Vermont Law and Graduate School Learning Outcomes

• Bar Exam Preparedness and Skills: Graduates will possess the skills needed to successfully perform on the bar examination taken.
• Professional Responsibility and Ethics: Graduates will be able to work respectfully, ethically, and productively with diverse clients and legal professionals. They should possess the skills needed to recognize and resolve dilemmas in an ethical manner.
• Foundational and Substantive Legal Knowledge: Graduates will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of substantive and procedural law, and the role of law in society.
• Foundational Legal and Advocacy Skills: Graduates will be able to independently and collaboratively engage in legal research, legal analysis and reasoning, and problem solving and communicate effectively and persuasively.
• Service to Society: Graduates will understand an attorney’s obligation to engage in community and public service.

• Legal Literacy: Graduates will be able to evaluate environmental law and policy.
• Legal Institutions: Graduates will be able to effectively engage the institutions and individuals that influence environmental law and policy.
• Ecological Literacy: Graduates will be able to assess the social and ecological impacts of environmental law and policy.
• Problem Solving: Graduates will be able to formulate solutions to environmental law and policy problems.
• Professionalism: Graduates will be able to work effectively in a professional work environment within and across diverse groups of people with varying backgrounds and perspectives.
• Communications, Advocacy, and Leadership: Graduates will be able to communicate effectively as advocates, leaders, and problem-solvers.

• Foundational and Substantive Policy and Knowledge: Graduates will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of substantive environmental and climate policy and its role in society.
• Foundational Policy and Advocacy Skills: Graduates will be able to independently and collaboratively engage in policy research (both qualitative and quantitative), analysis, and problem solving and communicate effectively and persuasively orally and in writing.
• Commitment to Equity and Service: Graduates will analyze the impact of current and proposed policies on individuals and communities historically marginalized and underserved by political systems. Graduates will consider diverse perspectives and navigate the complexity that comes with multiple perspectives; listen while withholding judgement about the new or unfamiliar; reassess their personal perspective when appropriate; and seek points of connection and interact substantively with those who are different from themselves. Graduates will appreciate the importance of serving all communities and stakeholders in policymaking.
• Professionalism: Graduates will demonstrate an understanding of professionalism that involves working effectively inclusively and co-creating an environment where each perspective is considered for the cooperative purpose of making progress toward common goals. Graduates will interact respectfully and appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts.

• Foundational and Substantive Policy and Knowledge: Graduates will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of substantive and procedural energy and environmental policy and its role in society.
• Foundational Policy and Advocacy Skills: Graduates will be able to independently and collaboratively engage in energy policy research, analysis, and problem solving and communicate effectively and persuasively orally and in writing.
• Social, Economic, and Ecological Influences: Graduates will be able to analyze the social, economic, and ecological impacts of energy law and policy.
• Professionalism: Graduates will demonstrate an understanding of professionalism that involves working effectively inclusively and co-creating an environment where each perspective is considered for the cooperative purpose of making progress toward common goals. Graduates will interact respectfully and appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts.

• Foundational and Substantive Policy and Knowledge: Graduates will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of substantive food system policy and its role in society.
• Foundational Policy and Advocacy Skills: Graduates will be able to independently and collaboratively engage in policy research (both qualitative and quantitative), analysis, and problem solving and communicate effectively and persuasively orally and in writing.
• Commitment to Equity and Service: Graduates will analyze the impact of current and proposed policies on individuals and communities historically marginalized and underserved by political systems. Graduates will consider diverse perspectives and navigate the complexity that comes with multiple perspectives; listen while withholding judgement about the new or unfamiliar; reassess their personal perspective when appropriate; and seek points of connection and interact substantively with those who are different from themselves. Graduates will appreciate the importance of serving all communities and stakeholders in policymaking.
• Professionalism: Graduates will demonstrate an understanding of professionalism that involves working effectively inclusively and co-creating an environment where each perspective is considered for the cooperative purpose of making progress toward common goals. Graduates will interact respectfully and appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts.

• Foundational and Substantive Policy and Knowledge: Graduates will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of substantive and procedural animal protection policy and its role in society.
• Foundational Policy and Advocacy Skills: Graduates will be able to independently and collaboratively engage in policy research, analysis, and problem solving and communicate effectively and persuasively orally and in writing.
• Commitment to Equity and Service: Graduates will understand the importance of serving and analyze the impact of longstanding policies on historically marginalized and underserved individuals and communities. Graduates will evaluate diverse perspectives and navigate the ambiguity and complexity that comes with multiple perspectives; reassess their personal perspective when appropriate; listen while withholding judgement about the new or unfamiliar; and seek points of connection and interact substantively with those who are different from themselves.
• Professionalism: Graduates will demonstrate an understanding of professionalism that involves working inclusively and co-creating an environment where each perspective is considered for the cooperative purpose of making progress toward common goals and interact respectfully and appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts.

For each of the following Program Learning Outcomes and their listed Proficiencies, and upon completion of the Master of Arts in Restorative Justice (MARJ), graduates will be able to:

1. Restorative Justice Literacy: History and Foundations:
   1.1 Identify and describe the core principles, philosophy, and theory of restorative justice.
   1.2 Explain the history of restorative justice, particularly its global indigenous roots.
   1.3 Recognize the problem of cultural appropriation and various strategies for RJ practitioners to avoid or ameliorate it.
   1.4 Critique restorative justice to identify its limitations, barriers, and failings.
   1.5 Devise solutions and approaches to infuse restorative values and practices into existing systems and institutions.
   1.6 Formulate new restorative systems, policies, programs, or processes across contexts.
2. Restorative Justice at Different Levels: Internal, Interpersonal, Institutional, Systemic:
   2.1 Differentiate between restorative justice applications at micro and macro levels: internally, interpersonally, institutionally, and systemically; and be able to evaluate and assess situations and relationships across those dimensions and express the potential of restorative justice to address each meaningfully.
   2.2 Identify what it means to “live restoratively” and reflect on its relevance to one’s own thinking patterns, values, biases, assumptions, and behaviors. Develop relational policies for institutions.
   2.3 Create opportunities for institutions to connect and collaborate on implementing restorative approaches.
   2.4 Evaluate the relationship between interpersonal and systemic harm (especially structural racism) and the potential of restorative justice to meaningful address each.
   2.5 Critique where restorative justice has fallen short in addressing broader structural inequities, where it has contributed to structural harms, and propose new approaches to address these harms.
   2.6 Identify the breadth and depth of trauma individually and systemically in society by recognizing behaviors and impacts of trauma; assess those behaviors and systems with a trauma-informed lens.
3. Legal Foundation and Literacy:
   3.1 Compare and contrast restorative justice laws and policies with prevailing legal and regulatory systems.
   3.2 Assess harms caused by the current legal and regulatory systems in the United States and consider how change is possible. Evaluate and develop restorative approaches to replace or integrate into the legal and regulatory systems where possible, creating systemic change and growth.
   3.3 Identify institutional and systemic policies and practices that exacerbate trauma and maintain discriminatory application.
4. Restorative Justice Practice and Facilitation:
   4.1 Evaluate conflicts, issues, and harms through a restorative approach across contexts, and determine appropriate restorative responses.
   4.2 Formulate and facilitate a variety of restorative processes demonstrating a set of skills-based competencies.
   4.3 Adapt practices based on an identification and understanding of trauma and adverse childhood experiences to support participants in a restorative process.
5. Restorative Justice Research and Evaluation:
   5.1 Assess how restorative justice works and how to ensure successful processes with fidelity to restorative values while considering limitations and barriers to implementation.
   5.2 Evaluate the evidence-base for restorative justice, identify gaps, conduct and/or review research, and propose new restorative applications.
   5.3 Define measurable outcomes across restorative practices and evaluate those outcomes to inform future practice.
6. Communication, Advocacy, and Leadership:
   6.1 Develop ways to deconstruct power imbalances, creating systems and situations that invite all voices and interests equally.
   6.2 Persuade orally, visually, and in writing as advocates, problem solvers, and catalysts for change.

For each of the following Program Learning Outcomes, upon completion, students will:

1. Gain both general and specific knowledge of the U.S. legal system and other legal systems specific to their area of interest
2. Learn the process of legal analysis and develop practical skills to evaluate and understand legal systems in practice, cases, statutes, and public policy in the U.S. and in other countries from comparative perspective;
3. Enhance other critical professional skills used in a wide range of professions, including negotiation, critical thinking, research, client advocacy, and written communication.

• Bar Exam Preparedness and Skills: Graduates will possess the skills needed to successfully perform on the bar examination taken.
• Professional Responsibility and Ethics: Graduates will be able to work respectfully, ethically, and productively with diverse clients and legal professionals. They should possess the skills needed to recognize and resolve dilemmas in an ethical manner.
• Foundational and Substantive Legal Knowledge: Graduates will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of substantive and procedural law, and the role of law in society.
• Foundational Legal and Advocacy Skills: Graduates will be able to independently and collaboratively engage in legal research, legal analysis and reasoning, and problem solving and communicate effectively and persuasively.

• Foundational and Substantive Policy and Knowledge: Graduates will demonstrate mastery of substantive environmental and climate law and policy and its role in society.
• Foundational Policy and Advocacy Skills: Graduates will independently and collaboratively produce in policy research (both qualitative and quantitative), analysis, and problem solving and communicate effectively and persuasively orally and in writing.
• Commitment to Equity and Service: Graduates will analyze the impact of current and proposed policies on individuals and communities historically marginalized and underserved by political systems and design means to address them. Graduates will consider diverse perspectives and navigate the complexity that comes with multiple perspectives; listen while withholding judgment about the new or unfamiliar; reassess their personal perspective when appropriate; and seek points of connection and interact substantively with those who are different from themselves. Graduates will engage in practices that account for all communities and stakeholders in policymaking.
• Professionalism: Graduates will work inclusively and co-create an environment where each perspective is considered for the cooperative purpose of making progress toward common goals. Graduates will interact respectfully and appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts.

• Foundational and Substantive Policy and Knowledge: Graduates will demonstrate mastery of substantive energy and environmental law policy and its role in society.
• Foundational Policy and Advocacy Skills: Graduates will independently and collaboratively produce in policy research (both qualitative and quantitative), analysis, and problem solving and communicate effectively and persuasively orally and in writing.
• Commitment to Equity and Service: Graduates will analyze the impact of current and proposed policies on individuals and communities historically marginalized and underserved by political systems and design means to address them. Graduates will consider diverse perspectives and navigate the complexity that comes with multiple perspectives; listen while withholding judgment about the new or unfamiliar; reassess their personal perspective when appropriate; and seek points of connection and interact substantively with those who are different from themselves. Graduates will engage in practices that account for all communities and stakeholders in policymaking.
  Professionalism: Graduates will work inclusively and co-create an environment where each perspective is considered for the cooperative purpose of making progress toward common goals. Graduates will interact respectfully and appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts.

• Foundational and Substantive Policy and Knowledge: Graduates will demonstrate mastery of substantive energy and environmental law policy and its role in society.
• Foundational Policy and Advocacy Skills: Graduates will independently and collaboratively produce in policy research (both qualitative and quantitative), analysis, and problem solving and communicate effectively and persuasively orally and in writing.
• Commitment to Equity and Service: Graduates will analyze the impact of current and proposed policies on individuals and communities historically marginalized and underserved by political systems and design means to address them. Graduates will consider diverse perspectives and navigate the complexity that comes with multiple perspectives; listen while withholding judgment about the new or unfamiliar; reassess their personal perspective when appropriate; and seek points of connection and interact substantively with those who are different from themselves. Graduates will engage in practices that account for all communities and stakeholders in policymaking.
• Professionalism: Graduates will work inclusively and co-create an environment where each perspective is considered for the cooperative purpose of making progress toward common goals. Graduates will interact respectfully and appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts.

• Foundational and Substantive Policy and Knowledge: Graduates will demonstrate mastery of substantive and procedural animal protection law and policy and its role in society.
• Foundational Policy and Advocacy Skills: Graduates will independently and collaboratively engage in policy research, analysis, and problem solving, and communicate effectively and persuasively orally and in writing.
• Commitment to Equity and Service: Graduates will understand the importance of serving and formulate means to address the impact of longstanding policies on historically marginalized and underserved individuals and communities. Graduates will evaluate diverse perspectives and navigate the ambiguity and complexity that comes with multiple perspectives; reassess their personal perspective when appropriate; listen while withholding judgment about the new or unfamiliar; and seek points of connection and interact substantively with those who are different from themselves.
• Professionalism: Graduates will work inclusively and co-create an environment where each perspective is considered for the cooperative purpose of making progress toward common goals and interact respectfully and appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts.

Upon satisfactory completion of the Professional Certificate in Restorative Justice, Certificate recipients should be able to:

• Restorative Justice Theory: Assess restorative justice laws and policy.
• Legal Literacy: Evaluate restorative justice historical and original principles and how they might be modified to address contemporary problems.
• Legal Institutions: Engage institutions and individuals that influence or could influence restorative practices.
• Problem Solving: Analyze opportunities to infuse restorative values and practices into existing systems and institutions.
• Professionalism: Collaborate in a professional work environment within and across divers groups.
• Values: Promote inclusivity, tolerance, empathy, patience, and respect.
• Communication, Advocacy, and Leadership: Demonstrate an ability to communicate orally and in writing as advocates, problem solvers, and catalyst for change.