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“The technology has finally evolved to facilitate a stimulating and highly educational law course. Students are engaged and have expressed their appreciation for the course.” — Professor Margaret Ryznar An online-specific Master of Jurisprudence degree specially tailored for business professionals is in the works, Professor Huffman said. The law school also is developing a bank of discrete, “mini-course,” learning experiences that may be assigned by the faculty throughout the curriculum. For example, one such online learning experience is a mini-course in recognizing and avoiding plagiarism in writing, being developed by Professor Allison Martin. Any faculty member teaching a course with a writing component, or supervising a student writing project, might assign that mini-course to that student or students and require successful completion as a part of the course or paper grade. An online-specific Master of Jurisprudence degree specially tailored for business professionals is in the works, Professor Huffman said. Two of the law school’s graduate certificate programs, Corporate and Commercial Law and International and Comparative Law, should be available for interested J.D. students, subject to scheduling availability, during the 2015-16 academic year. “Candidates for our certificates frequently have work, externship, and other obligations that make the scheduling convenience of online courses particularly attractive,” said Professor Huffman, who is also the faculty director for the Corporate and Commercial Law graduate certificate. The American Bar Association limits the number of credit hours that law students can take in an online setting to 15 during the course of their academic careers. IU McKinney’s goal is to make it possible for students to earn a graduate certificate in a specialized area of law entirely online. The success of the law school’s online program so far illustrates precisely what the university envisions for the programs, according to Stephen Hundley, IUPUI’s Associate Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives. “Our philosophy is really to engage students deeply and meaningfully to the content, connect them to our expert faculty, and prepare them to be great citizens, lifelong learners, and professionals,” Hundley said. Online learning is part of a trend in higher education overall, not merely in legal education. Providing more flexibility for law students to take care of their academic responsibilities while working, taking part in experiential learning opportunities, and meeting the needs of their families is of vital importance, said IU McKinney Dean Andrew R. Klein. “I want the IU McKinney School of Law to be on the leading edge of changes in higher education 16 IU ROBERT H. McKINNEY SCHOOL OF LAW / Summer 2015 Alumni Magazine
(left) Professor Margaret Ryznar records a lecture for her online course. and legal education,” Dean Klein said. “Given that our law school serves a diverse group of students including full-time and part-time students who are working outside of law school, and students who have externships and clinical opportunities, we need to try to provide an education in as flexible a fashion as possible.” Flexibility is what Brett Bueltel, ‘15, was looking for when he enrolled in the online version of Professor Huffman’s Comparative and International Competition Law course in Spring 2015. “I liked the flexibility of the course,” Bueltel said, “the ability to work on the material whenever it’s convenient for you, and the ability to plan your schedule.” That desire for more flexibility on the part of the students is being heeded, but law school administrators are cognizant that quality standards must be maintained. “I know for example from past experience that a video of me lecturing for 90 minutes is dreadfully boring,” said IU McKinney Vice Dean Antony Page. “We are absolutely trying to avoid that ‘professor in a box’ problem. Because we want to do this right, it has taken somewhat longer to get the full program up and running.” While the flexibility is wonderful for the students, recording lectures for online courses requires a larger time commitment for faculty who teach in this format. “It takes a long time to tape even a ten-minute lecture,” said Professor Yvonne Dutton, who taught International Criminal Law online during the Spring 2015 semester. “If I miss-speak or trip over words, I feel I must start over. And I want to make sure I am really clear since students do not have the same ability to stop me during a lecture and say ‘Professor Dutton, I don’t understand what you just said. Could you explain?’” Student engagement is another aspect of online instruction that Professor Dutton said she enjoyed about her International Criminal Law class. Students in that course were required to complete a quiz, submit a paper, or write a discussion post each week, which allowed her to determine how each student was progressing throughout the course. It also meant that some students who may not have regularly participated in a traditional class were required to do so. The discussion posts were made available to everyone in the class. “Students in an online class like that they can see the arguments of all of their colleagues,” Dutton said. Professor Margaret Ryznar just finished teaching her first online course, Trusts and Estates, during the Spring 2015 semester. “I am pleased with how well it went,” she said. “The technology has finally evolved to facilitate a stimulating and highly educational law course. Students are engaged and have expressed their appreciation for the course.” Over the summer, the program provided an element of flexibility for the teaching faculty member, as well as the students. Adjunct Professor Mohamed Arafa, S.J.D., ‘13, taught via Skype from Egypt, with the students participating via the IUPUI Global Crossroads Classroom (online). There were 40 students in the class, which focused on Comparative Middle Eastern Legal and Political Studies. “I used Skype to record every class session,” said Professor Arafa, “and I received many positive comments from the students.” One short-term goal is to increase the program size to as many as 18 online courses for the 2016-17 academic year. “The evidence is clear that students find well-designed online courses to be key additions to the menu of curricular options,” Professor Huffman said. “We are responding to that need and taking full advantage of the extensive support from Dean Klein, the alumni, the campus and the university. We aspire to produce the best online programming by any law school in the Midwest region.” ❖ Over the summer, the program provided an element of flexibility for the teaching faculty member, as well as the students. Adjunct Professor Mohamed Arafa taught via Skype from Egypt, with the students participating via the IUPUI Global Crossroads Classroom (online). IU ROBERT H. McKINNEY SCHOOL OF LAW / Summer 2015 Alumni Magazine 17
Page 1 and 2: Lawyer The M c Kinney Summer 2015 I
Page 3 and 4: 4 14 18 Contents 2 News Briefs 4 Ma
Page 5 and 6: News Briefs In the News Indiana La
Page 7 and 8: alternative careers This is the fif
Page 9 and 10: Ed Ferguson, ‘74 might not otherw
Page 11 and 12: Richard L. Ludwick, ‘91 Marc Maur
Page 13 and 14: Vivian Maley (left) John Maley, ‘
Page 15 and 16: Jeff Papa, JD, ‘99; L.L.M. ’10
Page 17: Imagine taking your Trusts and Esta
Page 21 and 22: (above) Local WTHR reporter David M
Page 23 and 24: (left) The co-chairs of the Global
Page 25 and 26: Environmental, Energy and Natural R
Page 27 and 28: HALL CENTER FOR LAW AND HEALTH Law
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Page 31 and 32: HALL CENTER FOR LAW AND HEALTH Heal
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Page 37 and 38: ENVIRONMENTAL, ENERGY AND NATURAL R
Page 39 and 40: graduate studies Graduate Studies L
Page 41 and 42: international Professor Fran Quigle
Page 43 and 44: international Professor Jennifer Dr
Page 45 and 46: international deep connections to I
Page 47 and 48: international The Sochi Experience
Page 49 and 50: IU McKinney Partners with Undergrad
Page 51 and 52: Job Fair Attracts More Employers an
Page 53 and 54: Judge Robert D. Vinikoor Speaks at
Page 55 and 56: IU McKinney Students Continue Work
Page 57 and 58: Law School Hosts Screening of the F
Page 59 and 60: Staton Moot Court Competition Helps
Page 61 and 62: Faculty News Faculty Cynthia Baker
Page 63 and 64: Faculty News Faculty Last but not
Page 65 and 66: Faculty News Faculty Rights in the
Page 67 and 68: Meet McKinney the Legal Beagle “R
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Class Notes Alumni 1974 Gregory Ha
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Class Notes Alumni Michael J. Roba
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In Memoriam Ronald R. Allen, ‘65
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