Program Design for
Newcomers
a presentation by
Ken Rosenblum
Touro College – Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
Charlotte Taylor
DePaul University College of Law
Dennis Tonsing
Roger Williams University Ralph R. Papitto School of Law
Carole Wastog
Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville
This presentation will
consist of two parts:
 Identifying the goals of your
program
 Identifying the different ways
to meet those goals
 What are the
Goals of the Program?
From the perspective of:
• The Dean
• The Associate/Assistant Dean
• The Faculty
• The Students
• You – the ASP professional
What are the
Goals of the Program?
•
•
•
•
•
Retention
Recruitment tools
Access to information
Increase Diversity
Resource for
Students
• Prevent isolation of
minority students
• Appease students
•
•
•
•
Bar Prep
Teach Skills
Teach Substance?
Help the bottom of
the class
• Target “at risk”
students
• Make your school
look good
 How do you implement
those Goals?
Looking at four different “case
studies”
– Touro College
• Ken Rosenblum
– Roger Williams University
• Dennis Tonsing
– DePaul University
• Charlotte Taylor
– Louis Brandies School of Law
• Carole Wastog
Program Design for
Newcomers
a presentation by
Charlotte Taylor
Assistant Dean for Multicultural Affairs
DePaul University College of Law
co-author of Bridging the Gap Between College and Law School: Strategies
for Success (Carolina Academic Press 2001)
How do you implement
those Goals?
• A Case Study – DePaul
– Goals at DePaul
• Target & retention of “at risk” students
• Assist students in jeopardy
• Access to information
– DePaul began as a program for minority
students and has now become a program for
all “at risk” students
Goal – Target & Retention of
“at risk” students
• “Small” twice weekly classes
for “at risk” students
– Other students can get in from
wait list
– 2 strikes and you’re out
– Class focuses on skills and
NOT substance
– Use as text Bridging the Gap
Between College and Law
School: Strategies for Success
by Stropus and Taylor
Goal – Assist students in
academic jeopardy
• Small classes and/or
individualized help for
students in academic
jeopardy
– Depends on what students
need and want
– Offer counseling for personal
and academic problems
– Same focus is on teaching
skills (outlining, exam prep,
etc. again using Bridging the
Gap by Stropus and Taylor)
Goal – Access to Information
• Monthly workshops
– that focus on skills for all
1st year students
• Website
– that includes presentations from
monthly workshops, tips on time
mgmt, outlining, etc., links to
websites with practice exams & more
• ASP library
– with various study aids for students to borrow
• Materials on reserve in law library
– with videotapes from monthly workshops
as well as handouts, study aids, etc.
Remember: two steps to creating or
modifying a program:
1. What are the goals of your program?
2. How will you implement those goals?
Roger Williams University
Ralph R. Papitto School of Law
Academic Support Program
Spring 2002
What we’ll cover . . .
Input, Buy-In, Idea Generation
ASP Program Objectives
ASP Program Components
Input
Denise
Roussea
Laurie
u
Barron
Conferences with Law School
Faculty & Administration . . .
Robert
Webster
John
Christel
David
Diana Hassel
Moffa
Gail
Ertel
Zlotnick
Chelsie
Colleen
Winso
Horne
Michael
Murphy Ed
David Rice
n
Eberle
Yelnosky
Carl
Peter
Louise Teitz
Bogus
Linda
Harvey Emily
Margulies
Paul
Jessica
Kathleen Vieira
Rishikof Sack
Elizabet
Vivieros
Elliott
h ColtBurch Nancy
Tony
Robert Kent
Larry
Simpson
Ritchie
Waggner
Debra
Lisa
LucindaEllen
HarrisonCohen
McElroy Jonathon
Chrissy
Saidema
Cox
Andrew
John
Bruce
Gutoff
Mann
n Kogan
Horwitz
Kunich
Kim Baker
Kathy
Class of
2002
Input
Class of
2003
Conferences & Luncheons with University
Administration & Law School Student Groups . . .
Law
Review
Student
Affairs
Dean
Richard
Stegman
Learning
Specialist
Laura
Choiniere
Alumni
Moot Court
Academic
Developmen
Security
t
Director
Evening
Dean
Bruce
Division
Michael
Class
Bowie
Students
Cunningha
of 2004
m
SBA
Multicultural
Officers &
The Docket
Law Students
Class Reps
(School
Association
Newspaper)
Academic Support Program
Specific Objectives
Supplement
the curriculum
with a of
Assist astudents
with Barnetwork
Examination
Provide
comprehensive
variety
of opportunities
enhanceand
preparation.
presentations,
activities,totutorials,
learning
skills
and develop
more
workshops
designed
to stimulate
efficient,
methods
of studying,
learning effective
and amplify
the classroom
comprehending,
and writing in the law
experience.
school environment.
Academic Support
Program Overarching
Objectives
Demystify
Law School
Accommodat
e Disabled
Students
Provide
Schema
Familiarize with
Law School
Exam
Preparation
Prepare
Students for
Law Practice
Encourage Bar
Exam
Preparation
Decrease
Isolation
Help Students Achieve
Fluency in the
Language of the Law
Maximize
Academic
Potential
Teach Students
to Teach
Themselves
…Helping Students Achieve
Their Objectives
Achieve your triple objective:
• Personal best grades
• First time bar passage
• Deep, rich foundation
for the professional practice of law
ASP Program Components
. . . designed to help students develop fluency in
comprehension and production, as well as
specific classroom, examination, and practicerelated skills.
Fall 2002
Program Components
Orientation 2002
Weekly writing sessions
Essential skills presentations
Simulated examination sessions
One-to-one mentoring
Orientation 2002
Objective
Empower the students to learn, so
they may begin their law school
studies as informed, confident
students from the first day of class.
Fall Semester Bridge to Exams
Weekly Writing Sessions
(directed toward exam writing)
•
•
•
•
•
Group instruction
Immediate feedback
Principles of organization
Automatization of process
Emphasis on analysis
Essential Skills Presentations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
How to Brief Cases
Taking Notes in Class (& What to Do with Them)
Manage Your Life & Manage Your Time
Creating Super Course Summaries (Outlines)
Study Environment, Study Tips, Study Groups
Powerful Exam Answering
Flow Charts and Graphic Organizers
Your Academic Support Program announces…
A lawyer’s time is her stock in trade.
Your time – your life – is valuable.
Learn “hands-on” management
skills every law student should know
– and every lawyer must know!
You can’t afford the time
to miss this presentation.
I’ll show you how to make
time for law and life!
Time Management
“A lawyer’s time is his stock-in-trade.”
Abraham Lincoln
Busy Lawyers Carefully
Balance their Professional
Practice with . . .
Family
Social
Spiritual
Needs & Obligations
Physical
How much do lawyers work?
(Example of a light work schedule)
8:00 – 6:00 & 7:30 – 9:30
7:00 – 6:00
8:00 – 5:00 & 7:00 – 9:00
8:00 – 5:00 & 6:30 – 10:00
8:00 – 5:00
Saturday – 9:00 – 1:30
So should busy law students.
That schedule allows for . . .
Eight hours of sleep each night
Light (or “working”) lunches each day
Dinner with family or friends each evening
One night out or with family during the week
Friday nights out or with family
Saturday afternoons and evenings to relax
Exercise five times during the week
Sundays completely free
Sample One-Week Schedule
Monday
Tuesday
Wed.
Thursday
TORTS
CIVIL
PROC.
TORTS
CIVIL
PROC.
Friday
7:00 to
9:00
9:00 to
10:00
CRIM.
PROC.
10:00 to
11:00
11:00 to
Noon
CONT.
CONT.
LEGAL
METH.
Noon to
2:00
2:00 to
3:00
3:00 to
6:00
6:00 to 7:30
7:30 to
9:00
9:00 to
11:00
LEGAL
METH.
PROP.
CRIM.
PROC.
CRIM.
PROC.
PROP.
CIVIL
PROC.
Sat.
Sunday
Sample One-Week Schedule
Monday
Tuesday
Wed.
Thursday
Friday
TORTS
CIVIL
PROC.
TORTS
CIVIL
PROC.
CRIM.
PROC.
10:00 to
11:00
11:00 to
Noon
CONT.
CONT.
3:00 to
5:00
5:00 to
6:00
CLASS
HOURS
15
LEGAL
METH.
LEGAL
METH.
Noon to
2:00
2:00 to
3:00
Sunday
SLEEP
HOURS
56
7:00 to
9:00
9:00 to
10:00
Sat.
PROP.
CRIM.
PROC.
CRIM.
PROC.
PROP.
CIVIL
PROC.
STUDY
HOURS
40
6:00 to 7:30
7:30 to
9:00
9:00 to
11:00
OTHER
PARTS
OF LIFE
HOURS
57
Sample One-Week Schedule
SLEEP
HOURS
56
NOTICE THE
CLASS
HOURS
15
BALANCED
LIFE
STUDY
HOURS
40
OTHER
PARTS
OF LIFE
HOURS
57
Don’t let law school overwhelm you!
We help students become lawyers.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION ANNOUNCEMENT
Creating the Exam-Targeted
Course Summary
Creating the Course Summary
It’s like writing your own book!
How to Create Your
Course Summary
Think of your outline as a completed
jigsaw puzzle – put all the pieces of
what you’ve learned into one cohesive
picture.
How to Create Your
Course Summary (cont’d.)
• Break each rule into component parts (elements)
– Provide the standard, test, and any exceptions for each
element
– Define each term
• (These standards, tests, exceptions, and definitions will
eventually provide shape and structure for your examination
answers)
Important!
How to Create Your
Course Summary (cont’d.)
• Identify the policy reasons behind each rule,
element, standard, test and exception
WHY?
Professors love
policy!
Summarizing without policy is like learning
chess moves without learning when
or why to make the moves . . .
Study Tips
Study Tips
• Recognize (discover?) your most effective
learning styles, and adjust accordingly
–Visual/Verbal
–Visual/Nonverbal
–Tactile/Kinesthetic
–Auditory/Verbal
• Try the “Learning Style Survey”
http://silcon.com/~scmiller/multiple/multiple_choice_questions.cgi
Study Tips
• “SQ3R” active reading method
–Survey (pre-reading)
–Question
–Read
–Recite
–Review
Use of Graphic Organizers
Spider Map
Cycle
Network Tree
Fishbone Map
Responding to Hypotheticals
How to answer law school essay exam
questions
Exam answer analysis
• “Interweaving” begins . . .
– Ask: How do relevant facts relate to this law?
• Scrutinize the facts in relation to the law
– Ask: Are any facts ambiguous as related to this law? If
so
Hint:
Usually, Plaintiffs and
Defendants have different
interpretations
Congratulations! You have
discovered a discussible issue . . .
Address alternative interpretations
Presentation Aspect
• Never discuss what the professor expressly tells
you not to discuss
• Always discuss what the professor expressly tells
you to discuss
Simulated Exam Sessions
“Students who took practice exams in the fall
session raised their GPAs by 1.5 points if they
attended at least one workshop. …
Students who actually write out a dry-run test or
two are less likely to be shocked into writer’s block
when they face their first real exam.”
Kristine Knaplund
UCLA Law School
Simulated Exam Sessions
“The best way to prepare for your law exams . . . is
to take some law exams. If you want to develop a
facility for clearly applying the law you have
studied to new facts, the best way to do it is to
practice at it.”
Joseph Glannon
Suffolk University
Law School
Simulated Exam Sessions
• Two-hour Torts session
• Two-hour Contracts session
• Each repeated several times
– Thursday, Friday, Saturday
• Answer guides (not answers)
• Self-critiquing guides
• Peer-critiquing encouraged
Bar Exam Preparation
Panel of Experts
Conference with Dean of Students
Bar Mentoring Program
MBE Preview Sessions (Litvin)
Essay Exam Writing Workshop
RWU Professors on R.I. topics
Practising (sic) Law Institute Multistate Review
“Program Design for
Newcomers”
Thursday June 20, 2002
2002 LSAC National Academic
Assistance Training Workshop
Carole A. Wastog
Louis D. Brandeis School of Law
at the University of Louisville
• Law school is affiliated
with the university.
• Total law school
enrollment
approximately 380
students.
• One academic support
professional, Director
Carole Wastog, halftime.
My Office
Brandeis Academic Support
Program
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Justification of the Program
Summer Program
Advising
Tutoring
Resource Library
Workshops
Probation Students
Web Page
Justification of the Program
• Lower Attrition =
More Money
• “Plus” for Recruitment
• Happier Alums =
More Money
Summer Program
• Monday through Thursday,
6:00 – 8:30 pm for four weeks
• Legal Writing with a law
professor
• First-year doctrinal course with
a law professor
• Introduction to law school,
studying, exams, etc. with
Academic Support Director.
• (See Linda Feldman’s
“Summer Program Design” on
Friday at 1:30.)
Advising
• Assessment for all students
(learning styles).
• Course selection
• Personal concerns affecting
academic performance (with
severe problems referred to
professional counselor)
• Liaison between students and
administration
Tutoring
•
•
•
•
•
Optional attendance
Selection of tutors
Tutor training
First-year classes only
(See Kristine
Knaplund’s “Using TA
s Effectively” on
Friday at 1:30 pm)
Resource Library
• Various study aids
available for all students
to sign out free of charge
• Materials donated by
students or publishing
companies
• Students help themselves
• Benefits for students
Workshops
• Time/Stress Management
• Test-taking tips and study
strategies
• Bar Exam (see Kamita and
Nygren’s “Programs for
Improving Bar
Pass/Upper-Level
Students) on Friday at
1:30pm
Probation Students
• Students with a
cumulative GPA of
below 2.0 are required
to meet with Director
• Students’
responsibility to
continue working with
Director
Web Page
•
•
•
•
Resource library database
Tutoring schedule
Workshop schedule
Link to other important
sites
• (see “ASP Outreach:
Technology and Web
Design on Friday at 1:30)
Questions?
• Carole A. Wastog
• 502-852-8956
• c.wastog@louisville.edu
“Program Design for
Newcomers”
Thursday June 20, 2002
2002 LSAC National Academic
Assistance Training Workshop
Carole A. Wastog
Louis D. Brandeis School of Law
at the University of Louisville
• Law school is affiliated with the
university.
• Total law school enrollment
approximately 380 students.
• One academic support professional,
Director Carole Wastog, half-time.
Brandeis Academic Support
Program
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Justification of the Program
Summer Program
Advising
Tutoring
Resource Library
Workshops
Probation Students
Web Page
Justification of the Program
• Lower Attrition =
More Money
• “Plus” for Recruitment
• Happier Alums =
More Money
Summer Program
• Monday through Thursday,
6:00 – 8:30 pm for four weeks
• Legal Writing with a law
professor
• First-year doctrinal course with
a law professor
• Introduction to law school,
studying, exams, etc. with
Academic Support Director.
• (See Linda Feldman’s
“Summer Program Design” on
Friday at 1:30.)
Advising
• Assessment for all students
(learning styles).
• Course selection
• Personal concerns affecting
academic performance (with
severe problems referred to
professional counselor)
• Liaison between students and
administration
Tutoring
•
•
•
•
•
Optional attendance
Selection of tutors
Tutoring training
First-year classes only
(See Kristine
Knaplund’s “Using TA
s Effectively” on
Friday at 1:30 pm)
Resource Library
• Various study aids
available for all students
to sign out free of charge
• Materials donated by
students or publishing
companies
• Students help themselves
• Benefits for students
Workshops
• Time/Stress Management
• Test-taking tips and study
strategies
• Bar Exam (see Kamita and
Nygren’s “Programs for
Improving Bar
Pass/Upper-Level
Students”) on Friday at
1:30pm
Probation Students
• Students with a
cumulative GPA of
below 2.0 are required
to meet with Director
• Students’
responsibility to
continue working with
Director
Web Page
•
•
•
•
Resource library database
Tutoring schedule
Workshop schedule
Link to other important
sites
• (see “ASP Outreach:
Technology and Web
Design” on Friday at 1:30)
Questions?