The Dean’s Student Advisory Committee (DSAC) meets with the Dean and other invited faculty and staff members to discuss various matters related to the student experience at Oregon Law, share information, and receive feedback and ideas. Student participants may offer ideas for agenda topics through the Dean of Students, who assists the Dean with building the agendas. Student participants include all members of the Student Bar Association Leadership Team as well as additional appointed representatives from each J.D. class. 

Agenda items proposed by the SBA Leadership Team and other student representatives will be chosen based on feedback through the SBA website Contact Us form and information gathered at Town Halls. If a student or organization has an issue or feedback that seems best to be delivered by that student/organization, then they will be invited to attend the DSAC meeting with the Leadership Team. All agendas and minutes will be posted on the SBA website.

the November and january DSAC Meetings were cancelled.

FEBRUARY 24TH DSAC MEETING STUENT TOPIC: TOWN HALL CONTENT

The Career Center has agreed to implement the SBA suggestions derived from student concerns. The Career Center is going to start producing 6 practice area guides. They plan to create a legal market guide in a sophisticated document with link trees to help students locate geographically pertinent information quickly. The Career Center will also begin the practice of the 1L class taking the "LawFit" test before classes begin. The test will help direct undecided students to areas of law they may be best suited for/be interested in. Career Center counselors will also reach out to students in their Foundations class' section to prompt optional semesterly check-ins throughout law school. A PDF of the slides Dean Alonso presented at the DSAC meeting are below. 

October 28th DSAC MEETING STUENT TOPIC: finances

September 23rd DSAC Meeting Student Topic: Career Center

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

1. Students are assigned one career counselor who will follow them throughout their 3 or more years at UO Law. Career counselors would be responsible for reaching out to their assigned students once a semester to request a meeting. Students would be responsible for actually scheduling.

2. Incoming students will take a career and value inventory that will be given to their respective career counselors. The inventories will inform the career counselor of the relevant resources for the student. The idea is that career counselors will be better equipped to give particularized information to each student.

3. The Career Center will create career guides that will be available to all law students. The goal is for the Career Center to produce 12 guides on different practice areas of student interest. 

• Career guides will provide information to answer student’s questions on the following in their chosen practice area: 

  • What is this practice area?

  • In what settings do lawyers in this practice area work?

  • What are the issues covered by this practice area?

  • What are organizations, corporations, private firms, nonprofits, and governmental organizations that are in this practice area?

  • Who are alumni in this practice area I should reach out to?

  • What is the timeline for applying to jobs in this practice area?

  • What are extra-curriculars I should be involved in to improve my resume for this practice area?

  • What classes should I be taking if I’m pursuing this practice area?

• Example: 

  • Harvard Law Career Guides

4. The Career Center will create legal market guides that will be publicly available to law students. Each legal market guide will be focused on a particular city or state market. The goal is for the Career Center to produce 2 guides this year for Eugene and Portland. The guides will help law students understand job outcomes and opportunities in their chosen geographic area.

• Legal market guides will provide info to students that will answer the following questions:

  • Who are alumni in the area?

  • What practice areas are in high demand in the area?

  • What practice areas are in low demand or very competitive?

  • What is the unemployment rate for people with professional degrees in the area?

  • What are the biggest legal employers in the area?

  • What is the typical salary for the most common legal practice areas in the area?

  • What is the cost of living in the area?

• Example: 

  • Georgetown Law All Legal Market Guides

Please let SBA know how well you feel these proposed solutions meet your concerns with the Career Center by filling out this very brief survey. The results of this survey will help SBA push for these solutions or change our direction if need be.