School of Law, School of Continuing Education and Academic Outreach Earn National Award

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Legal e-Source, a multimedia online resource for nonprofit leaders and a collaboration between the University of Arkansas School of Law, the School of Continuing Education and Academic Outreach, and the Survey Research Center, recently won the Innovations in Outreach and Engagement Award from the University Continuing Education Association.

The award recognizes programs that demonstrate the mutual exchange of intellectual resources and expertise between the university and its much broader external community of government agencies, businesses, nonprofit organizations, community groups and individuals.

The University Continuing Education Association, which promotes standards of good practice in continuing higher education, evaluated the program on its successful outcomes, contribution to outreach and engagement, innovation and cost effectiveness.

Launched in 2006, Legal e-Source began with a grant from the Care Foundation Inc. to provide support for Northwest Arkansas nonprofit organizations. It includes interactive legal resources such as video lectures with handouts, a glossary of terms, a decision tree and frequently asked questions.

Tim Tarvin, professor of law and the site’s editor, said the site is the only one of its kind and allows nonprofit leaders to quickly and inexpensively access the information without taking away from their charitable work.

“Part of the value to our users is that the site offers one-stop shopping for the legal information they need,” Tarvin said. “Our site has all of the frequently asked questions from both the IRS and the Secretary of State Web sites. The Secretary of State has even linked to our site so that visitors to their site can easily find ours.”

Tarvin said the site has developed and improved over the last two years, and its success is a direct result of the collaboration between the School of Law and the School of Continuing Education and Academic Outreach.

“We are able to provide this comprehensive resource for Arkansas and the nation because of the team effort of the many people involved,” Tarvin said. “While the School of Law is responsible for developing the site’s content, there are many people in the School of Continuing Education and Academic Outreach who work behind the scenes filming lectures, designing the site and marketing it to potential users.”

In addition to serving as a valuable tool for nonprofit leaders, Legal e-Source also provides opportunities for students to learn more about the nonprofit sector and to assist organizations.

“We rely on student research assistants and members of Equal Justice Works, a legal student organization, to keep the site updated and accurate,” Tarvin said. “Student volunteers organize training sessions and donate their time to perform legal research using the latest technology. These students model the ethical mandate that lawyers should use their legal education to give back to the community.”

Tarvin said he and the others involved have big ideas for the site’s future.

“Our biggest goal is to find a permanent source of funding for the site,” Tarvin said.  “We also hope to introduce a number of technological features including podcasting, closed captioning and a blog and to double the number of video lectures to better serve our users.”

For more information about Legal e-Source, visit http://www.uacted.uark.edu/legalesource/index.html.