If you are attending the first afternoon of AALS Thursday, please join our discussion Online & Hybrid Learning Pedagogy Best Practices and Standards Developmentat Marriot Wardman Park Hotel’s Roosevelt Room 4, from 3:30-5:15 p.m. on Thursday, January 2 in a Q&A format. Discussants include Dean April Barton (Duquesne), Dean James Hackney (Northeastern), Dean Megan Carpenter (New Hampshire), Prof. Rebecca Purdom (Emory), John Mayer (CALI), David Thomson (Denver), and Prof. William Byrnes (Texas A&M).
The discussants will help lead an audience conversation: “Since the publication of the first set of best practices and model rules, what have we learned? What should the community be considering now?”
Our goal for this discussion is to test whether there is an appetite for an updated set of best practice standards and model rules. The five-year project sponsored by the Harvard Project on the Legal Profession to draft a set of best practices and model standards for online learning in legal education, Distance Learning in Legal Education: Delivery and Recommended Practices, is published by CALI: download here. This conversation will continue next summer at SEALS and at the 2021 AALS meeting.
Specific discussion points may include:
Do we need to modernize best practices? Were we wrong about anything five years ago?
Do we need to update model rules? Who/what organization is the target for model rules? How should the ABA and regional accreditors review online law classes?
Some states still restrict how many online classes students may count toward taking the bar. Does this affect the growth of online law programs? Should it? Should this community engage those states? How?
Many online offerings by law schools are in their non-JD degree programs. How should the accreditation discussion for these programs consider online offerings? How will their regulation affect online JD classes?
Some law schools report status differences between faculty who teach online, and faculty who teach residential classes. Is this status difference a problem? If so, how should the problem be approached?
Some law schools heavily use adjuncts to teach online law classes. Is this a problem? If so, what steps should be taken?
Hope that you can join our discussion this Thursday at AALS!
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW aims to hire multiple outstanding scholars, across an array of fields, over the next several years.
Since integrating with Texas A&M six years ago, the School of Law – based in Dallas/Fort Worth – has achieved a remarkable forward trajectory by dramatically increasing entering class credentials; adding nine new clinics; strengthening student services; and hiring twenty-six new faculty members. The Appointments Committee welcomes expressions of interest in all areas, including especially from candidates who will add to the diversity of our faculty. Areas of particular interest include:
cybersecurity, privacy, and health law (with emphasis on healthcare finance, policy, regulation, delivery, and unfair competition).
The Texas A&M System is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Veterans/Disability Employer committed to diversity. Texas A&M University is committed to enriching the learning and working environment for all visitors, students, faculty, and staff by promoting a culture that embraces inclusion, diversity, equity, and accountability. Diverse perspectives, talents, and identities are vital to accomplishing our mission and living our core values. The School of Law provides equal opportunity to all employees, students, applicants for employment or admission, and the public, regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Candidates must have a J.D. degree or its equivalent. Preference will be given to those with outstanding scholarly achievement and strong teaching skills. Successful candidates will be expected to engage in scholarship, teaching, and service. Rank as an Executive Professor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor will be determined based on qualifications and experience.
Applicants should email a cover letter (indicating teaching and research interests) and CV/references to Professor Milan Markovic, Chair of the Appointments Committee, at appointments@law.tamu.edu. The Appointments Committee will treat all applications as confidential, subject to the requirements of state and federal law.
Fulbright Specialist Prof. William Byrnes (Texas A&M Law) was invited to address India’s National Board of Accreditation and receive an award for his pioneering efforts with online pedagogical methods in the early nineties.
His remarks address developing learning outcomes and effective pedagogical practices with an emphasis on distance learning. The remarks cover the following topics: Review of the Effectiveness of Distance Learning, Developing Learning Outcomes, Occupational Outcomes Framing Learning Outcomes, Information Acquisition, Information Delivery, Learning Communities, Learning Media, Learner Motivation, Knowledge Acquisition and Learning Tools. See the distance education white paper at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2487679
At an EY event held last year in Zurich on the future of tax, one executive remarked that just 15 years ago the tax function was “a group of technical experts who knew the law.”
But the tax profession has evolved in the ensuing years, and universities that educate the pipeline of talent now face the challenge of transforming their tax curriculum and training to equip students with the required skills for the job market of today and tomorrow.
The central function of the tax office has evolved from strategy and planning into risk management, says William Byrnes, professor of law and associate dean at Texas A&M University.
Texas A&M University is among the pioneers of change in tax education. In 2013, the State of Texas not only established a new law school at the university but also gave it carte blanche to create a new education model.
A risk management approach to tax means that the new model will by definition be multidisciplinary.
Financial and managerial accounting– and law– will still be important, of course.
But students will also need new “hard” skills involving big data and communications technologies and “soft” skills geared to working in multicultural settings both at home and abroad.
Employers expect entry-level employees to arrive with these skills already developed. Says Byrnes, “You don’t want to have people who are living in the ‘Stone Age’ (pre-2015) trying to work in a 2016-onward world.”
“The central function of the tax office has evolved from strategy and planning into risk management”, says William Byrnes, professor of law and associate dean at Texas A&M University. Read Full Report here E&Y tax industry report
E&Y reports that “According to a 2015 report by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), which launched a Competency Crisis website to deal with the talent gap in 2013, 90% of North American organizations cannot find the entry-level management accounting and finance talent they need.”
“The educational curriculum isn’t keeping up with the needs of business, and employers expect more advanced skills at entry level, according to the report.”
E&Y finds: “Texas A&M University is among the pioneers of change in tax education. …the State of Texas not only established a new law school at the university but also gave it carte blanche to create a new education model.”
Haven’t sat down with Kat in couple years (she’s the nation’s leading tax recruiter, all the big companies and Big 4 hiring partners know her), but she wrote this entertaining and highlydescriptive story yesterday to her 100,000 tax folks worldwide that leverage her tax recruitment site.
“… What I shall never forget was the experience that summer day in 2007 in an old dilapidated building. There I was sitting in a wobbly old chair to the right side of a scholarly, forward thinking tax law Professor sitting in front of a computer that looked like the very first “Lisa” computer that Steve Jobs built. Although it was probably not that one, it sure looked like it! The old computer had loose wires hooked up to another old computer with a video fixture added to the mix of wires and computer equipment. I sat there next to Professor Byrnes and experienced my very first distance course with students from Asia, South Africa, Brazil, Europe, U.S. and some other countries. It was fascinating to observe him teaching his tax students online from multiple countries. The experience in this old building with old computers hooked together with loose wires in what appeared to look like an old scientist experiment had me thinking privately… ”
From when I started in 1994 until recently, technology and education had been totally disconnected, so much so that I had to build my own computers and servers from parts I scavenged from the computer lab discarded machines, like old Gateways and IBMs, because faculty administration would not budget for technology build out for a professor. Anyway – blast from the past that I thought may be interesting to anyone in tax education.
Texas A&M University School of Law announces the hiring of Dr. Chris Odionu as the Director of
Distance Education Programs and adjunct professor teaching project management. His prior positions include director of the System-Wide Center for Distributed Learning at California State University, chief information officer and associate professor of technology at Alabama A&M University. He also served as chief information officer at a number of institutions including University of Detroit Mercy, St John’s University in Jamaica – Queens, New York, and the Minnesota Community College System at Normandale Community College.
“Chris’ multi-disciplinary reach of engineering, IT, project management and a doctorate in education is going to propel Texas A&M Law’s pedagogical approach to the frontier for career based law programs, said William Byrnes, Executive Professor and Associate Dean. “By example, Texas A&M’s Business Law focus is to mentor the Aggie to add value and generate revenue. The process requires the Aggie to learn a business by studying its language, its industry, and commonalities among all business such as supply chain and project management. Dr. Chris Odionu is a distinguishing hire by a law school because he brings these perspectives to the table.”
“I am excited joining the TAMU School of Law and working with Professor Byrnes to establish world-class graduate law programs,” replied Dr. Odionu. “It is interesting to see law schools finally using the strengths offered by technology to deliver courses and degree programs online.”
Chris is a fellow of the American Academy of Project Management (AAPM), and certified in the governance of enterprise information technology, and in risk and information systems control (CRISC). He received his bachelor’s degree in technology, MBA, and doctorate in educational technology and administration from the University of Houston. He served as an administrative fellow in a year-long academic program at Harvard University where he earned a certificate in administration.
“Chris’ hands-on understanding of big data and data warehouse techniques combined with his background as an associate professor of information systems is going to distinguish Texas A&M’s curriculum, particularly in tax and business,” added Andrew P. Morriss, Dean and Anthony G. Buzbee Dean’s Endowed Chair. “His background will also immediately translate into a project management course for law students and lawyers, which is fast becoming a crucial skill for lawyers. And he will be providing a unique exposure for our students to the best practices in tax risk management.”
Chris has two children – Janelle, a student at Cornell University, and Christian, Jr., who plays high school basketball.
Dr. John T. (“Jack”) Manhire, Jr., former Chief of Legal Analysis for the IRS Office of Professional
Responsibility and National Program Chair, Executive Education for the U.S. Treasury Executive Institute, has accepted a position as Director of Program Development at Texas A&M University School of Law.
Last month Texas A & M announced that William H. Byrnes, IV, (co-editor of our International Financial Law Prof Blog) left Thomas Jefferson Law School and joined the faculty of Texas A&M Law.
Including Dr. Manhire and the new University President, Dr. Michael Young, Texas A&M Law has hired 13 significant faculty hires for 2015, and two significant faculty visitors for Spring 2016 through the Texas A&M Institute of Advanced Studies.
“legal education today has to be recalibrated so that it is innovative, cross-disciplinary, simultaneously accessible across global borders, and able to expand without millions of dollars for brick and mortar…”
“law schools are experiencing 40% less enrollment today than in years past and new standards are needed to reverse that decline. These new standards address the three missing elements in legal education today: …”
With over 80 Fulbright awards available in countries around the globe for U.S. law professors, researchers and professionals, now is the time to refresh your thinking, and learn about law in a context other than that of the United States. International Financial Law Prof Blog.
Ashley Dymond (Hastings) and Gary Heald (Georgetown) have accomplished an extraordinary job of designing the agenda, graciously hosted by Hastings College of Law in San Fran. This is the Work Group’s 8th gathering as a distinct workgroup since 2011, and 14th including 2010’s Future Eds and AALS.
Why should a Dean approve a travel budget for this workgroup? The American Bar Association initially acquiesced to an online LL.M. in 1998. Yet, it is since the initial inception of the Work Group in 2010 that most of the 47 LL.M.s offered online by 29 ABA full approved law schools have been founded. As of 2015, a majority of ABA law schools offer the opportunity for an online academic experience for J.D. students. One ABA law school has received a variance to offer a hybrid, partially residential / partially online, JD.
Who attends? Deans, Administrators, and Faculty from at least 83 ABA law schools and other stakeholders, such as foreign and U.S. academic institutions, publishers, and technology companies, have attended. Normally between 50 – 75 per workshop, and 100 for the AALS breakfasts.
What is the deliverable for a Dean? Guaranteed, collaborative engagement in discussions, writing, and editing that create the attached Work Group’s recommendations. These best practice recommendations have been designed to adoptable by institutions and stakeholders through their adaptability and will form a component of a Distance Education policy. Everyone becomes a contributor, hence the name “work group”. Attendees become the leader of the distance education pedagogical and policy discussions at home institutions.
There is no fee – but the host Hastings needs an RSVP for food and beverage. Thus, please register by Thursday March 5th for the headcount – everything you need to know about location, transportation, accommodation is on the website.
Dates: Thursday, March 12, 2015 at 12:00PM – Saturday, March 14, 2015 at 12:00PM (PST) < Register Here >
Location: UC Hastings College of the Law (Sky Room – 100 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102)
The Working Group for Distance Learning in Legal Education is a loosely structured alliance of law educators collaborating to provide increased opportunities for faculty, students, and other participants to access high quality, innovative, and interactive online legal education.
Officially organized in November 2011, the Working Group is an outgrowth of the Program for the Legal Profession’s Future Ed Series. To date, the Working Group has focused on three major priorities:
Providing model policies and information for law schools engaged in distance learning programs.
Developing recommended practices and standards for emerging distance learning programs in legal education.
Providing comments and policy recommendations for accreditation bodies that regulate distance learning in legal education, including the American Bar Association.
Members of the Working Group meet three times a year, with substantive meetings in the fall and spring, and an update gathering at the American Association of Law Schools annual meeting in January. Membership is open to academics and professionals associated with accredited law schools in the U.S., and others working in the distance learning field concerned with legal education are welcome to attend meetings and participate, as appropriate, in Working Group matters.
William Byrnes pioneered the “online classroom” so he could continue teaching, despite a prognosis of lifetime disabilities resulting from traumatic injury. The program he developed to guarantee his future employment has now become a groundbreaking distance learning model used by higher education institutions and the U.S. military.
Byrnes suffered life threatening injuries in an African ski country accident and spent six months in the hospital undergoing grueling recovery from physical and brain trauma. Doctors could not predict his level of recovery, nor his future quality of life. In an effort to prepare himself for a productive future, Byrnes developed online, multi-media teaching methodologies that effectively ignore disability. ….
Byrnes became involved with distance education models after he suffered a traumatic injury in a ski accident. Since then, Byrnes has developed online, multi-media teaching methodologies that effectively ignore disability. Byrnes multi-media approach continuously incorporates the newest technologies to accommodate a wide range of disabilities, making it easier for many more individuals to achieve their educational goals.
Still, the government’s default measure vastly underestimates the problem. The government considers people in default if they have made no payments in 360 days. A broader measure by Federal_Reserve_Governors_sealthe New York Federal Reserve—which accounts for all Americans with student loans—shows that roughly one in four borrowers are at least 90 days behind on a payment.
1st vimeo video: Associate Dean William Byrnes’ 15 minute presentation about distance learning to the 500 policy makers of India’s National Board of Accreditation http://vimeo.com/39260008#t=3549 (starts from 1:00:00 until 1:15.00)
2nd vimeo video: William Byrnes’ second 6 minute response presentation delivered in the afternoon to India’s National Board of Accreditation policy congress in response of questions of the plenary about his approach to distance learning http://vimeo.com/39264336#t=4959 (starts from 1:22.30 until 1.28.30)
TJSL’s Associate Dean for Graduate & Distance Education Programs William Byrnes was honored with the 2012 Education Leadership Award by the World Education Congress of India’s National Board of Accreditation that brought together 500 policy makers from many countries on all the continents to examine and develop best practice policies for higher (university and graduate) education.
“Professor William Byrnes’ leadership and contribution to the field of education is well known,” said Chairman of Awards & Academic Committee Edward Smith. “The position that you occupy in the fraternity is strategic and iconic. As a thinker and doer you are a role model and a believer in change. I am pleased that the Jury and Council of Board members would like to confer the Education Leadership Award to you.”
Professor Byrnes pioneered online legal education in 1994, thereafter creating the first online LL.M. program offered by an ABA accredited law school. He is a key founding member of the Work Group for Distance Education in Legal Education that in 2013 published Distance Learning in Legal Education: A Summary of Delivery Models, Regulatory Issues and Recommended Practices (http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/plp/pdf/Distance_Learning_in_Legal_Ed.pdf). The second edition of this Best Practices Report will be released shortly (see Working Group for Distance Learning in Legal Education on Harvard’s Program on the Legal Profession website: http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/plp/pages/distance_learning_working_group.php)
When William Byrnes returned to the United States in 1998 to establish the International Finance and Taxation program leveraging online communication technologies, both international tax programs and distance learning programs were in their infancy. Through engaging a renown and talented faculty of industry professionals, and the support of an immensely engaged student body from professional and financial service firms, the international tax program blossomed over the past 15 years to become a cutting edge industry leader that it is today. Just recently, National Law Journal wrote “Perhaps no one in legal academia has more experience with online master’s degrees than William Byrnes, Associate Dean for Graduate and Distance Education Programs at Thomas Jefferson School of Law.” (May 20, 2013)
Each year William Byrnes chooses fourteen international tax students from the graduate online program to assist within tax compendium published by LexisNexis, WoltersKluwer, National Underwriter Co. (the Tax Facts series), and Merten’s Federal Income Taxation. By the time these students have reached international alumni status, many have developed into authors with several chapter and article citations.
William Byrnes created this graduate program around the needs of tax and financial professionals looking for advancement and efficiency for their career, be that to attract new clientele with global issues, better manage the budgets of outside international counsel, or to enhance their CV for the next round of promotion. Explore an international tax & financial services career by listening to his interview responses, then interacting with him via Skype or Google Hangout.
Following his October presentation in Moscow at Moscow Finance University organized with University of Amsterdam, Professor William Byrnes was invited to lecture last week for the intersession international tax course of the University of Amsterdam’s Centre for Tax Law. While at the University of Amsterdam, he engaged with Dean Dr. Edgar du Perron on collaborative distance education opportunities, and attended the European Law Student Association’s (ELSA) annual Groot Juridisch Dictee of the Amsterdam chapter.
William Byrnes noted, “Dr. Dennis Weber, the Director of the Amsterdam Centre for Tax Law, is a renowned jurist and author on tax issue brought before the European Court of Justice. He is frequently referred to as a powerhouse among European Tax Law faculty. In 2015, Amsterdam will begin offering the LL.M. of International Taxation in English for a very selective group of professionals. With his robust full-time tax faculty and cadre of Ph.D. candidates from around the world, I expect it to quickly become the premier international tax degree within Europe, perhaps globally.”
Professor Dennis Weber included, “I visited Thomas Jefferson’s campus last February when I lectured to its tax students about international tax risk management and also about practical aspects of careers in the tax field. I became very intrigued with how Associate Dean William Byrnes dynamically engaged students on campus and worldwide through leveraging communication and multimedia technologies. We are investigating potentially collaborating on joint online initiatives in the future and look forward to discussing these further when I return to San Diego this March to deliver my next international tax lectures.”
“Of all my international invitations” Professor Byrnes added, “University of Amsterdam is my favorite because I am an alumni and have fond memories and friends from my three years on campus when I studied international tax law, and participating as an active member of ELSA Amsterdam. The University of Amsterdam led to my initial academic opportunities in South Africa because my fellowship dissertation on transfer pricing profit-margin based methodologies was, at that time, quite unique and South Africa was re-thinking its tax system. With the G20 and OECD’s new agenda against base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), transfer pricing is now a prominent topic of study in most tax law programs, but two decades ago only Amsterdam offered me the opportunity to delve deeply into it via a shared research program at the IBFD.”cts of careers in the tax field. I became very intrigued with how Associate Dean William Byrnes dynamically engaged students on campus and worldwide through leveraging communication and multimedia technologies. We are investigating potentially collaborating on joint online initiatives in the future and look forward to discussing these further when I return to San Diego this March to deliver my next international tax lectures.”
Professor Byrnes continued, “Also, Dr. Weber, Bruno Da Silva, and I had the opportunity to discuss several future collaborative publications stretching out through 2015 and beyond, including authoring a Lexis book on international tax for the Asian academic and professional market to be translated into several local languages, reworking a Lexis publication on tax treaties, and finally, expansion of my Lexis transfer pricing publication from the U.S. perspective to a global, comparative approach. Bruno Da Silva, who is just completing his doctoral candidacy at UvA on the topic of information exchange, and I just collaborated on the second edition of LexisNexis Guide to FATCA Compliance. His representation of the China Territory of Macau, his OECD research and his work with Loyens and Loeff is establishing him as a leader among his European colleagues for understanding cross border information information flows.”
“Moreover, I explored with Dr. Edgar du Perron, Dean of University of Amsterdam Faculty of Law, and Dr. Weber the ‘flipping the classroom’ approach to distance education and how we may implement some joint international tax courses in this regard that can receive status as professional designations from various financial service authorities and associations. Such courses could become the starting point for Amsterdam to leverage for the undergraduate law courses. It was interesting to learn from Dean Perron that a group of entrepreneurial Amsterdam law students have captured lecture recordings of some of their courses, splicing them into multimedia course outlines and then selling them, albeit potentially without obtaining the faculty members authorization.”
The American Association of Law Schools (AALS) President reported at the Sunday morning Section Officers’ breakfast on January 4, attended by Associate Dean William Byrnes of Thomas Jefferson School of Law, that this year’s conference had the second highest registration in AALS history.
During the AALS annual conference in New York City, LexisNexis sponsored the breakfast held at the Hilton Midtown for the Workgroup on Distance Education for Legal Education. The sit down breakfast, filled at room capacity of stakeholders from among law schools, is the third annual breakfast during AALS and seventh meeting of the workgroup.
The Lexis sponsored breakfast provided Professor Rebecca Purdom (pictured left), renown environmental law academic and leader of Vermont Law School’s Environmental online program, the opportunity to lead a stakeholder discussion on the Workgroup’s Report of Best Practices before the second edition publication in March. Professor Purdom also presented the agenda of the March 2014 three-day Workgroup meeting sponsored by Washington University School of Law (St. Louis). Professor Purdom stated, “The Workgroup evolved from a 2011 project presented at the Harvard Law School – New York Law School initiative of conferences ‘The Future of Legal Education 2.0’. Over the past two years, law schools’ interest has substantially grown in the workgroup’s best practices and case examples output as the schools leap forward into providing online courses and programs for their JD and LLM students.”
William Byrnes, as chair of the Report subgroup (Best Practices for Distance Learning in Legal Education: A “Blue Paper” Summary of Delivery Models, Regulatory Issues, and Recommended Practices), has been coordinating input from academics from a representation of backgrounds, law school rankings, and regions, discussing and organizing contributions from workgroup members. Replying to the question: “What were some of highlights of the AALS conference this year?” Professor Byrnes answered, “The most significant “wake up” call of the AALS conference was the presentation about the ABA variance granted William Mitchell College of Law for a flexible hybrid, distance delivered JD degree. The newly announced hybrid short residence – online JD degree combines intensive, one week on-campus seminars once a semester with online course work during the semester. This variance is a game changer regarding thinking about delivery of U.S. legal education and I expect distance hybrid programs to be wildly popular.”
The American Bar Association general restrictions for earning distance education credits (Standard 306) are being relaxed as well. Under current ABA accreditation standards, a JD student may not earn any distance education during the first year of law school, and after the first year the student is restricted to no more than four distance education credit hours in any one semester, and a maximum 12 credits total may apply to the juris doctorate degree. The new accreditation standard (Standard 311) will remove the maximum distance education credits per semester restriction, and increase the allowance to 15 credits toward the degree. However, in light of the newly announced variance, it is expected that several schools will also seek to expand the curriculum and practice-oriented opportunities afforded by distance education, especially schools in low population density regions.
William Byrnes said “As the pioneer of distance learning delivered law degrees by ABA institutions, I am glad to see other law schools finally understanding the strengths offered by technology. At Thomas Jefferson, my understanding of distance education pedagogy has deepened, and is frequently called upon by other schools, promoting Thomas Jefferson an academic leader among the ABA schools.”
“How will this impact students?” William Byrnes continued “For students, it opens the possibility, by example, of combining 15 hours of distance credits for electives with externship credits and independent study credits to complete a full academic year while perhaps undertaking a practical externship in a foreign country. The student could begin the overseas, practical experience in January of the second year and return December the third year, allowing a full 12 months immersion, and not be penalized with a late graduation. The last semester at the home school is a good idea to allow the student to engage in the necessary local state bar procedure courses and other bar preparation common for impending graduate, as well as reintegrate with student organizations and friends. Of course, technology like video/web conference applications such as Skype, Google Chat, and Polycom allow students off campus to remain engaged with home school students organizations and the like. Still, technology doesn’t replicate throwing frisbee on Pacific Beach with friends or replace the unexpected meeting at the Starbucks down the street from the law school.”
“Quality of education was a concern on many minds which I think will in turn increase interest in the workgroup’s best practices project and report. I also expect several more variances and online programs to be applied for in 2014”. Professor Byrnes concluded “The March 2014 distance education workgroup meeting has opened a third day to address requests from law schools to provide practical online course examples of tools and techniques.”
Last Spring, William Byrnes submitted a presentation proposal to the conference committee on the pedagogical reasons for, and addressing the challenges of, ‘flipping the classroom’, which was inevitably chosen for a forty minute slot. William Byrnes pioneered online legal education in 1995, thereafter creating the first online LL.M. offered by an ABA accredited law school. He is a key founding member of the Work Group for Distance Education in Legal Education that in 2013 published “Distance Learning in Legal Education: A Summary of Delivery Models, Regulatory Issues and Recommended Practices”.
William Byrnes said “I invited Jason Fiske to tag team the presentation wherein we swap back and forth at couple minute intervals to continually refresh audience interest. Listening to one speaker for forty minutes can lead to distraction, fractionating between two complementary styles and perspectives allows the audience to refocus attention.”
William Byrnes and Jason Fiske presented on the topic of flipping the classroom at CaliBUG 2013 held October 11 in San Diego. CaliBug had 280 attendants this year from California higher education institutions, representing administration and faculty of universities and colleges, as well as some So Cal public high schools.
Byrnes added, “I spoke to the pedagogical justification of flipping the classroom while Jason illustrated through examples how we are flipping the classroom. By example, we showed captured screens of videos, study guides, discussion forums, and assessment techniques.”
He continued, “I think it is important to start such distance education discussions by presenting the findings of the US Department of Education Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning –
A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies:
“the meta-analysis of 50 study effects, 43 of which were drawn from research with older learners, found that students in online conditions performed modestly better, on average, than those learning the same material through traditional face-to-face instruction.’
“Also during the presentation I drop in the quote from another article that:
‘Diverse groups of problems solvers – groups of people with diverse tools – consistently outperform groups of the best & the brightest’.”
Jason Fiske chimed in, “the presentation today, and the massive interest in the system we are creating shows how the online Graduate Programs continue to lead as thought innovators and leaders in the continually evolving field of online education.”
Byrnes added, “Several institutions’ faculty approached us afterwards to establish follow up conversations. CaliBUG has presented a very good opportunity for cross-fertilization with public universities in Southern California, like the UCs and Community Colleges, that are now exploring how best to leverage distance education to accomplish their missions of public education, as well as the private universities in attendance like USC, Loyola, and our neighbor USD.”
This article reviews the development of the first Internet delivered LL.M program (i.e. LL.M. of International Tax and Offshore Financial Centers, the ‘Program’) in the United States.
The paper comprises four sections: In Part 1 the economics reasons for, and logistics considerations of, the Internet delivered Program are addressed. Part 2 reviews the pedagogical approach to legal education employed in the United States, criticisms thereof, and finally examines an emerging pedagogical trend in the United Kingdom. Part 3 reviews the teaching tools employed in the Program International Tax and Offshore Financial Centers, and Part 4 reviews the practical aspects of developing the Program, obtaining ABA acquiescence, and reviews the Internet delivered law courses that came before it. Finally, the article concludes with some personal observations.
In Part 1 the economics reasons for, and logistics considerations of, the Internet delivered Program are addressed.
Part 2 reviews the pedagogical approach to legal education employed in the United States, criticisms thereof, and finally examines an emerging pedagogical trend in the United Kingdom. In particular, this part concludes that the grounding of a LL.M (Masters) level legal education program exclusively using the Socratic method (case study) roots of traditional Juris Doctorate (graduate) legal education may neither meet the goals, nor produce the skills sought by this Program. By example, some legal education writers have negatively critiqued the primary use of the Socratic method in even graduate legal education’s pedagogy. The scope of the negative critiques are presented from the perspective of economic efficiency over educational quality, as well as the perspective of professional development, and also from the perspective of a feministic approach. These critiques are followed by a review of suggested alternatives. This part ends with an examination of the emerging United Kingdom literature supporting a pedagogy based upon ‘student-centered learning’.
Part 3 reviews the teaching tools employed in the International Tax Program. Part 4 reviews the practical aspects of developing the Program, obtaining ABA acquiescence, and it reviews the Internet delivered law courses that came before it. Finally, the article concludes with some personal observations.
Keywords: LL.M Program, Legal Education in the US, Legal Education in the UK, Internet Delivered Law Courses, C&IT in Legal Education, CAL, CBL, Socratic Teaching Method, Alternatives to Socratic Teaching.
When William Byrnes returned to the United States in 1998 to establish the International Finance and Taxation program leveraging online communication technologies, both international tax programs and distance learning programs were in their infancy. Through engaging a renown and talented faculty of industry professionals, and the support of an immensely engaged student body from professional and financial service firms, the international tax program blossomed over the past 15 years to become a cutting edge industry leader that it is today.
Just recently, National Law Journal wrote “Perhaps no one in legal academia has more experience with online master’s degrees than William Byrnes, Associate Dean for Graduate and Distance Education Programs at Thomas Jefferson School of Law.” (May 20, 2013)
His article that reviews the development of the first Internet delivered LL.M program in the United States may be downloaded at > William Byrnes’ SSRN academic page <
The article comprises four sections: In Part 1 the economics reasons for, and logistics considerations of, the Internet delivered Program are addressed. Part 2 reviews the pedagogical approach to legal education employed in the United States, criticisms thereof, and finally examines an emerging pedagogical trend in the United Kingdom. Part 3 reviews the teaching tools employed in the LL.M. Program, and Part 4 reviews the practical aspects of developing the LL.M. Program, obtaining ABA acquiescence, and reviews the Internet delivered law courses that came before it. Finally, the article concludes with some personal observations.
The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB), the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), selected for the areas of comparative law and for taxation, William Byrnes for the Fulbright Specialist Roster. His Specialist Roster listing is for a five year period lasting until 2018.
“I am honored to have received this internationally recognized distinction of excellence from the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and the State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs.” said Dean William Byrnes. “The academic recommendations regarding my impact in the field of distance education overseas and in the USA I think played a prominent role for the Review Committee.”
When asked about his immediate goals for the Fulbright appointment, William Byrnes replied “My goal for this Fall is to allocate time to research contextual comparative law learning, especially the social linguistic component. Afterwards, hopefully by next summer, I will be able to explore this area of pedagogy from an online learning setting.”
“I am honored that the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and the State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs found my record of publication and teaching and impact on international education strong enough to select me from its applicant pool,” said Dean Byrnes. “I really owe it to the academic recommendations provided Fulbright by Professor Richard Winchester, Dean Rudy Hasl, my former Dean, John Makdisi, and my South African supervisor, Professor Alwyn DeKoker. These recommendations play a significant role for the Review Committee in its decision making process.”
“I think that my selection for this five year term, and Professor Winchester’s selection two years past as a Fulbright Scholar to Tunisia, provides testament that our national peers perceive Thomas Jefferson School of Law as an institution of high quality. I knew that I would be competing with candidates from large universities, but felt that it was worth the effort because of my particular impact on distance education the past 18 years and my international comparative background.
“Professor Winchester was the catalyst alerting me to the Fulbright opportunity. The rigorous Fulbright competitive process requires several levels of vetting of candidates’ academic publishing record, teaching experiences, and impact on international education. To make it through the first round, a candidate must receive positive recommendations from the Fulbright Specialist Review Committee. The second round includes the Committee determining by consensus who are best qualified to be Fulbright Specialists. The Fulbright Specialist Program Council then vets the Committee’s names against exclusion lists for government funds and exchanges. Finally, the names are forwarded to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board for the final selection process for its specialist list.
“My goal for this opportunity is to spend time this coming academic year fleshing out some ideas regarding contextual comparative law learning that includes a social linguistic component that Professor Tiefenbrun will find familiar from her work, such as on Semiotics. I don’t know where this line of thought will lead, but at least it’s a distraction from deciphering tax regulations.”
Congratulations to Dean Byrnes from everyone at TJSL!
Students at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law arrived Tuesday for the first day of spring semester classes at a new, $90 million building in downtown San Diego — a facility that revealed a surprise of mammoth proportions during construction. Read the article at The National Law Journal.
William Byrnes' Tax, Wealth, and Risk Intelligence 