Center for Community Change and Urban Leadership

The Public Law or Pathway to Law School Track is part of the Community Change and Urban Leadership Initiative at College of Alameda. This sequence of courses is designed to provide an introduction to the field and practice of law leading to the status of being a “COAF Scholar” upon completion of course work at College of Alameda. This is a project of the California Bar Association Council On Access and Fairness (COAF) (California Law Inc.).

What you’ll learn in this pathway will enable you to explore many aspects of life through the lens of the rule of law. This allows you to develop a range of skills which fosters a broad and deep understanding of the law as well as develops abstract and critical thinking, practical problem solving skills and strong communication skills. This program is designed to show the realities of a path to the legal profession, offering professional growth, opportunities, intellectual challenge, social activism empowerment, financial rewards, prestige, and personal fulfillment in diverse areas such as: criminal law, corporate law, real estate law, tax law, family law, education law, patent law, product liability law and many other areas.

The “Career Law School Pathway” is designed to demystify the process of getting to a career in law! We will help you to understand what to do to apply and enroll at a four-year university, and sustain the momentum to pursue professional/graduate school. We shall empower you with the knowledge, critical applied thinking skills, and crucial life skills to transition from CoA to transfer and success in pursuing your career plans in law. We have guest speakers and field trips to California universities and law schools. We also seek to enroll students in special UC Davis Summer Bridge programs one year prior students’ matriculation to UC Davis.

Program Benefits:

• Law and Debate Club
• Law related activities (e.g. law school tours, statewide debate)
• Counseling
• Mentoring
• Financial aid counseling
• Prescribed courses will transfer
• Waived application fee for participating law schools
• Special attention regarding college and law school applications at participating schools

Program Learning Outcomes

There are Three Program Learning Outcomes with which we seek to prepare you here; you will:

• Mastery of a body of knowledge about your world – to see the world more clearly from a larger set of perspectives.
• Proficiency in critical political thinking and “Futures Consciousness” – to use your knowledge more effectively.

• Greater capacity for personal social & political efficacy – to be better able to apply these perspectives as life skills in living a more satisfying life as:
  • A person,
  • A worker, and
  • A citizen 

Recommended Course Sequence

This program is designed for college-ready individuals who are interested in working in the field of law and the legal professions.

The Pathway to Law School Initiative at the College of Alameda requires students to complete eight courses based on a defined set of “success factors” that help make effective lawyers.

Required Courses

• POSCI-8 Law and Democracy
• ENG-1A English Composition and Reading
• ENG-5 Critical Thinking in Reading and Writing

or COMM-5 Persuasion and Critical Thinking

• COMM-44 Argumentation
• MATH-13 Introduction to Statistics
• HIST-7A History of the United States to 1877
• HIST -7B History of the United States since 1865
• POSCI-26 US and California Constitution

or POSCI-1 Government and Politics in the United States

Recommended Elective Courses

• POSCI-41 Service Learning: Law, Democracy, and Public Administration
• COUN-201 Orientation to College: Student Success and Support Program
• COOPED-451 Cooperative Occupational Work Experience [for repeat service learning students]

Total Units                           24 – 33

These courses may be used in conjunction with other courses to fulfill your degree and general education requirements or towards a degree in Political Science as well.

Gainful Employment (CTE Programs)

Career paths and opportunities for lawyers are endless. A law degree can be used in traditional legal employment, non-traditional legal employment, and non-legal employment. A few of the career paths that you can take with a law degree include: lawyer, Judge, mediator, paralegal, consultant, educator, corporate attorney, court administrator, governmental administrator, or politician.

The Violence Prevention Certificate Track is part of the Community Change and Urban Leadership Initiative at College of Alameda.  The Certificate of Proficiency leads students in an exploration of leadership, prevention and intervention knowledge and skills relative to the field of violence prevention and local community peace building; classroom and field based learning through peer group and individual projects, community based action research, and internships; curriculum contextualized to student career goals; designed for college ready individuals who are interested in working in the field of violence prevention.  Completion of the course sequence and internship experience in the field leads to a Violence Prevention Specialist Certificate of Proficiency.

The program includes training in conflict resolution and mediation, self-care, theories and methods for social change as well as coaching through professional development areas identified through a S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis completed every semester. 

Career Opportunities in Violence Prevention

For individuals interested in careers and leadership opportunities in the field of violence prevention. Bloomberg Business, Idealist.org and Cal Jobs (State of California) all show an increasing need for skilled employees that have the knowledge and skills to navigate through systems and communities to prevent violence. A variety of positions can be acquired by someone with a Certificate in Violence Prevention Strategies. According to the labor market data for the State of California, there is a 6.9% projected increase for Child, Family and School Social Workers, an 11.8% increase for Clergy members, a 13% increase among Counselors, Social Workers and other Specialists. Some other potential careers that see an increase, that we also know are directly related to preventing violence in our communities are Health Educators, with a projected 16% increase and Police and Sheriff Patrol Officers at a 7.7% increase. This certificate program will help prepare individuals in the job market to meet the growing needs of social support and care giving that professions listed above provide.