ASP has come to mean different things to differentpeople. At one school it can include a focus purely on bar passagerate; at another school an ASP can focus almost exclusively onsupporting first-year students. The success of an ASP dependslargely upon tailoring its structure around the needs andresources of the law school it serves. Accordingly, defining theterm ASP is difficult.Nonetheless, scholars have offered several possibilities.Professor Sheilah Vance defines an ASP as “a comprehensiveprogram designed to help law students succeed academicallythrough a combination of substantive legal instruction, studyskills, legal analysis, legal writing, and attention to learningstyles.” 5 This serves as an adequate starting place, but for amore detailed understanding of what ASPs are all about, onemust look at their historical development and understand whatthey offer now.B. A Brief History of Law School Academic SupportUnlike other sectors of the academy, law schools were slowerto adopt academic support. Perhaps this is not surprising giventhe sink-or-swim mentality of the traditional law school or thehardscrabble attitude of many lawyers. Undergraduate academicsupport efforts began in the 1960s in an attempt to provideacademic counseling to struggling students. 6 These programsworked with at-risk students, and most in the field urged a onesize-fits-allmethodology focused on remedying poor study skills. 7After initial reports of favorable results, more thorough empiricalanalyses demonstrated that most of the success attained by suchprograms was either short-lived or overstated. 85. Sheilah Vance, Should the Academic Support Professional Look toCounseling Theory and Practice to Help Students Achieve?, 69 UMKC L. REV.499, 503 n.24 (2001).6. Paul T. Wangerin, Law School Academic Support Programs, 40HASTINGS L.J. 771, 773 (1989).7. Id.8. Id.274