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Mission Statement & Learning Objectives

The Mission of the Southern Illinois University Simmons Law School is to:

  • transform our students into the lawyers and community leaders of tomorrow, empowered with the knowledge and skills to improve the lives of their clients and communities
  • offer an affordable program that fosters opportunities for students and promotes access to justice for the public
  • serve the public good by producing innovative scholarship, providing legal services to the public, and contributing to the legal profession
  • promote excellence, professionalism, cooperation, and collegiality within the law school community and the profession 

In support of this mission, the faculty have adopted the following educational objectives:

  • Provide students with competency in legal reasoning, research, and writing,  enabling them to become independent life-long learners;
  • Integrate theory and practice throughout the curriculum, and help students develop practice-ready skills appropriate to each stage in their legal education;
  • Foster the ethical and professional practice of law;
  • Provide a diverse educational environment where students are encouraged to examine their values and develop the ability to interact effectively with clients, other counsel, the judiciary, and others in a global society; and
  • Continually examine the effectiveness of the School of Law’s program of legal education and identify new ways to meet the needs of students in an evolving legal environment.

Assessed Learning Objectives

  • Students will demonstrate an understanding of the legal concepts in core subject areas and advanced specialized areas of substantive law and procedural law. 
  • Students will analyze legal problems effectively.   
  • Students will meet the expectations of a professional legal audience and clients when communicating in writing and orally. 
  • Students will conduct accurate and thorough legal research. 
  • Students will incorporate in their work the values and responsibilities of the legal profession. 
  • Students will demonstrate the ability to answer bar exam-style questions by identifying legal issues and correctly applying legal rules and principles under test-like conditions.