NSU Newsroom
SharkBytes
Horizons
This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
NSU Law Professor Receives Patent for an Alternative Admission Model Program for Legal Education
Joseph Harbaugh, LL.M.
Joseph Harbaugh, LL.M., professor of law and dean emeritus of Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Shepard Broad Law Center is credited with securing a U.S. patent (US 20140067707 A1) for a computer-based system called AAMPLE®, the Alternative Admissions Model Program in Legal Education. AAMPLE® serves as an additional method of identifying candidates for admission to an institution’s law school.
Harbaugh and several of his colleagues realized that while LSAT scores and GPAs have some value in predicting student success, the indicators had practically no significance in determining longer-term results, such as a student’s ability to succeed in law school, pass the bar, or attain professional success. The primary purpose of AAMPLE® is to serve as an admissions predictive function – a tool for evaluating the capabilities of prospective students.
“We are elated to see this portion of the process through,” said Harbaugh. “We believe that dreams are meant to be realized. The AAMPLE program allows those involved in the admissions process, one additional avenue for providing students with the desire and commitment to attend law school, the opportunity to achieve that dream.”
AAMPLE® applicants are enrolled in two law school courses — Introduction to the 4th Amendment and Negotiable Instruments, taught by law school professors. Each course replicates an appropriate portion of an equivalent regular J.D. offering in the subject that is suitable for the abbreviated five week session in which the courses are offered. Applicants invited into the program may choose either a live, on-campus format or an on-line option utilizing distance learning technologies. The patent currently applies only to the online distance education format.