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Joneice Burnett from UNO
speaks with Law College Dean Steve
Willborn after the final session
of a discrimination law mini-course
that Willborn taught during the
Nebraska Pre-Law Institute. Burnett
was one of 29 students to
attend the institute, the first one
offered at UNL.
Students ask questions to
prepare for a final test the one-week
mini-course,
"Discrimination law: empirical approaches,"
taught by Law
College Dean Steve Willborn during the Nebraska
Pre-Law Institute.
Photos by Kelly Bartling.
College
hosts first
Pre-Law Institute
By Kelly Bartling, University
Communications
Some of the 29 students in law dean Steve
Willborn's mini-course
on discrimination may never take another law
class, may never
sit for the LSAT or ever apply to law school.
But for the month this summer that the diverse group of undergraduates
spent studying, reading, writing and taking practice tests, and
talking to Nebraska lawyers and judges, the students had a personal
experience with the scholarship and craft of law.
With the
ability to experience a real class, meet lawyers,
hear about the
profession and learn more about law careers, many
of the 29
Nebraska Pre-Law Institute students now are convinced
that law is
for them.
Some, like Daniel Dawes, a spring graduate of
Nova Southeastern
University in Miami, already knew that law school
was in their
future. Dawes had selected Nebraska last spring after
becoming
interested in law late in his undergraduate career.
"I had no pre-law background and I never went to school
to
pursue a law degree," Dawes said. "But my senior
year I
had an internship in a hospital and I started thinking
that maybe
law would be good for me. I've always had a passion
for health care
administration, but during my internship I thought
the law degree
would make me more marketable in that field."
So Dawes
attended the Pre-Law Institute with the goal of getting
as much
experience as possible in classes like Willborn's one-week
course,
"Discrimina-tion law: empirical approaches."
"I've really gained an insight into what to expect,"
he said, "and I think I've learned some great skills, studying
and writing, that will be important in the fall."
But
others this summer, like Xuan-Trang Ho, a sophomore at
Nebraska
Wesleyan University, hadn't intended to make law school
part of
their career plan - until the institute.
"Now, I'm
very interested, and I'm probably 90 percent
sure I'll go to law
school," Ho said. "The summer institute
really influenced
my decision. The best part was getting to know
more about the
profession, see what a class is like and practice
the LSAT. I was
intimidated at first but now I see how two years
from now my
performance (on the LSAT) will probably be good enough
to get in. I
really, really enjoyed every moment of the institute."
That's good news to the profession, the Law School Admission
Council, the Nebraska State Bar Association, Union Pacific Railroad
and the University of Nebraska, who invited the 29 as part of
an
effort to expose more minorities and under-represented populations
to the promises and challenges of a career in law. Together,
the
sponsors of the summer institute hoped to encourage diverse
candidates to enter the field.
"Part of our goal is
to help the bar become more diverse
and to encourage more
visibility and interest in the profession
among diverse
students," said Willborn, dean of the UNL
College of Law.
"Having these students know more about law
school helps
everyone involved: the students, the bar and the
law college."
The minority institute was the first at Nebraska and one
of
only several in the nation, and the winner of a $100,000 grant
awarded by the Law School Admission Council. The funds helped
provide the classes, materials, on-campus room and board, and
stipends to the 29 participants. Willborn hopes to apply for
and
receive the LSAC grant again.
The students represented
UNO, UNK, Wayne State, Chadron State,
Nebraska Wesleyan, University
of Nevada-Las Vegas, University
of Houston, the University of
Northern Colorado, as well as specially
targeted historically black
institutions who partner often with
UNL: Alcorn State and Florida
A&M Dillard University. Five
UNL students attended, including
recent grad Brent Stanfield,
who also has been accepted to NU law
school.
"It's been great," Stanfield said on the
second-to-last
day of class. "The confidence we've gotten
coming into our
first class is going to be invaluable. Now we
really know what
to expect."
In addition to the
classroom instruction and brief seminars,
tours, practice tests,
advice from professionals and interaction
with their peers, the
students also had input from mentors from
the bar association who
volunteered to help.
"Some of these mentors are
judges, law school faculty,
partners in firms and others who can be
there to lend some advice
or encouragement along the way,"
Willborn said. "Ideally
they can stay in touch by e-mail and
in a couple of years when
they're applying to law school or looking
for advice, they can
be there. I didn't have that when I was an
undergraduate I didn't
know whom to call. This will be a valuable
resource."
Coursework and seminars included legal
writing and Law School
Admission Test prep, study skills,
professionalism, application
process and one-week mini-courses on
civil rights, discrimination,
retirement security, and American
Indian Religious Freedom and
the First Amendment. The students also
had social events, receptions
hosted by groups like the Midlands
Bar Association, and outings
to the Henry Doorly Zoo and Sheldon
Memorial Art Gallery, where
they chatted with Chancellor Harvey
Perlman. State Supreme Court
Chief Justice John Hendry hosted them
at a tour of the Supreme
Court.
"It has been
invigorating for all involved," Willborn
said. "The
students are eager and happy to have this opportunity,
and very
motivated. We've enjoyed meeting and working with the
students it's
been a great summer."
2 UNL offices
have new homes in time for the new year
The start of a new
school year finds two UNL offices in new
locations.
The Office of Extended Education and Outreach and Extended
Education Support Services have moved to the UNL building on
the
north side of 21st and Vine streets, formerly the Cushman
building.
The Office of Admissions has moved many of its staff
members to the
Van Brunt Visitors Center.
The Office of Extended Education
helps academic units develop,
coordinate and promote
distance-delivered graduate programs,
College Independent Study,
Summer Reading Courses and the Independent
High School. The new
location offers better parking for staff
members and visitors, and
for students registering for the program
or using the office's
testing center.
The location has many other benefits, said
Arnold Bateman,
associate vice chancellor for extended
education.
"Being on the east edge of City Campus
offers us closer
proximity to many partnering academic units while
at the same
time keeps us within a quick drive of our East Campus
partners,"
he said.
Bateman said the office
looks forward to showing the new facility
to the campus community.
Plans are under way for an open house
in the next few months. Staff
can find out more about Extended
Education and Outreach and its
programs at <http://extended.unl.edu>.
The Van Brunt
Visitors Center has become the home for the
Office of Admissions
staff members who interact with the public.
Five full-time
Admissions staff members, student tour guides
and other staff work
there. The Admissions office encourages
all visitors to campus to
begin at the Visitors Center, where
on-call staff members are
available to give presentations and
host visitors on campus.
The Alexander Building at 14th and Q streets, which was the
home
of the Admissions Office before the Van Brunt Visitors Center
was
built, is now the Admissions' operations center and houses
other
Admissions and New Student Enrollment staff.
"We have
been operating under this model since the Van
Brunt Visitors Center
opened in February, and we've found it
to be both agreeable to our
visitors and effective for our staff,"
said Admissions Dean
Alan Cerveny.
Andy Schadwinkel from Admissions and Carol
Ash from Extended
Education and Outreach contributed to this
report.
For more information
To reach the Office of
Extended Education and Outreach at
its new home in the former
Cushman building, call 472-2175. Phone
numbers for staff
members have not changed.
To reach the Office of
Admissions at the Van Brunt Visitors
Center, call 472-2023.
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APC
sets 2 budget
hearings
The UNL Academic Planning Committee has scheduled
two public
hearings to gather input on proposed phase 2 budget
reductions
at UNL:
- 1-4 p.m. Sept. 10 in
the University of Nebraska at Omaha
Alumni House, West Boot Hall
Auditorium (67th and Dodge entrance):
hearing on proposed
reductions to the College of Engineering's
Industrial Systems
Technology program and reductions to Omaha-based
classes in the
College of Education and Human Sciences (formerly
College of
Human Resources and Family Sciences).
- 2-4 p.m. Sept. 17 in
the Nebraska Union: hearing on the proposed
reductions to the
Health and Human Performance program in the
College of Education
and Human Sciences (formerly Teachers College).
All
sessions are open to the public. During the first hour
of each
hearing, the public may discuss any phase 2 reduction
while the
remaining time is devoted to invited speakers on specified
topics.
Speakers wanting to provide written material should bring
20 copies
to the session for distribution to the committee.
Chancellor Harvey Perlman made his phase 2 recommendations
June
17, which are now before the APC for hearings and dialogue
with the
campus community. After the hearings, the committee
will return its
recommendations to Perlman, who will render a
final decision later
this fall.
New signs
coming soon on campus
Workers place a prototype sign outside Henzlik Hall in late
July. UNL Facilities and Management has placed several of these
new
signs outside the buildings associated with the College of
Education and Human Sciences. The signs feature the name of the
hall, the name of the college associated with that hall, and
the
departments within that building. According to David Peterson,
associate campus planner at Institutional Research and Planning,
the new building signs will next go up outside the Kauffman Center
and Othmer Hall. The replacement of all building signs on City
and
East campuses will be done over the next few years. Photo by Tom Slocum.
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