BY
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the Class of ’04 and to reintroduce the Law School Council to all returning students. It is the duty of the Law School Council to project the student perspective to the faculty and the administration. Accomplishing this duty depends on the ability to both gather the student perspective and then successfully articulate it.
To this end, I hope to continue the successful avenues that past Councils have created for gathering student suggestions and opinion. The LSC, under Student Advocate Lowell Plotkin (lplotkin@law), will return the Sound Off Board to the Hark. We will also resume the Issue of the Week, which last year resulted in positive feedback on issues such as winter term, class size and faculty hiring. I would also like to create new avenues for gathering student input, especially between 2L and 3L representatives and their classmates, an area that has not been a central focus in the past.
Past Law School Councils have been able to use the Law School’s faculty committees to articulate the student perspective. The LSC will continue to utilize these formal channels of student input, with a commitment to ensuring that the selected student representatives remain active in their capacities. I believe that the opportunity exists to increase the interaction between LSC representatives and individual members of the faculty, and I hope to implement a structure within the LSC that will allow this to occur. Further, the RECORD has been extremely helpful in keeping the student body actively informed of LSC goals and developments, and I hope to continue this important relationship.
With the introduction of the new Seven Section structure, we are seeing the results of work done by many past Law School Councils. The substance of this new structure and its long-term impact are yet to be determined. The Law School Council plans on hosting town hall meetings, focus groups and individual meetings with faculty to assess and improve the Seven Section format.
Finally, I hope to address continuing student concerns over such issues as online access to registration and grades, and physical improvements to classrooms and the Hark. I would also like to explore the option of further academic changes, including modular-based course offerings for 2Ls and 3Ls. For those that are interested in helping to realize some of these goals, the LSC will be holding elections for all 1L, 2L and 3L representative positions in mid-September.