February 13, 2009

To All Current Paralegal Students,

For students not currently enrolled in the Paralegal Program (meaning you have never taken a paralegal course at Napa Valley College) we are no longer accepting new students into the Paralegal Program. In the fall of 2010, we plan to introduce a new Legal Studies Program that will offer both a certificate and degree option. For more information, please CLICK HERE.

If you are a current Paralegal Program student, meaning that you have enrolled in a paralegal program class prior to the start of the summer 2009 semester, this letter has been written specificially for you. As you now know, Napa Valley College is revising the current Paralegal Program into a Legal Studies Program. We have decided to make this change based on the Program Evaluation and Planning process we completed for the Paralegal Program and on research that began in 2007 that included discussion with our local legal community, District Attorney's Office, and Criminal Justice Training Advisory Committee.

You need to know that Napa Valley College is, first and foremost, committed to student success and to meeting the needs of our community, including the local work force. We believe the Legal Studies Program will do this more effectively by serving more students and supporting the future of more careers in the legal profession.

Your pursuit of a paralegal certificate and degree at Napa Valley College will still be able to continue as we complete the revision of the program. In fact, we are phasing this revision in over the next two school years and will over a wider range of options for you to earn the certificate or degree you have already started. It is, however, important that you pay close attention to this website and class schedules to ensure you have the opportunity to enroll in the last offerings of the paralegal classes you wish to take. For current students in the program, as the required paralegal classes are phased out, you will be given the option to take a comparable legal studies class. In fact, the elective courses we will consider for a paralegal certificate or degree will be expanded beginning in the fall of 2009.

The faculty and staff at Napa Valley College are behind you and your success. I will be overseeing this program revision directly and will be happy to work with you individually as you need. You can reach me by email at gmiraglia@napavalley.edu or by telephone at 707-253-3035.

Sincerely,

Greg Miraglia, Dean
Career Technical Education