Illinois Central College has decided that it will no longer participate in the American Bar Association Paralegal program approval process for the reasons and basis set forth in the original notice as to this intent that follows below. The ABA has it’s own processes for acknowledging the end to this relationship and their timeline and process concludes with a House of Delegates meeting in February of 2023. As a result, the ABA has requested that we provide confirmation that our programs will no longer be approved by the ABA as of Feb. 2023 and that students graduating after that date will not graduate from an ABA approved program and cannot represent themselves as having graduated from an ABA approved program.
We have removed all reference to the American Bar Association from our college catalog and our website. And to be clear: it is our intent that our programs no longer be participants in the ABA approval process and on the ABA’s timeline, our programs will not longer be approved by the ABA as of Feb. 2023. Students graduating after that date will not graduate from an ABA approved program and cannot represent themselves as having graduated from an ABA approved program. Published per request of the ABA on 11/11/22
The following is the original notice we previously provided on August 17th, 2022:
In follow up to conversations we had with our students, employers, Advisory Board members, and faculty over this past winter and spring semester, we wanted to share the following information regarding our withdrawal from the American Bar Association approval process.
Post-COVID, we saw a need to evaluate and rethink our programs to best serve the interests of our students, our local employers, and our community stakeholders. This is something we do yearly as we adjust curriculum, course content, and our processes to meet student and employer needs. But the pandemic took all things related to teaching and learning, job placement, and meeting the needs of our employers and stakeholders to a different level.
The reality is that many, but not all, of our students, end up working directly for lawyers as legal assistants or paralegals. We have graduates who go on to work in careers that may support or be related to the legal system, working in government offices, the various offices at the courthouse (recorder of deeds, county clerk, election commission), or other municipal government offices (city or village halls in various offices). We also have many graduates using their legal education to support work in the insurance industry and other related needs in a business setting (claims, HR, risk management, benefits, etc). So one of our first changes was to change our program name from Paralegal Studies back to Legal Studies (the title used when these programs were first developed in 1989). Many, but not all of our students use their program education to work directly for lawyers.
We also reviewed and adapted how we deliver our program courses. We used wholly online or hybrid courses pre-COVID. As the skillsets and technology available to our instructors and students changed drastically by the restrictions caused by the pandemic, so did our opportunities to be more accessible and convenient for our student population. Our students were very clear on their desire to avoid long drives to campus for class meetings and our courses evolved to higher-level learning that was supported by the opportunity to communicate remotely. Our students continue to earn knowledge, skill, and competence but they aren't required to struggle with finding child care, long commutes, or additional expenses. We have been offering quality remote courses in these programs since 2001. By the spring of 2023, we will offer wholly online courses with the same unprecedented instructor support we have always offered.
As part of this evaluation process, we also reviewed our affiliation with the American Bar Association approval process.
We have always reviewed and discussed what our program and its graduates receive from this process for many years. We were first ABA-approved in 1992 and we have exceeded their standards and expectations in every reapproval cycle. In the early years, we appreciated the ABA process driving us to be better. But as ABA membership declined, so did the resources and support for the organization's Paralegal program approval process. The ABA process had increasingly become costly in both fees and time commitment.
We sought feedback from our regional employers. We had discussions with our Advisory Board, our students, and our faculty. We spent a lot of time discussing and considering this decision because we have been affiliated with the ABA process for 30 years.
Ultimately the consensus was that the time and resources we had committed to the ABA process could be better utilized elsewhere as we continue to provide accessible, quality legal education to our students and competent graduates to our regional employers.
Our program has been a member in good standing of the American Association for Paralegal Education (AAfPE) since 1992 and we will continue this membership. AAfPE seeks to increase and improve access to the legal system while promoting quality education. AAfPE provides resources, support, and guidance for programs and faculty with the mission of preparing graduates to perform a significant role in the delivery of legal services. We get direct classroom benefits from this affiliation.
In addition, our faculty are members of, or participants in, the efforts of the Central Illinois Paralegal Association, the Peoria County Bar Associaton, and the Illinois Paralegal Association. We will continue to support affiliation with these fine organizations.
At the present time, there are no licensing or mandatory certification requirements for paralegals. The National Association of Legal Assistants Inc. operates a voluntary certification program for legal assistants. Successful completion of either Illinois Central College Legal Studies program will meet the educational part of the eligibility requirements for the NALA certification exam. We provide advice and support for students who choose to pursue NALA certification.
Finally, Illinois Central College has full institutional accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission.
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