Blended Learning at Mitchell Hamline by Mitchell Hamline School of Law

BLENDED LEARNING AT MITCHELL HAMLINE

M ITCH E LLHAM LIN E . E D U â&#x20AC;&#x192;3

M I TC HEL L HAML I N E

THE FIRST. S CH OO L OF L AW

THE BEST. B L E N DED L EA RN I NG

‘The granddaddy of them all’ That’s how preLaw magazine described us in 2020 in a piece on options in online learning, noting that Mitchell Hamline “pioneered online legal education” in 2015. That was the year we became the first ABA-approved law school in the nation to offer students the chance to earn a law degree through a blend of online and on-campus instruction. The program was called the Hybrid J.D. By January 2018, the earliest graduates were finishing the program. Since then, dozens more have graduated, and blended-learning alums from Mitchell Hamline have passed the bar and are working as licensed attorneys around the country. They were able to earn a law degree remotely without having to leave their homes or give up their jobs, and now they are using their legal training to make a difference in their communities at a time when communities everywhere are facing unprecedented health, economic, and social justice challenges.

Because we were the first, Mitchell Hamline has had the time to build on our technological platform and continuously improve our instructional techniques. We modified and extended the Hybrid J.D. program into other enrollment options, and in 2020 we created a single blended-learning path that includes the best elements of those programs. Blended learning at Mitchell Hamline— located in St. Paul, Minnesota—is a four-year program that can be finished in three years. It has significant on-campus time that includes a case-study workshop where students learn from participants in actual cases; a flexible design that allows students to customize their schedules and curriculum; and an “asynchronous” structure that allows students to complete the online portion of their studies entirely on their own schedule. In the spring of 2020, we were sought out by dozens of schools around the world to train them in moving instruction online as COVID-19 spread. And in the fall of 2020, we welcomed our largest blended-learning class ever. We invite you to join us and let us help you use the law to reshape your world.

M ITCH E LLHAM LIN E . E D U 5

Highlights of Mitchell Hamline’s blended-learning enrollment option: FLEXIBLE AND CUSTOMIZABLE You’ll spend the first two years largely in blended courses that are 1/3 online and 2/3 in person. The final two years, you’ll have the choice of a wide range of courses in blended, fully online, and fully in-person formats, including courses in evenings and on weekends. Structured summer sessions are being expanded, and students can complete their degree in fewer than four years if they choose.

NO ‘LIVE’ ONLINE CLASSES During the online portion of your studies, your time is your own. You won’t be told to log on at a certain time to hear a lecture. Instead, you’ll have weekly deadlines, and you decide when to work to meet them.

I was looking for a law school that allowed me to phase out of dentistry and into law as seamlessly as possible. This program offered me incomparable flexibility in attendance and allowed me to attain an ABA-accredited J.D. degree with a certification in health care compliance. I cannot thank Mitchell Hamline enough for the opportunity to change my life’s work on my terms! Namrita Notani ’20, Plano, TX

BROAD ACCESS TO PROGRAMS, CERTIFICATES, ACTIVITIES As a blended-learning student, you’ll have access to clinics and externships, specialized academic certificates, seminars, law journals, competitions, and a range of student groups and activities just like fully on-campus students have. And you’ll be taught by the same full-time, tenured professors who teach in the on-campus program.

ELIGIBLE FOR THE BAR IN ALL 50 STATES You can tailor your program to meet the requirements in every state, including New York.

The connection with my colleagues has been outstanding. We have groups on social media, and we’re scattered all over the world. We talk about how best to approach this area of law or that, so it’s very open and accessible. It’s like a very large extended family here. Fred Knowles ’19, Nashville, GA

PROVEN LEADERSHIP Since Mitchell Hamline launched its innovative blended-learning platform in January 2015 with the Hybrid J.D. program, a team of instructional designers has continued to improve its functionality, extend its reach, and broaden its application. It is a mature program with a track record of successful graduates. We offer the most flexibility to highly motivated students from around the country who want to earn a law degree in a way that fits their lives. Our success has led other institutions to launch similar programs, but none can match our expertise and adaptability. As one of our first Hybrid J.D. program graduates advised anyone deciding between Mitchell Hamline and other programs: “You want to go with the pioneer.”

Blended learning at Mitchell Hamline provided me with the opportunity to receive a top-notch legal education while continuing to serve the immigrant community of El Paso, Texas, one of the largest cities in the U.S. without a law school. Taylor Levy ’18, El Paso, TX

How does the schedule work?

FOR THE FIRST FOUR SEMESTERS:

STARTING IN SEMESTER 5:

Courses are offered in a blended format—2/3 in person and 1/3 online. Students come to campus twice a semester and spend the rest of each semester off campus, completing coursework online. The on-campus portions are intensive sessions filled with skills training and real-world case study. During the off-campus time, students have weekly deadlines but complete the work on their own schedule.

Students have access to a range of courses in a variety of formats, including on-campus and fully online in addition to the blended format that makes up the first four semesters. For any courses they take in semesters 5-8 in the blended format, students come to campus for a Capstone Week.

SEMESTER 1

FALL

SPRING

FALL

SPRING

FALL

SPRING

FALL

SPRING

PREPARATION WEEK

PREPARATION SESSION

PREPARATION WEEK

PREPARATION SESSION

CAPSTONE WEEK *

Beginning of semester

Beginning of semester (Long weekend)

Beginning of semester

Beginning of semester (Long weekend)

End of semester

CAPSTONE WEEK

End of semester

* Only required for students taking courses

Customizing your J.D. The curriculum for the first four semesters is essentially the same for all blendedlearning students, but beyond that there are myriad possible paths to a J.D. You can tailor how long you’re in school, when and where and in what format you take courses, and what if any academic certificates you’d like to pursue.

Here is a look at a few options: ACCELERATED SCHEDULE: To finish your degree in three years, you could take courses in each of the summers after your first and second years.

ACADEMIC CERTIFICATES: Blended-learning students can specialize in a variety of academic disciplines, which means taking courses specific to that discipline starting in semester 5. Students can take specialized courses toward a certificate in law and business, dispute resolution, health law, and health care compliance.

in the blended format.

Note: Summer courses are available after year 1. J-term courses are available starting in year 2.

PREPPING FOR NEW YORK BAR: New York allows a maximum of 15 fully online credits (and none the first year), which is less than the maximum allowed by the ABA. Students interested in taking the New York bar exam would tailor their course selection to have fewer fully online courses and more on-campus time.

M ITCH E LLHAM LIN E . E D U 7

D E VE LO P M E NT O F B LE N D E D LE A R N I N G AT M ITC H E LL H A M LI N E

Law school

ABA approves variance.

proposes four-year Hybrid J.D.

EARLY

FEB.

JULY

DEC.

JAN.

2000s

2010

2013

2015

Faculty begin

offering online components and blended-learning courses.

Formal request

submitted to ABA seeking variance to offer Hybrid J.D.

85 students begin

the Hybrid J.D. program, the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first hybrid on-campus/online program at an ABA-approved law school.

Two Hybrid J.D.

program students—Briana Al Taqatqa from Bloomington, Minnesota, and Brian Kennedy from El Paso, Texas—outperformed teams from 25 countries to win the International Negotiation Competition for Law Students in Oslo, Norway.

17 students

Mitchell Hamline

make legal history by becoming the first graduates of the Hybrid J.D. program.

JUNE

AUG.

2017

Mitchell Hamline

builds on the Hybrid J.D. with two additional blended-learning offerings that feature more in-person time: the Executive and Weekend options.

launches a single blended option that builds on the strengths of the Hybrid, Executive, and Weekend options. The new blended-learning enrollment offering retains the increased on-campus time, prepares graduates to take the bar exam in all 50 states, and allows students to control their online work schedule and customize the duration, content, and format of their degree.

JAN.

MARCH

FALL

2018

2019

2020

Hybrid J.D. program

student Amber Fitzgerald, from Washington, Missouri, becomes the first blended-learning student in the country to be elected editor in chief of a law review.

M ITCH E LLHAM LIN E . E D U 9

AT MITCHELL HAMLINE, THEY ARE LAW STUDENTS AND ALUMS.

769

blended-learning students have enrolled since 2015

275

blended-learning students have graduated

97.6%

employment rate for blended-learning graduates in the class of 2019

MITCHELL HAMLINE BLENDED-LEARNING STUDENTS AND ALUMNI SINCE 2015

STUDENT LOCATIONS

ALUM LOCATIONS

M ITCH E LLHAM LIN E . E D U â&#x20AC;&#x192;11

M ITCH E LLHAM LIN E . E D U â&#x20AC;&#x192;13

Office of Admissions 875 Summit Avenue St. Paul, Minnesota 55105 888–962–5529

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA