Student Profile: Roy Jahchan, MPA ‘11/Law ‘13

Roy Jahchan, MPA '11/Law '13, on a day trip to London, England, during his spring 2011 studies in Public International Law at the Bader International Study Centre.

After completing an undergraduate degree in political science in 2009, Roy Jahchan, MPA ‘11/Law ‘13, says he felt fairly certain he was ready for law school. But instead of pursuing a law degree the following September, he spent a year working for the federal government as a program officer for the temporary foreign workers program. “If a company was trying to hire a foreign worker, I had to analyze the labour market to make sure that there wasn’t a Canadian who could do that job,” he says. “I had to ensure people were getting a fair wage, and that the environment was up to the right standards.”

Roy says he enjoyed learning about all kinds of businesses, while seeing how they interacted with both the government and the law. “I realized the intersection between policy and law, that the law is built on a policy bedrock, and that regulation cuts across so many areas of law -- from securities regulation, to land-use planning, to foreign workers.”

For these reasons, when it came to professional training, Roy says the combined program in public administration and law (MPA/JD) at Queen’s was an ideal fit. “I’m interested in the interaction between law and policy, and in the public and private sectors,” he says, “and I figured this program was the best way to study both sides of that.”

Currently in his second year of the program, he has already completed his MPA degree (the focus of first year) and has embarked on the requirements for the JD degree. He spent last summer studying Public International Law at the Queen’s Bader International Study Centre on Herstmonceux Castle estate in England, where he earned enough extra credits to enable him to complete both degrees in three years.

“The MPA/JD program really does give you a holistic view of the issues facing society and the pressures that may be facing a client in a legal situation,” he says. “It has helped me understand the law side of things and the policy side of things, and I’ve attended lots of talks by influential people who are inspiring.”

Read the full article, “Combining Public Administration & Law was a Perfect Fit,” by Meredith Dault, published on the School of Graduate Studies Research website.