Historically Black Graduate Institutions (HBGI) Abstracts

The Clinical Legal Education Program at NCCU School of Law has been in existence since the early 1970s when the first clinic was established. The program provides instruction in professional skills and operates several clinics, which operate as model law offices in the respective area of law, representing “indigent” persons in the Durham, NC, community and surrounding area. The Title III grant permits the education of students in the skills needed to assist in providing legal services efficiently and in accordance with ethical and professional parameters set by the North Carolina State Bar and the American Bar Association (ABA). The Title III grant provides resources to offer trial practice classes, as well as to receive experiential education opportunities through classes such as client counseling, the Client Counseling classes, appellate advocacy, mediation and other course offerings that permit students to engage in the representation of individuals in addition to simulation-type courses. These offerings help the students to develop and demonstrate the presence of skills needed to comply with the ABA requirements regarding experiential education requirements. Title III funding allows the hiring of consultants to assist students in the development of skills so as to provide a more meaningful and enriching opportunity to develop basic skills.

The grant continues to provide support in the seven (7) activities in the areas of student financial assistance, student services outcome, facilities improvement and technology in support of academic instruction, library acquisitions, fiscal stability through institutional development, institutional management, and academic quality, as in the previous grant year. The overall focus of this budget proposal is consistent with the University’s core values and Strategic Plan and seeks to support the enhancement of enrollment rates, persistence/retention rates, graduation rates and placement rates. This Activity provides North Carolina Central University School of Law the opportunity to create a technology user-friendly environment in which over 90% of the faculty continue to use technology for instructional purposes.

The American Bar Association (ABA) stipulates that a law library shall provide the appropriate range and depth of reference, instructional, bibliographic and other services to meet the needs of the law school’s teaching, scholarship, research and service programs. Therefore, a primary focus of the law library for the 2022–2023 grant year will be to enhance the law library by increasing the number of titles in the collection by purchasing materials in print and electronic formats. The law library continues to expand and improve its collection to ensure that it supports not only the current curriculum and research needs of students but also future and emerging curricular and research needs as dictated by the curricula. The law library provides a learning environment that enhances students' research skills and knowledge of legal resources. The law library is enhancing its print resources while moving with the trend of legal research towards electronic mediums and purchasing more electronic databases and resources.

The Development Office is responsible for securing private gifts from alumni and other constituencies to support the mission by sustaining a learning environment with up-to-date resources and building scholarship funding and endowments to ensure the law school can compete regionally and nationally. During the 2022–2023 grant cycle, the School of Law will utilize Title III funding to improve, sustain and support the NCCU School of Law Office of Development and Alumni Relations. More than 50% of law students receive some type of grant or scholarship support while attending law school. Increasing student scholarship opportunities is paramount to the school’s mission. The funding received by Title III allows development staff to enhance and hone skill sets in the area of alumni relations, annual giving and major gifts through professional development workshops and conferences.

The Office of Career and Professional Development (OCPD) strives to provide support and resources to students to allow them to be competitive as they pursue summer and permanent employment or other post-law school opportunities. The student should be able to use these tools and resources to maximize their employment outcomes and opportunities. The level of support will vary by student, and greater success is dependent upon student participation in programming and individual advising sessions with Career and Professional Development staff. OCPD collaborates with the employer advisory council to utilize best practices to assist students with career readiness preparation. The funds of this Activity enable the Law School to pay for Simplicity, VMock and LawFit, which are all tools that law students use to assess skills, become career ready and apply for jobs to assist with the end goal of securing employment. The funds also support licenses that enable the students to attend job fairs.

The North Carolina Central University School of Law (SOL) Title III Activity for 2022–2023 aligns with the mission of providing scholarships and financial assistance to professional students to permit enrollment of the students in and completion of the doctorate in law, a discipline in which African Americans are underrepresented. The purpose of this Activity is to provide African American students with financial assistance in the form of scholarships, internships and work aid. This Activity intends to provide students with financial assistance so that they can be successful at NCCU SOL and after graduation. This work is important because less than five percent of the lawyers in the country identify as African Americans. Because African Americans represent more than 13% of the United States population, they are underrepresented in the legal profession. The lack of financial resources is a key factor in the failure of African Americans to enter the legal profession. This financial assistance will help to remove key non-academic barriers to student success.

This Activity provides support for improving the quality of HBGI grant administration by strengthening the general compliance knowledge and administrative skill sets necessary for the effective management of the HBGI grant. Funds in this Activity support participation of SOL administrators in the Title III Administrator’s National Workshop. This experience provides attendees with training resources and connections related to grants management in general and Title III administration in particular. Students at the North Carolina Central University School of Law will benefit from a staff that is knowledgeable and efficient in the management of this funded activity and service.

The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Integrated Biosciences program at North Carolina Central University focuses on furthering our understanding of the biological and behavioral mechanisms underlying biomedical diseases. Students are provided with two curricular tracks: Biomedical Sciences and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Students in the program are offered the opportunity to complete coursework and pursue dissertation research in a plethora of disciplines in the biosciences, including studying the complex issues associated with the pervasiveness of diseases that contribute to an unequal health burden in underrepresented populations, known commonly as health disparities. The specific goals of the Integrated Biosciences (INBS) Ph.D. degree program at NCCU are to prepare students to investigate biologically relevant research questions through the mastery of chemistry, pharmaceutical, biomedical and biological sciences; increase the number of biomedical and pharmaceutical scientists conducting research using the latest biomedical and pharmaceutical science technologies; and increase the number of scientists and faculty specializing in the study of the molecular and behavioral basis of human diseases, especially as related to health disparities.