Law School Academic Support Blog

Watch for a Future Announcement of a New BU Position

Boston University School of Law will be creating a new position - the Associate Director for Academic Enrichment – to provide greater coordination and assessment of the School’s academic skills development programming, bar preparation, and student support services. This position will collaborate with faculty, administrators and students for the shared goal of fostering student excellence in a dynamic and diverse community. Once the AD for Academic Enrichment position description is finalized, it will be posted here, and on the Boston University Human Resources site. Those interested in a preliminary discussion of the position are encouraged to reach out to Associate Dean Gerry Muir at [email protected].

Director of Academic Success Position at Georgetown

Summary of Job Description
Job Number:	20160405
Job Title:	Director of Academic Success - Office of the Dean of Students
Department:	Law Center - Dean of the Students
Grade/Level:
Salary:
Date Posted:	19 MAY 2016

Responsibilities & Qualifications:	Director of Academic Success – Office of the Dean of Students The Georgetown University Law Center seeks applicants for a senior administrative position, the Director of Academic Success (DAS), to begin on or before August 15, 2016.     Reporting to the Associate Vice President/Dean of Students and serving as a member of the student affairs leadership team, the DAS has six primary areas of responsibility, with additional responsibilities as assigned. First, the Director develops, implements and manages co-curricular programs to support the academic development and success of the school’s nearly 2,000 JD students, with a primary focus on first year students. Currently, such programs include individual and group tutorial programs for first year JD students and the 1L 101 continuing orientation program, which features seminars on topics such as study habits, case briefing, outlining and exam-taking. Second, the Director develops resources for and counsels JD students who are having academic difficulty, with a focus on exam preparation and exam-taking strategies. Third, the Director supervises and advocates for the Barrister’s Council, one of the nation’s premier student-run appellate advocacy, trial advocacy and alternative dispute resolution competition programs. Fourth, the Director serves as a senior academic adviser, counseling individual students on academic policies, upperclass course selection, the intersection of academic and career planning, and related personal and academic development issues. Fifth, the Director plays an important role in developing and expanding co-curricular experiential learning opportunities for students, partnering with the Dean of Students and other senior staff to develop and deliver programs that enhance students’ professional success skills. And sixth, the Director supervises the head of wellness programming at the Law Center and collaborates with the Dean of Students to develop the strategic direction for the school’s nationally acclaimed wellness programs. Requirements:  JD from an ABA-accredited law school with a record of academic and extracurricular success in law school At least two years of law practice experience At least one year of law teaching experience or the equivalent, ideally with a focus on legal writing and analysis with superior written, oral and interpersonal communication skills  Ability to think imaginatively and critically about how to measurably improve law students’ academic development, and to design and implement programs to promote that development Ability to work collaboratively with a highly diverse population of students, faculty and administrators, including many students from backgrounds historically underrepresented in law schools Ability to juggle multiple competing priorities and meet firm deadlines Ability and initiative to forge partnerships with faculty, staff, students, alums and the DC legal community Knowledge of and interest in recent changes in legal pedagogy and the legal profession Excellent judgment and natural compassion An appreciation of the wellness challenges confronting law students and practicing lawyers An appreciation of the Jesuit tradition and mission of Georgetown University.    Preferred: Significant experience as a competitor in or coach/instructor of law school moot court and/or trial advocacy competitions.
	EEO Statement Georgetown University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action employer fully dedicated to achieving a diverse faculty and staff. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, national origin, marital status, protected veteran status, disability or other categories protected by law.

 

Director of Academic Success Program at University of Tennessee

POSITION NOTICE
THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE COLLEGE OF LAW

THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE COLLEGE OF LAW invites applications for the position of
Director of its Academic Success Program (ASP). This is a new, full time, non-tenure track position,
added to complement the College’s commitment to helping students develop analytical and other skills
necessary for law school and, after graduation, law practice.

The Director will coordinate and manage the academic success programs at the College of Law.
This includes:
• the fall 1L ASP, which currently consists of a series of lectures regarding time
management, preparing outlines, studying for exams, etc.;
• the spring 1L ASP, which currently involves second and third-year students leading
weekly review sessions for first-year students;
• lectures during students’ second and third year regarding essay exam writing strategies;
• a bar preparation course, given in the third year.

In addition to these coordination and management duties, the Director will have significant
creative input in shaping the future direction of the program, including identification and
implementation of strategies to enhance students’ learning.

This individual, in consultation with the Director of Legal Writing, will also administer and grade
a writing diagnostic for all incoming students and, on the basis of that diagnostic, coordinate writing
workshops throughout the first year for those incoming students in need of additional instruction. The
ASP Director will also meet with, counsel, and tutor students who have been identified as potentially
benefitting from one-on-one instruction regarding legal analysis, legal writing, class preparation, etc.

This individual may have the option of also teaching an upper-level legal writing class to
students who have been identified as potentially benefitting from an additional legal writing class
designed to improve analytical and writing skills. The individual may also have the option to teach the
third-year bar preparation course.

A law degree from accredited law school and indicators of academic success in school are
required. Additional desired qualifications include two years in an academic setting or equivalent law
practice or other experience; superior writing, editing, and analytical ability; and the ability to
understand and criticize legal writing and analysis.

This is a ten-month position with a renewable two-year contract.

In furtherance of the University’s and the College’s fundamental commitment to diversity
among our faculty, students body, and staff, we strongly encourage applications from people of color,
persons with disabilities, women, and others whose background, experience, and viewpoints would
contribute to a diverse law school environment.

To apply, please send a cover letter that addresses your background and experience, with
emphasis on why you would be interested in the position and your teaching philosophy; curriculum
vitae; and the names of at least three references to Alex Long, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at
[email protected] or to the address below:

    Alex Long, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
    The University of Tennessee College of Law
    1505 W. Cumberland Avenue
    Knoxville, TN 37996-1810

All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment and admissions without
regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender
identity, age, physical or mental disability, or covered veteran status.

Eligibility and other terms and conditions of employment benefits at The University of
Tennessee are governed by laws and regulations of the State of Tennessee, and this non-discrimination
statement is intended to be consistent with those laws and regulations.

In accordance with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the
Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990, The University of Tennessee affirmatively states that it does not discriminate on
the basis of race, sex, or disability in its education programs and activities, and this policy extends to
employment by the University.

Inquiries and charges of violation of Title VI (race, color, national origin), Title IX (sex), Section
504 (disability), ADA (disability), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (age), sexual orientation, or
veteran status should be directed to the Office of Equity and Diversity (OED), 1840 Melrose Avenue,
Knoxville, TN 37996-3560, telephone (865) 974-2498 (V/TTY available) or 974-2440. Requests for
accommodation of a disability should be directed to the ADA Coordinator at the Office of Equity and
Diversity.

Academic Support Gets a Nod from Pop Culture!

Boing Boing is one of my favorite websites.  When I was looking at it the other day, I stumbled across a mention of my last academic success book, A Weekly Guide to Being a Model Law Student, which was pretty cool (Amy Jarmon was kind enough to review the book on this site last November, and she said nice things about the illustrations in it, which, if you've ever looked at my cartoons, you know was an incredibly kind and generous thing to do).  Boing Boing mentioned A Weekly Guide to talk about my favorite case of all time, Mayo v. Satan and His Staff, which I use to start off the book. 

Man Sues Satan

Then, I followed the link and saw that Weird Universe, another pop culture website, quoted the entire "academic-success-point-I-was-trying-to-make."

Weird Universe 

So, I am now keeping my fingers crossed for an inexplicable law school academic support shout-out in The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt or in a posthumous Prince song.  In my dreams, I have hope that Prince left a song in his vault called "Law School Academic Support Professionals are 2Funky."

On the serious side, we're going to be using A Weekly Guide to Being a Model Law Student as the required text for our new 1L Orientation at South Carolina, and if you'd like to ask me any questions about it, I'll be at AASE next week.

(Alex Ruskell)

 

Law School Action Comics

(Alex Ruskell)

AASE: Want to be an ASP Mentor next week at CUNY? Need an ASP Mentor to show you the ropes next week at the CUNY conference?

Are you an experienced ASP or bar prep person at a law school? We need volunteer Mentors who have worked in ASP for a number of years to help at the ASP conference. We are also looking for Mentors for next academic year.

The newly formed AASE Mentoring and Continuity Committee will be matching interested ASP mentors with first-time attendees for the annual AASE conference at CUNY next week. If you are willing to Mentor a first-time attendee at the conference, please e-mail Elizabeth Bloom, Chair of the Mentoring and Continuity Committee, at [email protected].

If you are a first-time ASP attendee, the registration form asks if you are interested in a having an assigned Mentor. Please check the “yes” box, and we will happily match you with a seasoned ASP Mentor for the entire conference.  Mentors will assist you with selecting appropriate sessions during the conference, introduce you to other ASP professionals, and answer questions that you might have about ASP in general.

In addition, the Committee provides new ASP members (zero to three years) an opportunity to develop a professional relationship with an experienced ASP professional for an academic year. A sign-up sheet for Mentors and Mentees will be available in the conference packet. Come see us at our table Wednesday morning during the Committee meetings to drop off your sign-up sheet and chat with us about being an academic year Mentor or Mentee. The Committee is currently looking for enthusiastic Mentors for the 2016-2017 academic year. Some of the ways that Mentors can assist new colleagues is to offer professional guidance and support, help develop an ASP or bar-related course, provide feedback on scholarly works, identify professional development opportunities, and assist the Mentee with overall career growth.

We look forward to discussing the Mentoring and Continuity Committee’s future strategies with you at the conference next week.

Reminder: AASE Registration Closes on Friday

REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2016

4^th Annual AASE National Conference

CUNY School of Law

Long Island City, NY

May 24-26, 2016 

To register go to:

http://www.associationofacademicsupporteducators.org/2016-conference.html

You can update your AASE membership at the time of registration!

Congratulations to Katherine Silver Kelly

Hat tip to Mary Beth Beazley for telling us the news from Ohio State. Congratulations to Katherine Silver Kelly, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and Director of Academic Support Program at Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, on her selection as Professor of the Year by the graduating class. Katherine works in legal writing and ASP and is in her fourth year at Ohio State. Her faculty profile is here: Professor Katherine Silver Kelly. Below is a picture of Katherine giving her speech at this year's graduation.

 

 

 

Appalachian School of Law Director of Academic Success and Bar Prep Position

Assistant Professor & Director of Academic Support and Bar Prep Appalachian School of Law

Job Title:
Assistant Professor & Director of Academic Support and Bar Prep

Position Type:
Faculty

Base Pay Band (not including summer stipends or professional development):
$70,000 to $79,999

Job Summary:
To coordinate and supervise the Academic Support and Bar Prep Program at Appalachian School of Law (ASL).

Start Date:
ASL is seeking to appoint a Director of Academic Support & Bar Prep Program (ASP) to begin on August 1, 2016.

Principal Responsibilities:
To work collaboratively with all the faculty to support ASL’s students academically and in preparation for their bar examinations; to teach Legal Strategies I in the fall and Legal Strategies II in the spring to first-year students (ASL’s academic-support courses); to help teach ASL’s Intro to Law Orientation for first-year students; to meet individually with first-year and second-year students who are at-risk academically and other students if requested or if recommended by a professor; to host academic support and bar prep workshops; to monitor learning outcomes; to evaluate data concerning student performance; to support students in their preparation for their bar examinations, including post-graduate support; and to track and report information regarding bar passage and assessments.

Minimum Qualifications:
A JD from an ABA accredited law school; admission to the practice of law from at least one state bar; and at least three years of experience in law school academic support or teaching.

Preferred Qualifications:
Five to ten years of experience working in a higher-education setting in the areas of teaching, academic assistance, academic counseling or similar administrative, teaching, or practice experience; excellent written and verbal communication skills; and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituents within the diverse law school community, including students served by the ASP, faculty, and administrators.

Law School Description:
ASL is located in the scenic, mountainous region of southwestern Virginia. All aspects of ASL’s academic program—from the structured curriculum and the required summer externship to the community service commitment—are designed to respond to the unique needs and opportunities of a law school in this region.

Status and
Appointment Length:
Full-time, 12-months

Closing Date:
The search committee will begin reviewing applications immediately and hopes to conduct a number of preliminary interviews in Long Island City, New York, between May 23 and May 27, 2016, to coincide with the annual meeting of the Association of Academic Support Educators. The search
committee will continue to review applications until the position is filled.

Special Instructions to Applicants:
Candidates should submit a letter of interest, resume, and names of three references with e-mail addresses and telephone numbers to [email protected].

Appalachian School of Law
Assistant Professor & Director of Academic Support & Bar Prep
1. The position advertised: _X_ a. is a tenure-track appointment. ___ b. may lead to successive long-term contracts of five or more years. ___ c. may lead only to successive short-term contracts of one to four years. (Full Time Position) ___ d. has an upper-limit on the number of years a teacher may be appointed. ___ e. is part of a fellowship program for one or two years. ___ f. is a part-time appointment, or a year-to-year adjunct appointment. (One-Year Visitorship only)
___ g. is for at will employment.

2. The professor hired: _X_ a. will be permitted to vote on all matters at faculty meetings.
___ b. will be permitted to vote in faculty meetings on matters except those pertaining to hiring, tenure, and promotion. ___ c. will not be permitted to vote in faculty meetings.

3.The school anticipates paying an annual academic year base salary in the range checked below. (A base salary does not include stipends for coaching moot court teams, teaching other courses, or teaching in summer school; a base salary does not include conference travel or other professional development funds.) ___ over $120,000 ___ $110,000 - $119,999 ___ $100,000 - $109,999 ___ $90,000 - $99,999 ___ $80,000 - $89,999 _X_ $70,000 - $79,999 ___ $60,000 - $69,999 ___ $50,000 - $59,999 ___ $40, 000-49,999 ___ this is a part-time appointment paying less than $30,000 ___ this is an adjunct appointment paying less than $10,000

4. The person hired will have the title of:
___ a. Associate Dean (including Dean of Students).
_X_ b. Director.
_X_ c. Professor (tenure track).
___ d. Professor (clinical tenure track or its equivalent).
___ e. Professor (neither tenure track nor clinical tenure track).
___ f. no title.

5. Job responsibilities include:
_X_ a. working with students whose predicators (LSAT and University GPA) suggest they will struggle to excel in law school.
_X_ b. working with students who performed relatively poorly on their law school examinations or other assessments.
_X_ c. working with diverse students.
_X_ d. managing orientation.
_X_ e. teaching ASP-related classes (case briefing, synthesis, analysis, etc.).
_X_ f. teaching bar-exam related classes.
_X_ g. working with students on an individual basis.
_X_ h. teaching other law school courses (If desired and subject to curricular needs).

6. The person hired will be present in the office and work regularly during the summer months (June – August).
_X_ a. Yes.
___ b. No.

7. The person hired is required to publish, in some form, in order to maintain employment.
_X_ a. Yes.
___ b. No.

This institution is an AA/EEO employer and does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, national and ethnic origin, age, veteran status or political affiliation.

An Interview with Carol Dweck on Mindset

Many of us in ASP have read Carol Dweck's book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, and used her mindset theory in working with students.  The Chronicle of Higher Education has an interesting article based on an interview with Carol Dweck in yesterday's issue. The link is here: Interview with Carol Dweck.

How Gritty Are Your Students?

Hat tip to Scott Johns, University of Denver School of Law, for informing us about a Wall Street Journal article on grit which can be found here: The Virtue of Hard Things. The article talks about Angela Duckworth's research and her book, Grit. Duckworth developed the Grit Scale and found that grit often predicted success better than innate ability. Grit combines passion and perseverance. Duckworth has implemented the Hard Thing Rule in her own family: choosing and committing to one difficult activity that requires daily practice.

Time Management on Multiple-Choice Exams

As mentioned in an earlier post, many law students struggle with time management in exams. Time charting for multiple-choice exams is different than for fact-pattern essay exams. However, time charting is just as important to make sure that a student completes the full exam without rushing at the end or leaving questions blank.

Students often tell me that they have a minute, a minute and a half, or two minutes per question depending on how many questions the professor has announced will be on the exam and the time period allowed. Let's face it, trying to keep those small portions of time in mind over several hours is difficult. You would get whiplash from looking at your watch as you went through 100 questions if you tried to track the time used for most questions.

A time chart with checkpoints is a useful method to make sure you finish the entire exam but do not become hyper about your time per question. The checkpoints provide times when you will evaluate your progress through the exam to see if you are going too quickly or too slowly through the exam.

Most students find that 1/2-hour checkpoints work well if the multiple-choice exam is over two hours long. For shorter multiple-choice exams, 1/4-hour checkpoints may be desirable. The checkpoint alerts you to how many questions you should have been completed by that point in the exam.

Let's say that you have 100 questions to complete in a 4-hour exam. The exam starts at 1:00 p.m. and ends at 5:00 p.m. If you have 1/2-hour checkpoints, the questions will be divided into eight segments. 100 divided by 8 = 12.5 questions. If you round up to 13 questions per checkpoint, you will have 9 questions left to complete in your last half hour of the exam. If you round down to 12 questions per checkpoint, you will have 16 questions left to complete in your last half hour of the exam.

Most students would prefer to complete the 13 questions at each checkpoint and have less pressure at the end of the exam. If they complete the 9 questions in the last segment earlier than 5:00 p.m., they will have time to go back and selectively review some questions. Strategically, most students would choose to have the time chart below using 13 questions per segment:

TIME	NUMBER OF QUESTIONS COMPLETED
1:30 p.m.	13
2:00 p.m.	26
2:30 p.m.	39
3:00 p.m.	52
3:30 p.m.	65
4:00 p.m.	78
4:30 p.m.	91
5:00 p.m.	100

 You can modify the number of checkpoints that you choose to reflect exam issues that you might have with multiple-choice. If you know that you tend to rush through and misread or not spend sufficient time analyzing answer options, you may want additional checkpoints to slow you down. If you know that you tend to overthink and get behind in an exam, you may want additional checkpoints to prevent your bogging down. In either of these cases, you might decide you want 20-minute checkpoints instead of 1/2-hour checkpoints.

Should your reserve time in your chart for review of the test? In the time chart above where you only have to complete 9 questions in the last segment, you will garner a few review minutes automatically if your pace stays the same in that segment. However, if you want specific review time, you will need to subtract your reserved review time from the total exam time and then distribute the remaining time appropriately over the questions to determine your checkpoints. For example, if you reserved 20 minutes out of your four hours, you would have 220 minutes to distribute for 100 questions. You would still need to complete 12.5 questions per segment (rounding up to 13 or down to 12).

If you reserve review time, just make sure that you do not review every question because you are more likely to second-guess yourself and change right answers. Instead go back to select questions where you were unsure about the answer. When you initially complete a question, put a check mark in the margin to indicate when you want to review that question later; always bubble in an answer on the Scantron (if using one) and circle on the test paper the choice you have bubbled. If you do not have time to go back to the question, you at least had an answer indicated rather than a blank.

With the check mark noting later review, also indicate how sure you are about that answer choice - 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, less than 50%. (Some students do not review questions they are at least 80% sure of initially and only indicate lower percentages.) The estimate tells you when you return to the question that you should not second-guess yourself and should only change the answer if you are now more than that percentage sure that the new answer is correct. Practice estimating your degree of certainty when you complete questions during your exam study; you do not want to waste time in the exam trying to determine what 70% certainty is compared to 60%.

If you practice time charting and completing questions at the appropriate pace during your exam study, the methods will be natural when you get into the actual exam. You can also determine ahead whether you are someone who needs additional checkpoints because you are too slow or fast and whether you want to reserve review time or complete the exam using the full time for answering questions once. As soon as the proctor indicates you may begin, you will quickly build your time chart to follow.

If an exam has both a fact-pattern essay portion and a multiple-choice portion, then you will complete two time charts - one for each portion of the exam. For information on time management for fact-pattern essay exams, please see the post on Saturday, April 30th. Good luck on completing your exams! (Amy Jarmon)

AALS Balance Section Topic Call on May 4th: Understanding the Impact of Inadequate Feedback

The AALS Balance Section’s next topic call features Prof. Paula Manning, speaking about her excellent article "Understanding the Impact of Inadequate Feedback: A Means to Reduce Law Student Psychological Distress, Increase Motivation, and Improve Learning Outcomes." 

Here are the details for the call.  Please forward to your colleagues.

What:                   AALS Balance Section Topic Call
                                Effective Feedback

                                Presented by Prof. Paula Manning, Western State

                                College of Law

When:                  May 4, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time

Call-in #:              (712) 432-0850, access code 422626#

Readings:            "Understanding the Impact of Inadequate Feedback: A Means to Reduce Law Student Psychological Distress, Increase Motivation, and Improve Learning Outcomes." 

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1967280

Format:                Presentation by our speaker, followed by discussion                           

Reminder: Deadline for Need-Based Travel Scholarships for AASE is May 6th

AASE is aware that law school travel budgets are dwindling.  In fact, some of you may not even have a travel budget at all.  The purpose of the AASE National Conference is to further the professional development of the academic support community.  To do this we need “you” at the conference.

In order to help subsidize some of the costs of attending the 4^th Annual National Conference in Long Island City, NY next month, AASE will be awarding need-based travel scholarships. More information about the scholarships is attached.

The deadline to apply has been extended to next Friday, May 6.

Best,

Haley

Haley A. Meade ∙ Director of Skills Center ∙ CUNY School of Law ∙ 718.340.4556

AASE NATIONAL CONFERENCE TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIPS

AASE is pleased to announce that we will be awarding a limited number of scholarships to attend the AASE National Conference on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 through Thursday, May 26, 2016, at The City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law, Long Island City, New York. Further information about the conference can be found at www.associationofacademicsupporteducators.org/conferencesevents.html.

AASE is aware that law school travel budgets are shrinking. In some cases, academic support professionals may not even have a travel budget at all. The purpose of the AASE National Conference is to further the professional development of the academic support community. To do this we need “you” at the conference.

To help subsidize some of the costs of attending the AASE National Conference, we will be awarding need-based travel scholarships. AASE members will be given preference when awarding travel scholarships. To become an AASE member, please go to www.associationofacademicsupportproessionals.org.

If you wish to apply for a travel scholarship, please submit the following information to [email protected] by May 6, 2016:
Name;
Position;
School Affiliation;
Email and phone number;
Describe your academic support responsibilities at your school;
State whether you are an AASE member;
Describe the circumstances evidencing a need for a travel scholarship;
State the amount of financial assistance being requested; and
Provide any additional information you feel is relevant to your application.

Reminder AASE Mentors and Mentees

The newly formed AASE Mentoring and Continuity Committee provides new ASP members (one to three years) an opportunity to develop a professional relationship with an experienced ASP professional for an academic year. The Committee is currently looking for enthusiastic mentors for the 2016-2017 academic year. Some of the ways that mentors can assist new colleagues is to offer professional guidance and support, help develop an ASP or bar-related course, provide feedback on scholarly works, identify professional development opportunities, and assist the mentee with overall career growth.

In addition, during the annual AASE conference at CUNY in May 2016, the Committee will be matching interested ASP mentors with first time attendees. If you are willing to mentor a first-time attendee at the conference, please e-mail Elizabeth Bloom, Chair of the Mentoring and Continuity Committee at [email protected].

If you are a first-time ASP attendee, the registration form asks if you are interested in a having an assigned mentor. Please check the “yes” box, and we will happily match you with a seasoned ASP mentor for the entire conference.  Mentors will assist you with selecting appropriate sessions during the conference, introduce you to other ASP professionals, and answer questions that you might have about ASP in general.

We look forward to discussing the Mentoring and Continuity Committee’s future strategies at the May 2016 conference.