MCC Daily Tribune

MCC's Paralegal Program Receives American Bar Association (ABA) Approval

Last June, representatives from the American Bar Association (ABA) Standing Committee on Paralegals visited the Law and Criminal Justice Department at the Downtown Campus to meet with college personnel to determine their recommendation for the reapproval of MCC's Paralegal Studies Program.
Over the course of the site team's intense three-day visit, several meetings were held with Paralegal Studies Program Director Michael Martella, Law and Criminal Justice Chairperson Robert Kennedy, the Dean of Community Engagement, Kim McKinsey Mabry, as well as the program's Advisory Board, faculty, staff, program alumni and current students. The meetings were comprised of reviews of student records, assignments and exams, course syllabi, assessment tools, and faculty evaluations for the preceding seven year period. The site team also visited the New York State Appellate Law Library, with which the Paralegal Studies Program has a longstanding relationship with. This visit included a meeting with that library's director. The site team also had the opportunity to observe a Debtor/Creditor legal specialty class.

One of the observations mentioned by the site team included recognition of MCC's proactive commitment to diversity in its recruitment of faculty, staff and student body that is reflective of the population served by the college, and encouraged the college to continue expanding its efforts towards this goal. They also noted the high satisfaction expressed by both the students and graduates of the program with both their instruction and career preparation.

We are pleased to share that based on the recommendations of the site visit team to the House of Delegates of the ABA, the college's Paralegal Program guidelines were found to be in compliance with those requirements set forth by the American Bar Association, and that they therefore granted the reapproval of the Paralegal Studies program at Monroe Community College through February 2025.

Congratulations to Professor Martella for leading his program evaluation team in successfully securing the ABA reapproval of the Paralegal Studies Program at MCC.

Andrea Wade
Academic Services
03/04/2019