preLaw Magazine

Dr. Wood has copies of the last few issues of National Jurist's preLaw magazine available in her office. In this month's issue, learn about th most innovative law schools, plus where to go for intellectual property & technology law or advocacy & dispute resolution. Don't want to take the LSAT? Find out which top law school is dropping the LSAT requirements for its outstanding undergrads. Could this be the wave of the future? (Boyd?!)

This is magazine is a great resource for prelaw students at any stage of the process! Come by and pick up a few copies. Dr. Wood's office hours are M/W from 10 until 12. If you can't make it during those times, send her an e-mail and she'll leave a copy for you on her bulletin board. For more information about this resource, as well as a full online version of the magazine, see the preLaw magazine's fantastic website.

FSU's Summer Program DEADLINE!

Applications Due for FSU's Undergrad Program! Florida State University College of Law’s 2009 Summer for Undergraduates Program Applications must be postmarked March 21 for the law school’s intensive, four-week program. This program provides interested students, particularly those from groups historically underrepresented in the legal profession, with an inside look at law school and the legal profession. The program will run from May 18-June 12, 2009
For more information, visit:
http://www.law.fsu.edu/summer_undergraduates/thinkingaboutlawschool.htm

Leadership Nevada Accepting Applications NOW!

National Education for Women’s (NEW) Leadership Nevada is a non-partisan, statewide, leadership and empowerment program of the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Through skill-building workshops, panel discussions and thought provoking conversations, students learn to see themselves as leaders with the confidence to explore public leadership positions.

The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, developed the innovative program in 1991 and branched out to invite other universities into its Development Network. In 2001, the Women's Research Institute of Nevada accepted CAWP’s invitation to join the NEW Leadership Development Network and in 2003, held its first program. The Women's Research Institute of Nevada at UNLV offers the only site in the southwestern and Rocky Mountain states to host this program.
During the program, you will:

• Mentor with talented and successful Nevada women leaders
• Discover your ability to lead through hands-on skills building
• Create networks with students & leaders from across Nevada
• Learn the needed tools to make a difference.
• Explore the demands of justice based, effective, and ethical leadership in a diverse society.
• Attend informal sessions with Nevada’s finest leaders in politics business, gaming, education, law, community activism, and more!

This Residential training program is scheduled for June 1-6, 2009 on the UNLV campus, and is offered at No Cost!

Meals, housing, transportation, and program materials are paid for by the Women’s Research Institute of Nevada and our community partners

ELIGIBILITY:
Open to any student attending a Nevada college or university who has an interest in learning about women’s leadership and who wants to develop their own leadership skills. Also open to Nevada residents attending school out-of-state. Seniors who are graduating in the spring of 2009 are eligible to apply.

Applications available on the website.

DEADLINE: MARCH 13th, 2009.

** We are extending the deadline through the end of March. PLEASE get your applications in as soon as possible**

Please turn in application & essay as soon as possible, the letters of recommendation can come later.

Feel free to contact Diana Rhodes, Program Director, for more information or if you have questions.

$$ For Political Science Majors!

Applications are now being accepted for UNLV Political Science Department scholarships. Several undergraduate Political Science majors will be selected to receive a $500 scholarship for the Fall 2009 semester. Eligibility requirements are listed below. Application forms are available on the Political Science Department website.

Eligibility Requirements:
• Must complete a UNLV scholarship application
• Must be a UNLV Political Science undergraduate major
• Must be enrolled full time (12 credits or more)
• Must have a cumulative collegiate G.P.A. of 3.25 or higher

Application Procedures:
• Must submit official transcripts for all work completed at universities other than UNLV
• Must present one letter of reference
• A statement of Goals (maximum of 250 words)

Deadline:
Application must be received in the Political Science Department by Friday, April 3, 2009. Recipients will be notified by Monday April 27, 2009

UNLV Prelaw Featured in "Learning in the Future"

UNLV Prelaw's Fan Page has been featured in UNLV Learning Technologies Specialist Michael Wilder's blog, "Learning in the Future." Check it out!

Law School Forums & UNLV

This weekend, I attended the Los Angeles Law School Recruitment Forum. Admissions representatives for almost 150 law schools attended the forum, along with probably 1,000 (or so) prelaw students. Students had the opportunity to mill around, asking questions directly to admissions represenatives from their favorite schools. In addition to this, the forum boastes a prelaw advisors table (at which I served for several hours) where prelaw students could ask questions about the application and admissions process. There were several workshops available, including a "Diversity Information Panel," "Financing a Legal Education," "About the LSAT," and "What Do Lawyers Do?" In all, students appeared to be quite impressed with the forum (see this promotional video on the LSAC website).

The good news is that the Western Association of Prelaw Advisors (WAPLA) is planning to host a similar function right here at UNLV in October, 2009. Keep your eyes right here for updates on the UNLV event!
Because this is in the planning stages, now is the perfect time to make your suggestions known. What kinds of presentations would you like to see at this kind of event? What resources would be helpful to you? Submit your suggestions to UNLV Prelaw's Facebook Page today!

ABA Standards for Law School Faculty

In the March 2, 2009 edition of Inside Higher Ed, Doug Lederman's article (Calling In the Big Guns) details the increasing tensions between the ABA and the American Law Deans Association. Why should we care about this? The debate centers around the freedom of law school deans to set the conditions of employment for their law faculties. The ABA's "Standards on the Hiring and Employment of Faculty Members" presents several restrictions on the law school deans. Lederman characterizes the debate this way:

On one side, many law deans have argued that the requirements represent unwarranted intrusion in their schools' affairs, and drive up costs. On the other are advocates for some law school employees, particularly clinical faculty members and librarians whose status would be most likely to change if the standards were eliminated. They have portrayed the deans' campaign as an attack on tenure and the academic freedom that tenure exists in part to protect, an assertion the deans dispute.

The most important front of this debate has to do with the status of clinical law professors. Because these clinical programs are of such interest and importance to law students, the future of these positions is important to all of us.