St. Thomas University

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by LadyExecutive, Dec 5, 2005.

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  1. LadyExecutive

    LadyExecutive Member

    Am I mistaken? Need a second opinion, please.

    St. Thomas University, Miami, Florida has a SJD program that may be taken through distance education? It appears that the program requires one full week every month? Not sure but if anyone else gathered the same opinion do let me know.

    I tried calling and both times, I left messages that were unreturned.

    Thanks...
     
  2. cbkent

    cbkent Member

  3. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Whatever THIS means...

    From the website:

    "2. J.S.D. IHR Admission and Graduation Requirements

    "a. Admissions

    "Students must have graduated with honors from St. Thomas University’s LL.M. Program in Intercultural Human Rights, i.e. with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.400. In extremely rare cases, outstanding scholars from other institutions who hold an LL.M. degree in the field may be admitted as well.

    "At least two terms of work must be spent in residence at the School. This requirement may be satisfied by residence as an LL.M. candidate. At least two additional years, not necessarily in residence, must be devoted to the preparation and revision of the dissertation.

    "Candidates for the J.S.D. program need to prove to the School of Law’s J.S.D. Admissions Committee that they are outstanding scholars at or near the top of their class who are capable of producing a publishable thesis that adds to the knowledge in the field, and who are capable of doing so within the time frame of the J.S.D. program."

    It looks like you have to have completed their LL.M. program in residence. After that, you can wander around unsupervised.

    This is yet another new J.S.D. program. I am interested to see them springing up all over; the University of Arizona has one now.

    I wonder what it's all about? The cynic in me thinks that the J.S.D. is being used as a cash cow, a come-on for well healed foreign lawyers, law professors, and legal scholars.
     
  4. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    admission requirements to LL.M.

    St. Thomas wants a first degree in law but is willing to consider outstanding "special" applicants:

    "Eligibility

    "Enrollment for the LL.M. degree is open to holders of a J.D. degree or similar foreign qualifications in the field of law.

    "On a highly selective basis, admission may also be granted to holders of a bachelor’s degree or its foreign equivalent, who have shown an outstanding commitment to the cause of human rights and human dignity. Non-lawyers participating in this program are advised that the program does not prepare or qualify its students to engage in the practice of law and that the program is not intended to qualify students to take a bar examination."

    I wonder...the J.S.D. program regulations (understandably) specify that the thesis supervisor must hold a dissertation doctorate such as J.S.D. or Ph.D. This runs counter to the oft-quoted ABA policy position of J.D.-Ph.D. equivalence. Unless there's a complaint from a St. Thomas faculty member, I don't suppose anyone will care, but I DO wonder. The ABA has the wherewithal and has demonstrated the will to enforce its policies come accreditation time.

    On another note, you know, LadyExecutive, I keep thinking that you might be well advised to reconsider your decision not to pursue a first degree in law. Your interest in advanced legal scholarship hasn't apparently abated in the time you've been posting here; such a degree might do more for you than you quite realize!

    Good luck, as alwayss!
     
  5. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    My guess is that they are a way for ambitious J.D.s to differentiate themselves and hopefuly get a competitive advantage.

    That might be particularly applicable for those considering teaching. I guess that most law school professors are currenly J.D.s. But the competition is fierce. As you have pointed out in previous posts, law school hiring favors graduates of prestige law schools that apparently are perceived as being more scholarly. So perhaps these J.S.D.s might be a way for graduates of less toney law schools to even the gap.

    In fact, the mere fact of offering a J.S.D. program might be a way for law schools that are perceived as more pedestrian and vocational (like St. Thomas) to highlight their scholarship. That change in perception might help the school rise a bit in the tiers.

    The worrisome thng about this is degree-inflation and I kind of hate to see it. My pet peeve is DFA (doctor of fine arts) degrees. Right now, the MFA is considered a terminal degree and most art schools are staffed by MFAs. But if the DFA catches on as the expected teaching qualification, that would only push the teaching of art further away from its practice, which is not a good thing at all.

    If J.S.D.s ever start to be the standard and expected degree for law professors, you would have a similar widening gap between legal education and practice, with all the resulting ivory-tower-ification that would imply.
     
  6. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Yeah, probably

    I'm sure that you are right; the J.S.D. might indeed be attractive to wanna-be law professors who graduated from, say, University of Nevada Las Vegas.

    Not that there is ANYTHING WRONG with the UNLV J.D. program; it probably looks a LOT like Yale's J.D. program (or UNM's program, too, for that matter). But name brands carry recognition and there is no doubt that even getting ADMITTED to Yale Law School is itself a significant credential.

    Up until now, something like 80% of all post J.D. degrees (LL.M. and J.S.D.) went to foreign lawyers and foreign law scholars. (the only fairly common LL.M. taken by American lawyers has been the tax degree.) It would be interesting to know whether this holds good or whether the American academy will begin to suffer the "degree inflation" you describe.

    Of course, for the aspiring American law professor, there IS another path; writing and publishing on one's own.
     

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