Student Demand Drives a Growing BA in Law Program

The BA in Law program, which launched with four students minoring in the program in 2018, has quickly become a mainstay of UB’s undergraduate curriculum. And student interest has outpaced expectations, with more than 260 students currently pursuing the degree. This past fall, 44 freshmen declared the major along with 17 transfer students.

To meet that demand, says Professor James Milles, who directs the BA in Law program as vice dean for undergraduate studies, the law school has built up a dedicated faculty and greatly increased the program’s course offerings. In its first semester, he says, six courses were offered; the tally this fall is 21, including multiple sections of large, required courses.

Those courses include standards like Introduction to Criminal Law and Introduction to the American Legal System, as well as Advanced Special Investigations, which focuses on white-collar crime, and new offerings like Advanced Topics in Family Law, Health Law, Real Estate Transactions, and a seminar called Russia’s War of Aggression Against Ukraine.

“It’s a pretty unique program,” Milles says. “Our philosophy is that there are a number of careers where it’s useful and valuable to know about the law, but you don’t have to be a lawyer to do them. It’s also a degree in citizenship, in a way. The law is complex, and it shouldn’t be just lawyers who know a little about it, so we’re trying to demystify the law to some degree. And the program gives students a chance to get a taste of law school and see if it’s for them.”

The BA in Law program, which in its early incarnation relied heavily on adjunct instructors, now also has four full-time instructors as well as two faculty members who split their time between the BA and JD programs. Three have come on board this year—Joshua Coene, David Coombs and Orlando Dickson ’19—joining three instructors who were hired last year, Joel Black, Thomas Hare and Paul Linden-Retek. In addition, several other members of the JD faculty teach undergraduate courses periodically. James Milles

Staffing the effort is newly installed program coordinator Karen Joppe, a 2018 UB graduate who coordinates special events, presents to prospective and incoming students, and serves as an academic adviser to degree seekers. She shares that responsibility with Melinda R. Saran ’86, vice dean for undergraduate student affairs. Both Milles and Saran teach in the program.

Saran notes that of the incoming freshman law majors, three-fourths are women, and more than half are from underrepresented backgrounds. Many students, she says, come to the program as sophomores or juniors, switching from other majors, and transferring from community colleges, as they explore their options.

Many BA in Law majors have specific career plans, Saran says, but all are exposed to a way of thinking about the law that they could encounter nowhere else. “I just had one student talking about the course on the Ukraine war and how fascinating the discussion is,” she says. “Students are studying how law and the rule of law affect the situation in Ukraine.

“Their No. 1 reason to enroll is curiosity: What is the law? You could take political science or history, but before this program, you never got to see what law was about before law school. Here you can learn about the law, get a minor in something else and really expand your horizons. You can see how the law fits in with everything else.”

The newest members of our BA faculty bring a wide array of expertise to the classroom. Here’s a sample of the courses they offer on law and how it shapes our society: