School of Criminal Justice
Ruth Stevens

Assistant Professor
Grand Valley State University Telephone: (616) 331-7173
School of Criminal Justice Fax: (616) 331-7155
253-C DeVos Center E-Mail: stevenru@gvsu.edu
401 W. Fulton Street
Grand Rapids, MI 49504
Professor Stevens joined the faculty of the School of Criminal Justice at Grand Valley in fall 2008. She has taught Introduction to Law, Legal Research and Writing at Grand Valley and also serves as the Legal Studies Coordinator. She looks forward to teaching Women and the Law and other Legal Studies courses in future terms. Stevens is an active member of the Libraries and Legal Publications Committee of the State Bar of Michigan and has authored a number of articles on the topic of legal research in the Michigan Bar Journal. She contributed to a bibliography on the topic of legal reference services to the public that was published in Law Library Journal in fall 2008 and is currently working on a profile of one of the first women attorneys to practice in Grand Rapids. Her interests also include research on public access to legal information and the teaching of legal research skills.
Professor Stevens received her undergraduate degree in history from Harvard University and her law degree from the University of Michigan. She started her career as an attorney with Legal Aid of Western Michigan and continued practicing law as a staff attorney and then managing attorney for UAW-GM Legal Services. She left UAW-GM to join Davenport University where she served for a number of years as a professor and the director of its paralegal studies program. While at Davenport, she received the Mentor Award from the Legal Assistants’ Section of the State Bar of Michigan in recognition of her work to advance the paralegal profession at the local and state level. She is happy to be a member of the Grand Valley community and looks forward to working with students, faculty, and staff.
B.A. in History, Harvard University, 1975
J.D. University of Michigan, 1980
M.L.S. Wayne State University, 2005
Publications:
“State Primary Law Materials in a Digital Era”, Michigan Bar Journal, July 2009, vol. 88, number 7, pp. 20-25, co-author, Jane Edwards.
“RSS Feeds: Worth Another Look”, Michigan Bar Journal, January 2009.
“Legal Information Services to the Public SIS, 100 Law Library Journal 4, 728, Fall 2008, co-author John Cannan.
“Print and Online Resources for Factual Investigation in Connection with Real-Estate Transactions”, Michigan Bar Journal, November 2007.
AALL LISP Michigan Public Libraries Toolkit, November 20007, co-author, Anne Cottongim, see http://www.aallnet.org/sis/lisp/michigan.doc.
Page last modified April 8, 2010
