Law School Academic Support Blog

Law School Action Comics #11

(Alex Ruskell)

 

Call for Proposals AALS Section on Academic Support

Call for Proposals

AALS Section on Academic Support

January 2016 Annual Meeting in New York, New York

 

Raising the Bar

 

As law schools react to a changing bar exam landscape, many schools have adapted new and different programming to meet the current needs of students.  Bar exam support and preparation is no longer something that begins post-graduation, and its influence can be felt from admissions through curriculum planning and beyond. This program will explore how schools strive to stay ahead of trends, analyze data and out-perform their predictors in order to help their students succeed on the exam.

 

Topics might include, but are not limited to: statistical analysis of bar exam data and results; innovative programs for preparing students for the bar exam; curricular changes based on exam results and preparation; criteria for selecting students to participate in bar preparation programming and identifying at-risk students. 

 

Preference will be given to presentations designed to engage the workshop audience, so proposals should contain a detailed explanation of both the substance of the presentation and the methods to be employed.  Individuals as well as groups are invited to propose topics.  The Committee would prefer to highlight talent across a spectrum of law schools and disciplines and is especially interested in new and innovative ideas. Please share this call with colleagues—both within and outside of the legal academy and the academic support community.

Proposals must include the following information:

1.  A title for your presentation.

2.  A brief description of the objectives or outcomes of your presentation.

3.  A brief description of how your presentation will support your stated objectives or outcomes.

4.  The amount of time requested for your presentation. No single presenter should exceed 45 minutes in total.  Presentations as short as 15 minutes are welcomed.

5.  A detailed description of both the substantive content and the techniques to be employed, if any, to engage the audience.

6.  Whether you plan to distribute handouts, use PowerPoint, or employother technology.

7.  A list of the conferences at which you have presented within the last three years, such as AALS, national or regional ASP or writing conferences, or other academic conferences.  (The Committee is interested in this information because we wish to select and showcase seasoned, as well as fresh, talent.)

8.  Your school affiliation, title, courses taught, and contact information (please include email address and telephone number).

9.  Any articles or books that you have published that relate to your proposed presentation.

10. Any other information you think will help the Committee appreciate the value your presentation will provide.

 

Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so please send yours as soon as possible, but no later than Wednesday, March 25^th at 5pm to Danielle Kocal, Pace Law School, [email protected].  If you have any questions, please email Danielle Kocal or call 914-422-4108.

The Section on Academic Support Program Committee:

Danielle Kocal, Chair

Goldie Pritchard, Past Chair

Robert Coulthard

Steven Foster

Marsha Griggs

Melinda Drew

Myra Orlen

ASP Section Chair:  Lisa Young

 

Director of Bar Success at UMass

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS DARTMOUTH

POSITION DESCRIPTION

 

OFFICIAL JOB TITLE:	Director of Bar Success	DIVISION:	Academic and Student Affairs
		DEPARTMENT:	School of Law

 

FLSA STATUS:		Exempt
REPORTS TO:		Director of Teaching and Learning Methods
SUPERVISES:		May supervise student employees and provide functional supervision of clerical/administrative staff.
SUMMARY PURPOSE OF POSITION: The Director of Bar Success will work with the Director of Teaching and Learning Methods, as well as faculty and staff, including the Director of Graduate Academic Resources and Legal Writing Center, to assist students and graduates as they prepare for the bar exam, both as they progress through Law School and after they graduate.   Develops, coordinates, and implements school-wide initiatives to improve bar passage, including joint workshops and courses, and meetings with students, graduates, Academic Success professionals and faculty.
EXAMPLES OF PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:   Implements, evaluates, and enhances existing bar-preparation services. Improves and expands existing programs, including:  providing a clearinghouse of bar preparation, collaborating with commercial bar preparation companies to assist students with their bar preparation efforts, working with ASP staff to coordinate a mentor program to provide individual mentors to graduates preparing for the bar, tracking at-risk students’ preparation for the bar exam and performance on the exam, and providing resources for repeat bar exam takers. Helps individual students and graduates develop and execute customized study plans and strategies for passing the bar exam. Creates individual student plans of study after one-on-one meetings with all 2L, 3L, and 4L students. Individual student and graduate counseling and mentoring. Provides advice on course selection. Provides general assistance about bar application completion. Meets regularly with students and graduates who are preparing for the bar exam and reviews sample bar exam essays. and provides analysis and feedback to help them improve their writing skills. Instruction in workshops and for-credit course. Coordinates instruction and assessments for or teaches for-credit bar preparation course and provides feedback on student work product. Analyzes bar exam results (including statistical analysis) and provides regular reports concerning results. Provides bar-related information to faculty members regarding topics tested and recent bar exam questions in the faculty member’s area of teaching and encourages and supports faculty development with respect to the bar exam. Develops web page and other communications describing bar support program and services. Stays abreast of bar exam developments in Massachusetts and nationally and of developments in the delivery of bar support by law schools. Regularly attends and develops relationships at regional and national bar support professionals meetings, with efforts to develop leadership role. Perform other duties as assigned.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
EDUCATION:	Juris Doctorate
EXPERIENCE:	Previous (one year or more) experience teaching.
OTHER:	Evening and weekend work will be required.  Travel will be required.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES REQUIRED: Strong interpersonal, organization, analytical and public speaking skills. Ability develop and manage higher educational programs Knowledge of academic programs pertaining to law school students. Knowledge of educational theories and learning styles/disabilities. Knowledge of and ability to perform research and statistical analysis. Ability to work independently and be a self-starter, demonstrated initiative. Able to relate to students, faculty, University personnel, and external constituents. Demonstrated creativity. Ability to follow-through.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: Masters in Education (or related degree) Experience teaching law students, including experience during law school Bar support work at a Law School Experience working with the Massachusetts bar exam

 

Note: Other job related duties and responsibilities may be assigned and/or the job description changed periodically to reflect changing organization needs.

Note: All position descriptions need to be completed and approved before recruiting activities begin.  All updated or revised administrative position descriptions must be approved by the appropriate Vice Chancellor/designee and the Associate Vice Chancellor of Human Resources/designee.  All new administrative position descriptions must be approved by the Vice Chancellor/designee, Associate Vice Chancellor for Affirmative Action/designee and Associate Vice Chancellor of Human Resources/designee.  If applicable, the Office of Human Resources will provide notice to and consult with the union representative.                                February 2015

 

Nix the Acronyms

The Legal Skills Prof Blog recently posted this reference to a short piece on acronyms. I agree that acronyms and other abbreviations can cause confusion, ruin the flow of an essay, and cause the reader frustration. The article suggests a few useful guidelines on when to use them and when to avoid them. I have even had one bar examiner tell me to instruct students that their bar exam essays should not read like a text message. In an acronym, twitter/text, abbreviation heavy culture, this is a good reminder. Thus, I advise my students that when they are in doubt, they should write it out.

(LBY)

Asst Dean of Law Student Affairs--St. Marys, TX

Assistant Dean of Law Student Affairs

St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas, seeks an Assistant Dean of Law Student Affairs.  The position reports to the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs. The Assistant Dean of Law Student Affairs is a senior administrator of the Law School whose primary responsibilities focus on the academic, intellectual, psychological, and personal aspects of student life at the law school. This position will be responsible for managing all aspects of student life in the law school, including promoting student engagement in law school life, supervising law student activities and organizations, developing new organizations that promote service and professionalism, coordinating professional and social opportunities to engage law students in university life and to encourage law students to develop and maintain a professional manner and demeanor.  The Assistant Dean must also have a commitment to leadership in a Catholic and Marianist institution, which fosters quality education in a family spirit; to pursue service, justice and peace and prepare for adaptation and change, while encouraging each person in their own way in their formation in faith.

Applications can be found at http://stmarytx.applicantpro.com/jobs/.  Along with the employment application please submit (1) letter of application addressing interest in position, (2) curriculum vita, (3) official graduate transcript confirming the Juris Doctor degree, (4) three letters of reference. For further inquiries, please contact Victoria Mather, Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs at [email protected].  Review of applications will begin on February 9, 2015 through March 10, 2015. 

Teenage Lobotomy

To paraphrase the late, great Romantic poet Joey Ramone, "technology did a job on me, now I am a real sickie …"  

A very nice and very lost old woman with a pie showed up on my doorstep at 8 p.m. last night.  Unfortunately, the pie was meant for the occupants of another house on a nearby street.  She asked me where the street was, and, as I considered the ethics of grabbing the pie and slamming my door, I gave her some vague directions.  Mainly, I pointed and said, "It's kinda over there."  In my mind, I was picturing the street that was one street over and perpendicular to my front door.  The old woman disappeared into the night.  I went inside and ate two Entenmann's chocolate donuts (the rich man's Hostess!) and watched my son play either a freeform jazz version of "Baba O'Reilly" or "Hot Cross Buns" on his clarinet.

The next morning on the way to school, I realized the street the old woman was looking for was actually the street behind my house.  I have lived here for three years, and I know of the existence of the street, that friends of mine live on it, and that it is somewhere in my neighborhood, but I was wrong about where it actually sat.

Now, I may simply be a clueless bozo, and I realize that any success I have ever had was because of my staggering good looks, but I started wondering about why I didn't actually have my neighborhood (or city for that matter) mapped out in my head by street names.  I can get anyone anywhere in Columbia as long as I am driving, but if someone asks me to explain HOW to drive somewhere, I'm pretty sure I couldn't do it.

Street names seem like a basic piece of information I should know -- clearly, they represent the physical structure of the world around me and are meant to provide points for my memory to grab onto -- but I don't know them.

In the past couple of years, I have had more than one conversation with a law student where I have asked, "And who is your professor for ….."  More times than I would've thought, they actually didn't know the professor's name.  At first, I found this completely mind-boggling, and then I started thinking about my problem with streets.

The thing is, with GPS and Googlemaps and my phone I have no reason to learn street names, and that technology has basically made me stop paying attention so I never learn them.

I think the same thing has happened with our students, but over a longer period, and without a B.T. ("Before Tech") Era where they had to rely on their own memory to get places or know things.  Tech has made a lot of memorization absolutely unnecessary.  During the old days, for many classes, at the end of the day I probably didn't HAVE to know my professors' names -- I knew where the class was, I knew the class hour, and I was studying the material so I could handle myself if called on -- but, because I was used to having to memorize things like streets and state capitals, my brain naturally picked up the professor's name and threw it in Ye Olde Memory Hole.

With the amazing amount of computing power sitting in all of our pockets, memorization is pretty much as dead as disco.  If I want to know a state capital or how many hits Ted Williams had, I can immediately look it up on my phone.  For the digital natives we are currently teaching, they had a schooling where it was basically unnecessary to ever memorize anything.  I think in many ways their brains are not used to having to memorize and "know" things to be able to use the information, so many of them don't naturally grab pieces of information by default.

So, when I have a student in trouble, I counsel them to memorize law the old fashioned way -- by memorizing their outline, putting it aside, and then writing it out, by hand, on a yellow legal pad.  I'm not a big fan of turning them to online types of techniques, like apps or sites with flashcards or what not.  As much as I can, I want to get the computer out of it, because I feel like that caused the problem in the first place.

(Alex Ruskell)

 

   

Fair Treatment

In a lot of respects, Legal Writers have struggled with (and sometimes overcome) the professional challenges many ASPers face. Professor Ralph Brill brings some of these to light in his response to a University's President's Frank Look at Law Schools.  Professor Brill's response also briefly touches on the disparate impact to women when Legal Writing, and I submit ASP, is undervalued. Similarly, Professor Flanagan highlighted sexism in a blog post early this year. It is hard to believe that these are issues we are still grappling with in 2015.

(LBY)

 

How to Know if You are Studying

Law students spend hours and hours studying. A 60 hour week is the norm. The law school study standard is 3 hours of prep for every hour of class. This means actual study time, not time spent in the library. You may think you are productive but are you? Of those 4 hours you spent in the library last night, how much of that time was spent on actual studying? One way to measure it is to track your “billable hours.” Make note of the time you start studying and use the timer on your phone to track how long you are on task. Stop the timer every time you stop studying. Even if it’s just a few seconds, stop the timer. How many times did you stop to read a text, send a text, check twitter feed or facebook updates, talk to someone, get up and stretch, re-organize your materials? This adds up and you are probably not as productive as you think. Once you realize how much time you waste, use the timer to keep you focused. If you plan on studying for 3 hours, you know that reading and responding to a text means stopping the timer and 3 hours can turn into 4 or 5. Would you rather spend that time at your desk or in the library, or would you rather spend it doing something you enjoy? The choice is yours. (KSK)

Law School Action Comics #10

(Alex Ruskell)

Law School Action Comics #9

(Alex Ruskell)