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Alumni Bios

USC Gould School of Law

Debbie Call: Helping to Build USC Gould's Global Network

"A happy alum" is the highlight of Deborah "Debbie" Call's job at USC Gould. Fortunately, she sees a lot of them. Within any given week, a Gould graduate or two will stop by unannounced.

"They tell me how grateful they are for the education they received and talk about what they've done with their lives and careers. They tell me about their kids, their families," says Call. "I just love that. I have to say that is the highlight for sure — when you feel like you've made a difference in someone's life."

As the Associate Dean and Chief Programs Officer, Call oversees all of USC Gould's graduate and international degree and non-degree programs with Assistant Dean Misa Shimotsu-Kim and their team.

Their office oversees six degrees (including the Master of Laws, Master of Studies in Law and Master of Comparative Law), eight certificate programs, two non-degree programs, Summer Law and English, and a Visiting International Program, plus five study abroad programs.

They have just launched two new programs: one that will expand undergraduate law offerings across campus and a new corporate program aimed at marketing our online Master of Studies in Law (MSL) for non-lawyers and online Master of Laws (LLM) programs for lawyers to employers that offer tuition benefits to their employees.

In addition, the office aims to expand online offerings over the coming year, says Call, who brings expertise in business development from her executive roles at Acor Programs Inc., Embassy Communications and Lucasfilm, Ltd.

Still, with all that responsibility for providing an excellent legal education to countless students, visits from alumni are always a high point. "Our alumni are our reason for being here," Call says. "Without them, we would never have had the opportunity to grow and flourish like we have."

The LLM Takes Off

The Master of Laws was the first graduate and international degree, started in 2002 with 12 students. More than 300 are enrolled this year.

"It's really served as the heart and soul of all that we do here," Call says. "We've been able to grow because USC is recognized as an international university, typically in the No. 1 or No. 2 spot in terms of overall international enrollment, and we've been able to take advantage of the great infrastructure the university has in a place that supports international students."

That includes the fact that, since the launch of the USC Village initiative two years ago, USC Gould has been able to guarantee housing to graduate students as residence halls opened up on campus.

In addition, recruiting efforts have been stepped up thanks to international offices overseas — and USC Gould alumni. When Call and her staff review applications each year, they find that alumni referrals are the No. 1 way people learn about the program. "We have a very loyal and very committed alumni body that helps us in our recruiting efforts," she says. "We recruit all over the world, all year round; and in every country we visit alumni help us spread the word and participate in information sessions."

And the reason alumni tout the program? "In exit surveys, graduates consistently say that service and curriculum were the best parts of the degree," Call says. "They felt well-tended while here as students and felt we were committed to excellent education."

Alumni Converge in Tokyo

In the first LLM class in 2002, five of the 12 students were from Japan. "Now 15 years into the LLM program, we have alums at all of the top law firms in Japan, many at the partner level," says Call, who joined Gould before the LLM launch. "We have built a great network over the years with alumni in Japan." In fact, USC Gould enrolls the highest number of Japanese graduate students at USC.

That's why Call is particularly excited that this year's Global Conference, a three-day event organized by USC to showcase creative technologies and innovative research and projects, will be in Tokyo, Sept. 21-23.

While there, Call, Dean Andrew Guzman and Brian Peck (director of Gould's Transnational Law and Business Center) plan to meet with leadership at the law firms that are recruiting USC graduates. Dean Guzman will also give a presentation on Innovations in Global Legal Education and USC Gould will host a special alumni reception.

"I love the opportunity to go to the Global Conference," Call says. "Not only is it great to have alumni come and visit here, but it's really nice to go and visit them in their home countries and get a sense of their contributions to the world."