Villanova Law
Colleagues,
I am reaching out again to ask for your help in recruiting adjunct professors for VIISTA, the new online certificate program I created at Villanova University to train immigrant advocates. The program launched in the fall and will start again in May. We expect to need 3-5 additional adjunct professors to start in May, August and/or January.
The VIISTA certificate program is aimed at people who are passionate about immigrant justice but are not interested in pursuing a law degree at the moment, such as recent college grads, people seeking an encore career, retirees and the many who currently work with migrants and want to understand more about the immigration laws that impact them. It is also attractive to students seeking to take a gap year or two between college and law school or high school and college.
VIISTA is offered entirely online and is asynchronous, allowing students to work at their own pace and at times that are most convenient for them. I piloted the curriculum during last academic year and the students loved it. It launches full time in August, and will subsequently be offered each semester, so students can start in August, January, and May.
The Adjunct Professors will work with me to teach cohorts of students as they move through the 3-Module curriculum. Module 1 focuses on how to work effectively with immigrants. Module 2 is designed to teach the immigration law and policy needed for graduates to apply to become partially accredited representatives. Module 3 has more law, and a lot of trial advocacy for those who want to apply for full DOJ accreditation. Each Module is comprised of 2×7-week sessions and students report that they have worked between 10-15 hours/week on the course materials. As an adjunct professor, you will provide feedback weekly on student work product, conduct live office hours with students and work to build engagement and community among the students in your cohort. Tuition for each Module is $1270, it is $3810 for the entire 3-Module certificate program.
I would love for you to help me by sharing this with former students and immigration lawyers in your networks. Here is a link to the job posting:
https://jobs.villanova.edu/postings/18505
For more information on VIISTA, here is a link, immigrantadvocate.villanova.edu
Please reach out if you have any questions.
Also, please note that scholarships are being offered through the Augustinian Defenders of the Rights of the Poor to select students who are sponsored to take VIISTA by recognized organizations. For more information on the scholarships, visit this page, https://www.rightsofthepoor.org/viista-scholarship-program
My best,
Michele
Michele
Michele R. Pistone
Professor of Law
Villanova University, Charles Widger School of Law
Founding Faculty Director, VIISTA: Villanova Interdisciplinary Immigration Studies Training for Advocates
Founder, VIISTA Villanova Interdisciplinary Immigration Studies Training for Advocates
Director, Clinic for Asylum, Refugee & Emigrant Services (CARES)
Co-Managing Editor,Journal on Migration and Human Security
@profpistone
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Michele tells me that the time commitment is approximately 8-10 hrs/week, and significantly, the teaching can be done from anywhere you have an internet connection!
For those of you who haven’t taught law online, I was amazingly pleased by my experience last summer at Georgetown Law. Of course, I attribute that almost all to the remarkable skills of the students in creating dialogue and sharing information. They also did it with humor, creativity, and “presence,” showing that they understood the ”performing artist” aspects of lawyering, judging, and teaching!
I also benefitted from the outstanding technical support, instruction, and patience from the Georgetown Law staff! I know that Michele’s technical support is also some the most talented out there on the internet!
And, the best part of the job would, in my view, be working with Michele who is one of the best, most creative, and most “constructively disruptive” minds in American law, as well as being just a wonderful human being! I learn something new every time I speak with her!
Michele’s goal for VIISTA is to get 10,000 more trained accredited representatives out there representing asylum seekers in 10 years (or fewer). Let’s help her get there!
⚖️🗽🇺🇸Due Process Forever!
PWS
02-20-21