Program of Study
The Master of Science (MS) degree in Government Organization and Leadership (GOAL) requires completion of 35 credit hours, an externship in Washington D.C. and a major paper. Thirteen (13) credit hours may be satisfied by courses taken for the Juris Doctor (JD) degree. Five (5) credit hours of GOAL courses may serve as credit toward the JD degree. The program includes a full-time externship at a government office in Washington, DC. While in DC, students take three classes, participate in conferences, networking events, and other opportunities as they arise.
Degree requirements (35 credits):
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses Taught on Campus | ||
| LAW 307 | Administrative Law | 3 |
| LAW 406 | State and Local Governments in a Federal System | 3 |
| GOL 615 | Seminar in Interdisciplinary Leadership Theory | 3 |
| GOL 670 | Government Organization and Research | 1 |
| GOL 690 | Workshop: Emerging Perspectives on Governance | 2 |
| Required Courses Taught in Washington DC (Fall Semester, 3rd Year) | ||
| To participate in this part of the program, students must have at least a 2.25 law school GPA, must otherwise be in good standing, and must have completed four semesters of law school. | ||
| GOL 710 | Counsel Roles and Leadership in Government Agencies | 3 |
| GOL 720 | Ethics in Government | 2 |
| GOL 730 | Externship Program | 11 |
| Electives | ||
| Select a minimum of seven credits from the following list: | 7 | |
| Comparative Constitutional Law | ||
| Advanced Constitutional Law | ||
| Children, Family, and the State | ||
| Copyrights | ||
| Employment Discrimination | ||
| Health Care Insurance Law | ||
| Environmental and Natural Resources Law | ||
| Elder Law | ||
| Estate and Gift Taxation (Federal) | ||
| Energy Law | ||
| Food & Drug Law | ||
| Federal Courts: Jurisdiction and Procedure of the District Courts | ||
| Current Topics in Public Health Law | ||
| Federal Income Taxation | ||
| First Amendment Freedom of Speech | ||
| Health Information Privacy | ||
| Immigration Law | ||
| Health Care Organizations | ||
| Climate Change & International Environmental Law | ||
| Mergers and Acquisitions | ||
| International Criminal Law | ||
| Land Use Law | ||
| Legal Issues in Electronic Commerce | ||
| Employment Law | ||
| Law of Armed Conflict | ||
| Native American Law | ||
| Patent Law | ||
| International Law | ||
| Law of Church and State | ||
| Education Law | ||
| Securities Regulation | ||
| Trademarks and Unfair Competition | ||
| White Collar Crime | ||
| Dynamics of Conflict Resolution and Engagement | ||
| Total Credits | 35 | |
PROGRAM TIMELINE
In the 2nd and 3rd years of law school (with additional summer school attendance), students should take the cluster of required, on-campus GOAL classes: Administrative Law, Leadership, the Workshop on Governance, and State & Local Governments, and the requisite number of qualifying law school elective courses. In the fall semester of the 3rd year of law school, students will participate in the Washington, D.C. courses and the externship. To graduate with both degrees, students need to complete a total of 124 classroom hours:
- 89 law school credit hours (5 GOAL credit hours for courses taken during the Washington, D.C. semester count toward both the JD and MS degrees).
- 35 GOAL credit hours (13 law school credit hours count for both the JD and MS degrees).
To complete both the MS-GOAL and JD requirements in 3 years, students should plan to earn seven or more hours of law credit during their two summer school sessions. Students should be aware that participation in the GOAL program may reduce opportunities to participate in certain other law school extracurricular offerings, such as Law Review, Moot Court, and trial teams.