Animals, Community and the Law Online Certificate Program

Overview
Enhance your resume with professional certification in a field growing in importance at state and local levels. Gone are the "dog catchers" of yore. Companion animals have become family members. Deer, bears, and wild turkeys are suburban co-habitants. Exotic or dangerous animals cause fear and sometimes injury to their owners, neighbors, or passers-by. In short, animals have become important elements of urban, suburban, ex-urban, and rural communities.

Animal issues engage a network of stakeholders including government officials, health officers, public administrators, advocates, community leaders, public safety, animal control officers, shelter administrators, and pet owners. Animal policy and practice has become a distinct area of public administration, while knowledge and application largely remains the purview of law schools.

The Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration and Lawyers in Defense of Animals Certificate in Animals, Community, and the Law makes available to all these stakeholders knowledge and applications often reserved to law school students. The Certificate consists of three knowledge courses and a practicum. Courses are taught by board members of Lawyers in Defense of Animals, Inc. Law, scholarly articles, media reports, and court cases provide in-depth exploration of animals' interests, guardians' interests, and community interests in addressing issues where interests intersect.

Students learn how courts and legislative bodies address some issues, and what issues have yet to be addressed. These courses explore legal theory in the context of practical knowledge needed to deal effectively with animal issues. Legal knowledge is not required for these courses. They are designed to be accessible to all.

Each online course in the series is ten weeks in duration and the cost per course is $600. An introductory discount of 50% for each course is available to students taking the courses during the 2009 Calendar Year, making the tuition per course $300. Each course is enrolled separately by clicking on the links below for each course number.

To enroll for graduate credit (graduate enrollment is billed at the 2008-2009 academic tuition rate of $560. per credit hour. Please call Judith J. Kirchhoff at 973-353-1351 for graduate credit information.