Two years after the Syracuse University College of Law launched a new, more structured program for law students taking the bar exam, the school is finding out that the changes have led to student success.

Exam scores improved from 80 percent in 2012 to 87 percent in 2013. Prior to the new curriculum implementation in 2012, a select number of first-year students were “sliding by,” and entering their second year without earning strong enough GPA’s to succeed in the rest of law school. The weakest students were showing significant difficulties in certain areas of law, said Christian Day, associate dean for academic affairs at SU College of Law.

A thorough study, completed by a member of the Office of Enrollment Management, looked at predictors of success on the bar exam among College of Law graduates over 10 years. The study proved that one of the strongest predictors of success on the bar exam was reflected in a student’s grade point average when they graduated, according to an SU News release.

The College of Law was then able to identify the group of students who passed the bar exam with a high degree of success, Day said. Another finding was that this success group typically took nine commercial transaction courses — subjects regularly tested on bar exam — or 29 credit hours that all counted for a grade. Students who were failing their first bar exam upon graduation were taking only a few of these commercial transaction courses for pass/fail, instead of for a letter grade, Day said.

“These courses weren’t structured fully by SU and students were trying to avoiding taking them in part because they were perceived as being harder,” he said.

As a result of that lengthy study, the Law faculty created a new curriculum called the “structured curriculum.”

“Law school is about getting your national ranking and respect among employers up,” said Cody Carbone, vice president of the student bar association at SU. “Syracuse instituted this structured curriculum to do just that.”

If a first-year student’s GPA falls at a 2.5 or below, the student is required to take nine mandatory bar prep courses in lieu of having the option to pick their courses from a wide net of bar prep and elective classes, Carbone said.

The College of Law has also expanded counseling services, increased tutoring programs for first years, strengthened student leadership and increased faculty- student engagement with regard to encouraging students to perform well and more closely working with students on individual basis, Day said.

Charles DiNunzio, Student Bar Association president, said the new curriculum didn’t change the courses being taught, bur rather looked at how the College of Law can better prepare students for “a life of legal practice.

“It is clear that the new policies have led to an increased understanding of the law amongst members of the SU Law student body,” DiNunzio said. “It has also allowed Syracuse Law to attain a more prestigious place among law schools in the state of New York.”

Published on February 5, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Sarah: sbrichhe@syr.edu