Christopher D. Valentino

The next three years of my professional career will be focused on my success in law school.  While my legal studies may be preeminent, I have developed a professional development plan to continue to develop several areas of student affairs knowledge that will be of significance importance to my future success as a higher education lawyer.

As a higher education lawyer it is essential that I continue to develop and refine my assessment, evaluation, and research skills.  As such, in my first year of law school I will make it a priority to read the quarterly issues of the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice.  In addition, I will focus on understanding the methodological techniques utilized in the journal to deepen my qualitative and quantitative knowledge.  I will also focus on developing my legal analysis skills through my first year law school courses.  During my second year of law school, I will take a qualitative or quantitative methodology course in order to further develop my research skills.  In addition, I will also serve as a research assistant for a faculty member in order to get hand-ons experience with data analysis in a legal context.  As a third year law student, I will further advance my assessment and research skills by serving as the primary author for a law-journal article pertaining to an issue related to higher education.  After writing the law-journal article, I will also adapt the manuscript for student affairs professionals and attempt to get it published in a practitioner oriented publication.  Ultimately, I plan on spending my law school experience slowly developing my understanding of assessment and research in order to positively contribute to the literature base on higher education law by the time I graduate in 2018.

While in law school, I also plan on developing my understanding of restorative justice and its ability to influence student conduct and the broader community.  Before entering law school, I plan on conducting informational interviews with student conduct professionals from the Oakland Unified School District, who utilize restorative justice in their student discipline process, in order to gain an understanding of how restorative justice can be utilized to reduce suspension and expulsion rates among marginalized communities and help promote college access.  During my first year in law school, I also plan on reviewing the restorative justice literature base.  Several articles (Cavanagh, Vigil & Garcia, 2014; Gallagher, Meagher & Velde, 2014; Koss, 2014; Rinker & Jonason, 2014) appear to provide an overview of the academic research pertaining to restorative justice.  During my second year in law school I hope to join the alternative dispute resolution competition team at my law school, in order to gain practical experiences utilizing restorative justice techniques to promote community building while avoiding litigation.  In addition, I hope to arrange a legal externship in the fall of 2016 with a community building organization to gain practical experience utilizing restorative techniques in real life circumstances.  In my third year at law school I will attend the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice conference to continue to further my professional development.

Although I will not be addressing crisis situations as a law student, I will be able to develop my crisis management skills throughout my law school experience.  During my first year, I plan on conducting informational interviews with executive leaders, including senior student affairs officers, general counsels, and college presidents in order to gain a deeper understanding of crisis from a legal perspective.  In addition, I also plan on becoming familiar with the myriad of articles and books published by the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management (NCHERM) with particular emphasis on literature pertaining to sexual assault and student safety (NCHERM Group, n.d.).  During my second year of law school I plan on attending the NASPA Student Affairs Law conference should it focus on the legal aspects of campus crisis. Even if the NASPA conference does not explicitly focus on institutional crisis response, I will attend in order to network with professionals who have significant experience responding to crisis situations and mitigating legal repercussions. As a third year law student I will continue to develop my understanding of crisis management by taking a risk management class and by arranging an externship with a university’s general counsel.

Since graduating from my undergraduate institution in 2013 I have grown tremendously in terms of my understanding of social justice and I want to continue that development in law school.  During my first year of law school I plan on volunteering to serve as a facilitator for social justice workshops at my new institution and in my local community.  I also plan on joining a social justice oriented law student organization in order to find a safe space to continue to help continue my own self-work.  As a second year law student I will take a social justice law course in order to develop my ability to examine the law from a social justice perspective.  In addition, I will begin the process of writing a professional article on multicultural organization development  as it pertains to law firms.  As such, I will examine the literature and try to identity the gaps in order to develop an appropriate topic for article publication.  During the summer between my second and third years in law school I will attempt to arrange an internship with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.  Although it is highly competitive to gain an internship with a federal department, I hope to see first hand how lawyers help to advance civil rights in education.  As a third year student I will also arrange a fall semester legal externship with the American Civil Liberties Union in order to further my understanding of the interaction of law and social progress.

 
During my first year of law school I will develop my understanding of athletics compliance by becoming familiar with NCAA policy and regulations while conducting informational interviews with compliance officers at large athletic institutions.  Additionally, I will read the literature regarding the National Labor Relation’s Board’s ruling on the Northwestern University football unionization case (National Labor Relations Board, 2014).  During my second year in law school I will deepen my understanding of the potential implication of athletic unionization by taking a law school course focusing on labor law.  Likewise, during my third year in law school I will develop my understanding of the financial implications of college athletics by reviewing the literature base and examining publicly available records regarding financial impact of collegiate athletics on institutions of higher education.   

Ultimately, my graduate education at Bowling Green State University has provided me a solid foundation of student affairs knowledge, and an awareness of several areas of student affairs knowledge that requires further development.  As a future lawyer, I hope to be able to integrate my passion for higher education into a legal career.  As such, my professional development is designed to integrate my pre-existing student affairs knowledge into a legal framework suitable for a legal advocate for higher education.