【域外法学论坛】Randolph教授：美国金融危机与不动产抵押

     另附：关于奖学金申请的具体说明

Interviews for Scholarship for LLM Study in America

April date in Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Beijing

The University of Missouri, Kansas City, actively recruits Chinese students to study for the LLM degree. We currently have four Chinese students in the LLM program, and thee more in our J.D. program. Kansas City has long had an interest in China, dating back to the time of Edgar Snow, who was born and raised in Kansas City. Many famous Chinese scholars have served as Edgar Snow Scholars at our campus, including Han DePei, the eminent law scholar from Wuhan University.

An interview is a required part of the admissions process, and also may be a way for you to learn more about our school.

I will be in Guangzhou for interviews on Saturday and Sunday, April 9 and 10 at the White Swan Hotel.

I will be in Beijing for interviews on Monday and Tuesday, April 11 and 12 , on the campus at Peking University in the office of my Center for Real Estate Law in the Law School Building.

I will be in Hangzhou for interviews on Thursday and Friday, April 14 an 15. I hope that those from that area, including Shanghai and Nanjing, will be able to see me then. I will be at a hotel, and will inform you later of the exact hotel name.

I do not presently have plans to visit other Chinese cities, but if I have a large number of applicants, I may do so.

To make an interview appointment, please contact by email my assistant, Jennifer Gordon, at the following email address: jswdk7@umkc.edu.

Graduates of our law program have found jobs working at prominent international law firms in Beijing, and in America and for the World Bank.

Although it is true that not all admitted students receive visas, we have had more than 70% of the students admitted receive visas over the last three years.

If you wish to know more about our program, you can read the information set forth below or can contact me at prandolph@umkc.edu

We also have one full three year scholarship for our J.D. program for a Chinese student, and have awarded that scholarship for next year, but are interested in interviewing students as future candidates for this scholarship.

Here is more information about the UMKC LLM Program:

Information about the L.L.M. Program at UMKC School of Law

The University of Missouri, Kansas City (UMKC) has a special interest in working with students from the mainland of China and invests considerable resources in establishing and maintaining contact with such students, both through University programs in China, J.D. admissions and scholarships, and L.L.M. programs and scholarships in America. This message will let you know about the L.L.M. program, cost of the program, financial aid opportunities, and the experience of studying at UMKC.

1. The L.L.M. Program at UMKC:

The L.L.M. program for foreign students at UMKC is a two semester resident program that is a “general law” program. Unlike some other American programs for international students, our program does not provide intensive classroom instruction in a particular area of law, such as intellectual property, international transactions, or international environmental law. An L.L.M. student can undertake study in any of these areas under faculty supervision, but there is no course of studies specifically for L.L.M. students these or any other identified area.

The general law program, rather, provides the opportunity to foreign students to identify a course of studies that best matches the individual student’s learning objectives. Students can select from among any of the courses available to J.D. students.

Our program does offer one course designed specifically for foreign L.L.M. students - a specialized introductory course to writing and research in American law. This course is offered in the first semester and prepares students for the thesis requirement, which students usually undertake in the second semester. Students are not required to take this course, but virtually every foreign L.L.M. chooses to do so.

Every L.L.M. student must complete a thesis under faculty supervision prior to receiving a degree. Some students complete the thesis after they complete their two semesters of course work, while others do the thesis while they are still taking courses. Students can opt to write a these for as little as two credit hours or as many as eight credit hours. Including the thesis, students must complete a minimum of twenty four credit hours. Thus, if the student elects to write an eight credit these, this will reduce the required time in other courses to 16 credit hours. If the students elects only a two unit thesis, the student will be required to take 22 credit hours in other courses. The L.L.M. thesis must be completed within three years of the time that L.L.M. course work has begun, but typically it is done much sooner. Frequently, however, international students continue to work on the thesis after they have finished their two semesters of course work. The degree is conferred only when all required work is performed, including the thesis requirement.

Every L.L.M. student is assigned to a specific faculty advisor who works with that student throughout the time here. The faculty advisor will work with the student on the selection of courses and will recommend courses that meet the student’s needs. This advisor may also be the thesis advisor, but another thesis advisor may be appointed - for instance, if there is another faculty member who has more expertise on the student’s thesis topic, this faculty member might serve as a separate thesis advisor.

Students are required to maintain a 3.0 average to receive the degree. Because of the fact that foreign students have less background and some language obstacles to face, however, we offer foreign L.L.M. students in most courses the option to request a separate method of evaluation for course credit, so that the foreign students are not forced to compete for grades with the regular J.D. candidates. Some of our foreign students have opted, for instance, to write a final paper in a course, rather than to take the final exam. Further, the thesis can be for graded credit and can thus resolve problems that may have arisen with grades during course work.

II. Costs of the Program; Financial Aid:

Fees for the 2005-2006 academic year have not yet been established, we estimate that the total cost of studying at UMKC for the L.L.M. will be about $31,500. This includes the cost of living, food, books, and tuition. It does not include transportation to the U.S. This cost is much lower than many other schools, because tuition and living costs are considerably lower in Kansas City. Current information regarding educational fees and student program fees may be obtained from the university,s website at: http://www.umkc.edu/cashiers.

UMKC annually has three partial scholarships available to L.L.M. students. From time to time, we are able to offer additional similar scholarships. In 2002-2003, for instance, in the end we awarded five such scholarships. The scholarship provides a gift of about $11,000 toward fees. You must still have the rest of the money available to you in an account in order to acquire a visa to come here. When you arrive, you likely will be able to earn about $2500 toward your expenses through work study opportunities.

To summarize: If you receive one of the scholarships, you will need to have available to you approximately $20,500 to cover all costs in order to get your visa. You perhaps will be able to earn some money after you arrive, so you won’t have to spend this entire amount, but you must show that it is available.

If you are offered a partial scholarship, you must promptly inform us that you are accepting the scholarship and must withdraw applications to the L.L.M. or J.D. programs at other American law schools and file no further such applications. As there are only three partial scholarships committed to us by the university, we wish to be confident that students who receive them will actually come here. Further, if you are unable to obtain a visa after a reasonable opportunity to do so, we reserve the right to award the scholarship to another.

III. The Experience of Learning at UMKC:

UMKC has a long tradition of involvement with many educational institutions in mainland China. Edgar Snow, a famous journalist and friend of China, was born and raised in Kansas City, and the University honors him by preserving his papers on campus in the Edgar Snow Reading Room and through various cultural and scholarly exchanges. Much of this activity is carried out by the Edgar Snow Memorial Fund, which also was instrumental in creating the reading room.

The Law School’s program is not directly related to the Edgar Snow Memorial Fund, but, like the Fund, the Law School’s activities in China also involve a wide variety of faculty and student exchanges. Eight law faculty have taught in China, and each year we send three more to teach at Peking University Law School. UMKC also operates a summer program for American students at Peking University. Several law faculty are engaged in research on comparative law topics involving China, providing useful opportunities for students to serve as work/study research assistants. In Summer, 2001, the Law School co-sponsored with Peking University Law School a major conference in Beijing on Regulating the Real Estate Market. One hundred leading Chinese scholars attended.

Chinese students who have attended UMKC universally praise it for its friendliness and special attention to the needs of foreign students. The campus is located in a thriving city, with an active Chinese community and many cultural opportunities off campus. There are over 1000 foreign students enrolled at UMKC, and the International Students Association is quite helpful for newcomers. But Chinese students find that they can easily interact with American students as well. Housing is available a short distance from the law school, and the community, as compared to many other urban centers, is clean, safe and uncrowded. Studying at UMKC is an ideal opportunity to experience American culture while studying American law. Centrally located in the U.S., with a busy international airport, Kansas City is a good base for traveling to other American cities during the period of study here.

IV: How to Apply:

We encourage students to apply early. We make every effort to arrange a personal interview prior to the admissions decision, and will notify you of opportunities to have such an interview. Scholarship decisions will be based upon academic record and English proficiency. We require a minimum TOEFL score of 550, but 600 is the minimum score for a scholarship.

The application to the L.L.M. program is available on the Law School’s website at:

http://www1.law.umkc.edu/admissions/

Note that the L.L.M. program for foreign students is the “general law L.L.M.”

You also will need to be admitted to the University as an International Student. You can obtain the application for admission at:

http://www.umkc.edu/admit/intl-app.pdf

Note that you will need Adobe Acrobat on your computer to download these PDF files. Adobe Acrobat available free and can be downloaded over the internet.

We review specially all applications from China. If you wish, we will make a determination as to whether you are likely to receive a scholarship before we require you to pay the application fees. This, of course, will lead to some “slow down” in the process. Any such determination is dependent upon payment of the applications fees and your final acceptance as an international student.