Now that Orientation is behind us and the semester is underway, SEE would like to do a recap of orientation week, including hits and misses of its new structure and programming. We will address the Main 1L orientation only in this article, as it was the subject for the most changes this year. If you would like to raise an issue regarding LEO orientation or transfer student orientation, I encourage you to do so by emailing see.law.uw@gmail.com or by commenting below.
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
Registration; speeches to the 1L class; Org Fair
Speeches: The word in the atrium is that Mike Hall again did a charming 1L welcome speech, though it seems he did not pull various and sundry donuts and bacon out of his pocket this year. I guess prop humor must have gone out of style? Also, did Ruth Robards really tell 1Ls, "some of you will get pregnant"? Let's hope she doesn't mean at bar review.
Org Fair: This year the student orgs were furnished with these great posters to help in the recruitment process. Each student org was allowed to choose the pictures and text for its poster, but they all had a cohesive design. The effect was really impressive. Thanks to SBA for purchasing these great signs for all the student orgs! Just in case you're reading this for the pictures:
Thursday, August 26th, 2010
Community Service Day; BBQ
Community Service Day: Everyone had color coded tshirts: red for the 1Ls, grey for the mentors. The color coding helped a lot when 1Ls needed to know who to ask for direction. (They gray was not as flattering, though.) The day started with groups piling onto buses to travel to different nursing homes/retirement communities to volunteer with the elderly. And when I say piled onto buses, I mean it. The group 2/3/9 bus was overloaded. There were more people on the bus than it legally could carry (not cool, organizers). People literally had to stand in the aisles all the way across town. (See photo below)
Once groups 2 and 3 arrived at Coventry Village, the staff welcomed them and was very organized with different activities for smaller groups of volunteers to do. Some worked with seniors one on one, some worked at a rummage sale, some cleaned up the art room, some organized the library, and so on.
After lunch, the majority of groups 2 and 3 had a Q & A with 4 retired attorneys who spoke about their careers and gave advice to new law students. It was amusing as each retired attorney tried to outdo each other with advice and jokes.
The feedback from the students who went to Coventry was pretty positive about the experience, however, other groups report a more disorganized experience. Some places did not have as much to do, and some students complained about performing routine office tasks such as photocopying without connecting with the eldery folks. So while the experiences may have been inconsistent, the return of Service Day seems to have been an overall success.
BBQ: As is customary, a generous smattering of faculty and staff attended the outdoor BBQ (the weather was amazing this year!).
The food was good...
Even more exciting was a visit from Bucky Badger!
This event was both a great way for 1Ls to get to know the faculty and each other, it also provided an opportunity for 2Ls to take a needed break from On Campus Interviews (OCI).
Friday, August 27th, 2010
Case Briefing; Mentor advice; Sample Class; Qlaw reception
Case Briefing: This year the 1Ls were given cases to prep to see what briefing is like. A professor went over the case with them and talked about what should go in their briefs. This came before meetings with small group section leaders to talk academics, which meant when mentors gave ideas on best practices for briefing, students had a basis of reference.
Below, Professor Barkan goes over Hammontree with Camic's small groups:
Saturday, August 28th, 2010
Kickball Tournament; Small section parties
Kickball Tournament: It was a beautiful day for kickball: sunny with a hint of wind. This year marks the start of a long tradition of orientation kickball tournaments for the UW Law School. A trophy is on order, and will list each year's winner in the manner of the Dean's Cup. Since the trophy was not yet ready, this year's champions, Group 2: "Camic Relief", were presented with a Justin Bieber poster.
Small Section Parties: In order to have a more consistent experience, all small groups were to have their parties on Saturday night. Some chose to start with a party at a private residence, and some chose to go directly out for appetizers, etc. (Logan's was a popular destination)
Monday August 30th, 2010
Library Tours; Book buying
Stay tuned for a forthcoming investigation into the Book Mart itself and issues surrounding 1L books this year. See also our article on the need for used copies of the UCC- please email Jason Foster jdfoster@wisc.edu if you have a copy!!
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
Academic Enhancement
I have heard good things about the academic enhancement day- but encourage you to submit specific comments. What did you find most helpful?
Side Note on Mentor Training:
Some students took off a half day of work to come to the mentor training, which ended up lasting 15 minutes. It didn't seem to be the best cost-benefit ratio. The idea was a good one, but maybe there should be some brainstorming on this aspect of orientation before next year.
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