LSS Showcase

University of Wollongong Law Students’ Society Jessica Dawson, Nathan Johnston and Adam Friend

Because we all have to start somewhere..

 Student engagement  Committee discipline  Liaising with your law school/university/media  Social events  Education  Administration

Student engagement

 It begins on day one!

 Orientation Day  Student feedback is the only way we can improve  Social media – quality over quantity  Communication is important  PLT closure  Keep your LSS/LSA relevant – offer a variety of initiatives, and don’t be afraid to experiment!

Committee discipline

 Code of Conduct  Meeting schedule released well in advance  Strict adherence to guidelines  Combined effort of President and VP Administration

Liaising with your law school/university/media

 Help me, help you  Closure of PLT program – UOWLSS engaged students, gathered feedback and made recommendations  Professionalism is key  Need to maintain long-term working relationship  … but keep in mind – you are there for the students  Faculty merger  Know the facts, don’t make assumptions

Social events

 Get creative  Keep it simple  Timing is key  Gather feedback at the end of your term

Education

 Equity  Careers

Equity

 The Law Student Playbook  First Year Pilot Mentoring  Women in Law Luncheon  #YOLO Week  ALSA Equity Grants  Community Legal Centres project  SCLSS Equity Breakfast

The Law Student Playbook

 4 sections     Introduction Student Life Serious Side Help Desk  Authored by President and VP’s  Designed in Apple’s Pages (big mistake)  Printed with Kwik Kopy  Photos from Photoshutter

First Year Mentoring

 Pilot program only  Second semester; post clerkship applications  40+ first years and 30+ mentors ended in approx. 25 first years : 16 mentors  Engaged the Student Service Advisors  Grievance Officer (senior year rep.)  Mentor guide

Women In Law Luncheon

 On campus  Alumni network – Chief Counsel to the NSW Fair Work Ombudsmen  Friend networks  Small cover charge for charity

#YOLO Week (You Only Lawschool Once)  4 days     Physical wellbeing De-stress Look out for your mates Harmless fun  Coordinating with various other clubs/CSE/university

Careers

 Clerkship Support Scheme          Penultimate Year Dinner Clerkship Expo Clerkship Guide Pimp my CV Covering the Covering Letter Application Bootcamp Ace The Interview Networking After Five Statistics

Careers (cont.)

 Beyond Corporate Careers Seminar Series    Criminal Law Careers Policy Based Careers International Careers  Careers Guide

Clerkship Support Scheme

 Penultimate Year Dinner      Sponsored by faculty, CSE and Careers Central Approx. 20 students 5 clerks from variety of firms Introduction only Guides available  Clerkship Expo     Firms sponsored for Each present on different topic Expo space Ensure students go to EVERY stall

Clerkship Support Scheme (cont.)

 Clerkship Guide    Covered career skills and firm profiles President to coordinate firm material VPE and Careers to do career info  Pimp My CV and Let’s Cover Covering Letters    Careers Central Two sessions per week; full time works and non Registration

Clerkship Support Scheme (cont.)

 Application Bootcamp     Two days in two separate weeks, 10 – 2 Careers Central: application criteria model ways to answer, psychometric testing, student example, how to use CV Mail Subway provided Gave space and time to application criteria

Clerkship Support Scheme (cont.)

 Ace the Interview and Networking After Five     Need to be held sooner Understanding of how the clerkship process works Student Life at UOW run Networking After Five Complain  Statistics  For next year’s sponsorship

Beyond Corporate Careers Seminar  Alumni  Breadth of careers  Q and A style with networking after  Guides present  Food  Registration  No charge  Piggyback other events; second session

Careers Guide

 Create a culture of building  Don’t need to reinvent the wheel  SSAF funded  Online release  Clerkship tear out section  Aim at younger years

Education (General)

 Elective Availability  Second Year PASS

Elective Availability

 Communication  Regular meetings  Cross-Institutional  International short courses; AIM etc.

Second Year PASS

 More than PASSing  Alternative to lack of faculty funding  Property Law  First ranking student  As a ‘tie it all together’ lecture  Pre-exam show bags

Administration

 Welcome to Adam’s amazing meeting minutes!

Meeting Minutes

Handover

 At UOW, we have a comprehensive Handover system, involving the yearly updating of a ‘UOWLSS Committee Position Handbook’.

 Includes:    Preliminary Sections – Nature of Committee/Aims of LSS Constitutional Definition of the Role Progressive Advice/Position Information



Progressive Advice/Position Information

Define the Role From your perspective what were the duties of the role? What areas could the role have covered that perhaps you didn’t have the opportunity to undertake?

 Role within the Committee – How does your role interact with other positions within the committee? What does reporting look like?

 Where is the portfolio now?

you focus on?

–If you had another term what would  Challenges – How did you deal with them? Have you dealt with similar challenges differently to others in this handbook?

 Contacts – What contacts have you made? How helpful were they? Did they seem willing to assist the committee in the future? How indebted is the committee to them? YOU! Would you be happy to assist in the coming years in this portfolio?

Questions?

#gonglyf #welovethegong

Further questions/assistance

Jessica Dawson [email protected]