Florida State University College of Law - Student Bar Association

SBA Year In Review

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW

STUDENT BAR ASSOCIATION

Year In Review

Dear Students,

A year ago, you entrusted us, the 2007-2008 SBA Executive Board to represent you and serve as your "voice" before the Administration.  A year has passed and your SBA has pursued its most ambitious agenda ever.  Although there is still a lot of work to be done, we accomplished many great things this past year.  Below you will find some of what your SBA has worked on this past year.

Thank you for allowing us to serve you! 

-2007-2008 SBA Executive Board 

SBA Community, Educational, & Social Events:

Community

1. Homelessness Awareness Week:

As part of the ABA Law Student Division Work-A-Day Program, SBA sponsored not just one day but an entire Homelessness Awareness Week in an effort to present the issue to our students and to find ways to partner with the local community to combat the growing epidemic of homelessness.

SBA hosted numerous events throughout the week including:

• § "Did you know...?" flier campaign to publicize facts and break down homelessness stereotypes.
• § Homelessness Service Day in cooperation with Big Bend Homeless Coalition where law students volunteered to help the homeless by serving food, meeting with homeless, and providing every day services to the homeless.
• § Homelessness Benefit Social to raise funds for the Big Bend Homeless Coalition.
• § Homelessness Awareness Forum Event- where SBA gathered community leaders and attorneys to discuss the causes of homelessness, the stigmas attached, and the effects on our community. We spent a significant amount of time discussing ways in which we as law students can help combat the problem and help the homeless using our legal skills.
• § Our week also provided a valuable opportunity for students to connect with leaders to perform pro bono work or volunteer to help the homeless in a legal capacity.

2. Raised money for "Leader RAKKSANS" troops in Iraq.  Created a "Happy Holidays" banner signed by entire law school and sent to these mostly 19-21 year old soldiers away from home for the first time.  Also sent blankets and other requested items.

3. "Law Students Helping Sierra Leone"- Held a lunchtime event with a moving video presentation by FSU Alum Mo Haidara.  Raised money with a Sierra Leone Benefit Social at Potbelly’s/Clyde’s raising over $500.

4. Tri 4 Gey II Benefit Social at Clyde’s raising nearly $300 for ALS Research.

5. Diversity Day- held a luncheon event with prominent speakers addressing the importance of diversity in the profession.

Educational

1. SBA’s Mental Health Day:

In conjunction with National Law Student Mental Health Day.  Our SBA raised awareness of law student mental health issues and the resources available to law students.  SBA President Ben Gibson was instrumental in promoting the Law Student Division’s Mental Health Toolkit and the Division’s activities in regards to this Initiative.

Mental Health Day Included:

• § Table setup in the morning with a free, healthy breakfast for all law students and information on the mental health resources available to law students. We also had relaxing stress free music playing throughout the law school and partnered with "JAWS" (Judicial Activities Without Stress) an organization at the law school dedicated to providing stress free family friendly social activities.
• § Drawing for a Free Massage.
• § Provided students with a free copy of "The Hidden Sources of Law School Stress" by Professor Larry Krieger.
• § "Melt Your Stress Away"- a panel discussion on preventing stress from ruining your law school and legal career. Panelists included national expert on law student mental health issues, Professor Larry Krieger, a Legal Writing Professor addressing the mental health issues among 1Ls, a representative from Florida’s Lawyers Assistance, Inc. addressing lawyer substance abuse issues, and our SBA President Ben Gibson, co-author of the Division’s Mental Health Toolkit discussing the student led national Initiative.
• § With over 70 students in attendance, this day was extremely successful in increasing awareness of law student mental health issues.

2. Third Annual Florida Legislative Preview:

• § SBA’s Legislative Preview event was developed in response to our law school’s unique position in the State Capital and to highlight the issues being addressed during the upcoming Florida Legislative Session.
• § The event brought together members from both sides of the aisle including- House and Senate Minority Leaders, Senate Majority Whip, and the Senate Education Chairman. This event was also co-sponsored by the Democratic Law Students Association and the Republican Law Students Association
• § Top issues facing Florida such as rising property taxes, cuts to higher education funding, and Florida’s primary role in the national Presidential election were discussed.
• § The event was moderated by former American Bar Association President Sandy D’Alemberte and student questions were answered concerning the major issues facing Florida and how a law degree can be used for public service.
• § The Legislative Preview has become a staple in the spring semester and has received media attention as an exclusive opportunity for students and the public to speak candidly with elected officials about issues of importance.

Other Educational Events:

• § Held exclusive event with United States Senator Mel Martinez as we welcomed him back to the law school and he addressed the student body.
• § Held an exclusive lunchtime event with Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum
• § Held an Environmental Law Networking Lunch
• § ABA Lunch with Experience Event featuring Holland & Knight
• § Co-sponsored Health Law Society Event @ medical school
• § Held a Corporate Law Panel with 3 professors and 3 practicing attorneys for students interested in pursuing a career in corporate law.

Social Events (Diversified More Than Ever!)

BIG Events:

• § Held SBA’s First Ever Woodser- with over 175 students in attendance!
• § Held Barristers Ball 2008 with record attendance at the University Center Club

More Social Events:

• First ever SBA Bowling Social
• First ever event at Chez Pierre- classy Black & White Social
• 1L and Welcome Back Socials @ Clyde’s
• Halloween Social @ Clyde’s
• 80s Social @ AJ’s
• Socials at Paradigm
• Socials @ AJ’s
• Happy Hour @ Andrews
• Happy Hours @ Finnegans
• Valentine’s Social @ Baja’s
• ELS/Sierra Leone Benefit Social @ Potbelly’s/Painted- raised nearly $500
• Med/Mal Social @ Café Cabernet with Medical School and Nursing School
• Tri 4 Gey II Benefit Social @ Clyde’s- raised $288
• End of Fall Semester Happy Hour for 1Ls at Potbelly’s
• End of Spring Semester Happy Hour for 1Ls at Potbelly’s
• Graduation Bash Social

SBA Improvements to Florida State Law:

At the beginning of 2007, SBA’s Executive Board asked students to set their agenda.  After soliciting students for the top issues facing the law school- students gave SBA seven BIG Goals to work on.

SBA’s Committees were designed around  these 7 BIG Goals.  Here is some of what we accomplished:

Goals:

1. Improve the Job Search Experience

• § Met with Placement Office numerous times throughout year to improve OCI. Addressed student concerns with placement office and created a blueprint for success with suggestions and ideas on improving the student job search experience. Letter delivered to all Administration and Placement Office.
• § Solicited student feedback on out of state locations they would like to work at after graduation. This information was presented to the Placement Office.
• § Worked to decrease perception of OCI as only for the "top 10%" by posting fliers with facts around the law school.
• § SBA hosted panels highlighting different areas of law including attorneys in the field and professors who teach in the area. Panels included international law, criminal law, and corporate law.

2. Diversify Socials

• § Planned entire social calendar a year in advance, better communication, more member benefits tied to socials.
• § Held First Ever Law School Woodser with over 175 students. SBA members taken on party buses to farm with bonfire and live band for a night under the stars.
• § Improved Barristers Ball- provided online ticket purchasing for the first time ever.
• § Held Annual Halloween Social, Black & White Social, Med/Mal Social (with medical school and nursing school), 80s Social, Valentine’s Social, Sierra Leone Benefit Social, ALS Research Benefit Social, Homelessness Benefit Social, Environmental Awareness Social, and numerous Happy Hours throughout Tallahassee.
• § Established Free Taxi Service for SBA members to help reduce drinking and driving.

3. Improve the Current Parking Situation

• § Met with Administration regularly to detail future plan for parking.
• § Lobbied Administration for a parking attendant during high peak parking times.
• § Notified Administration of big events occurring at Civic Center that would affect parking situation.

4. Create Facilities That Meet Students’ Needs

• § Purchased umbrellas for law school patio tables.
• § Collected concerns and ideas for improving the student lounge and presented to the Administration.
• § Created a detailed proposal for student lounge improvements that were adopted by Administration. Lounge to be remodeled Summer 2008.

5. Empower Student Organizations

• § Created an Online Room Reservation Form.
• § Organized a day at beginning of year for Student Organizations to clean out and organize offices
• § Negotiated and worked with both the Student Senate, COGS, and LSAC to ensure adequate and fair funding for all student organizations.
• § Appointed SBA Executive Board Members to serve as liaisons to each organization.
• § Held a "Budget Planning" meeting for all new student organization leaders to learn about funding for their organization.
• § Created a Student Organization Event Calendar to help student organizations in scheduling of events.
• § Created a Law Student Leaders Listserve to allow all organization Presidents to communicate with one another.
• § Held Council of Presidents meetings to allow student organization Presidents to raise concerns and ideas to SBA.
• § Sponsored a "Student Organization Day" along with IPLS to provide student organizations with the information and resources they need to be their best.

6. Increase Communication among Students, Faculty, Administration, and Alumni

• § Created a brand- new innovative website to communicate with students. (Check it out: http://www.fsustudentbar.com).
• § Created a one stop SBA email address for students to submit concerns to SBA: .
• § Created first ever "Welcome to Tallahassee" guide for incoming students.
• § Established Peer Advisors to contact incoming students and to provide mentoring advice concerning Florida State Law.

7. Raise the Bar Passage Rate to 100%

• § Established Bar Prep Bulletin Board in Lounge to provide information for students on timeline they need to prepare for the bar.
• § Regularly promoted Florida Bar Young Lawyer Division networking events.
• § Promoted Bar Prep Services such as BarBri and PMBR to students.

Other Accomplishments:

SBA established the first ever FSU College of Law Speakers Bureau that organized and held exclusive events with:

• § Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum
• § Florida State Legislative Leaders
• § United States Senator Mel Martinez

SBA Reached out to FSU’s undergraduate campus:

• Recruited law students to run for Graduate Senate Seats- victories were overwhelming and for law students to fill positions in COGS.  Speaker of COGS is now a law student.

• § Actively campaigned for newly-elected SGA President and Vice-President making SGA aware of the needs and concerns of law students.
• § Created the position of SBA "Undergraduate Liaison" to reach out to undergrads.
• § Participated in FSU’s Homecoming Parade for the first time.
• § Reached out to undergraduate Phi Alpha Delta.

Created the Most Fiscally Responsible SBA Ever:

• § Implemented a comprehensive budget for first time in SBA’s recent history.
• § Gave each Committee their own budget to promote independence and encourage creativity.
• § Created more accountability and transparency in the spending of student funds.
• § Raised funds through numerous means- dues, t-shirt sales, social sponsorships by local businesses, advertisements in publications, book sales, and exclusive events.

Other Student Services:

• § Brought Student Health Center to law school to deliver free flu shots to law students.
• § Created www.fsu-lawbooks.com to allow students to save money through purchasing required textbooks through Amazon. Part of the proceeds from sales went back to funding SBA student services.
• § Held weekly office hours to allow students to have one-on-one time with SBA Board members.
• § Coordinating the making of a 3L DVD graduation gift

Interaction with Faculty/Administration

When it comes to representing student needs and concerns before the Administration, Florida State’s SBA is at the top of its game.  We have a strong working relationship with the Administration and our SBA President meets weekly with our Dean and Assistant Dean to discuss student issues. Here are a few issues we worked with the Administration on this year:

Improvements to Student Lounge

• § SBA has lobbied for three years for improvements to the student lounge.
• § This year, we collected student ideas and presented a detailed proposal to the Administration for improvements to be made. The Administration was convinced and a complete renovation is expected this Summer.
• § SBA has worked closely with the Administration in planning the overall design and look of the student lounge to benefit law students.

New Student Ranking System

• § When the Administration unveiled a brand new ranking system for students, SBA communicated and worked closely with the Administration to address student concerns about the new system.
• § After SBA worked with the Administration to implement student ideas for improvement, we then in turn worked to educate the student body about the new system.
• § SBA also worked with the Administration to ensure increased opportunities for Transfer Students to participate in our co-curricular activities.

Improvements to the Placement Office

• § SBA has worked closely with and regularly meets with the Placement Office to address student concerns about On Campus Interviewing and the job search experience.
• § Based on student ideas, SBA presented a detailed blueprint to the Placement Office and Administration on how to improve student job search experience. The Placement Office has begun to implement many of the ideas presented by SBA.
• § SBA has solicited students to discover where out of state they would like to work. This information has been compiled and presented to the Placement Office to contact firms in these locations.

Graduation Ceremony Improvements

• § SBA this year created a Graduation Improvement Task Force.
• § This task force comprised of graduating students met with the Administration to implement improvements to the Spring Graduation Program.
• § The Task Force’s suggestions have all been adopted by the Administration.

National and Statewide Promotion of Florida State Law

• § Due to state budget cuts in Florida, funding for higher education has dramatically decreased to some of the lowest levels in years.
• § SBA has stepped up to work with the Administration to find cost-effective ways to continue to promote Florida State Law.
• § SBA contacted State Bar Leaders, Judges, undergraduate pre-law advisors, and other influential members in the legal profession throughout the country to promote Florida State Law.

Student Annual Fund Drive

• § SBA led the way to encourage students this year to donate to the Annual Fund Drive.
• § By further encouraging a culture of philanthropy, SBA created incentives for students to donate.
• § This year we set an all time record with a student giving rate of 67%.

National/Regional/State Involvement:

• Two SBA Executive Board Members serve as National Officers in the ABA Law Student Division
  • Ben Gibson- Vice-Chair/SBA (representing all 196 SBA Presidents in the country)
  • Ashley Ligas- Division Delegate (one of three delegates that lobbies nationally on behalf of law student issues such as Loan Repayment Assistance Programs)

• Attended the ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA.  Represented Florida State Law by voting on important national law student issues in the Division Assembly (no SBA members dues went towards this trip).
• Attended the ABA Law Student Division 4th, 5th, and 6th Circuit Fall Roundtable in Durham, NC (no SBA members dues went towards this trip).
• Attended the ABA Law Student Division 5th Circuit Spring Meeting in Birmingham, AL (no SBA members dues went towards this trip).
• Leading the way to establish a Student Division of the Florida Bar
• Leading the way among Florida Law Schools to establish a Florida Loan Repayment Assistance Program.

Implementing Innovative Ideas to the Internal Structure of SBA:

• Launched SBA Executive. Board Listserve
• Launched LEADERS Listserve for all law school organization Presidents.
• Substantive minutes taken and posted regularly online according to the Constitution
• Budget set and monies allocated to Committees for own programming
• Organized Committees around 7 Goals given to SBA by the student body.  Also created Entities to serve the essential functions of SBA.
• Football tickets handled better than ever before.
• Created SBA Executive Board Organization Liaisons to reach out to Student Orgs.
• Planned entire social calendar a year in advance, better communication, better socials all around, and more member benefits tied to socials.
• Created the best COL t-shirt by SBA and made a profit on those and old polos.
• Created a website www.fsustudentbar.com completely funded through $2,000 of on campus funds from last year.
• Created www.FSU-LawBooks.com to generate revenue
• Purchased a computer for the SBA office using on campus funds from last years Board.
• Used all on-campus funds, allowing less dues money to be spent.
• Have built strong relationship with Faculty/Administration, giving SBA legitimacy and greater ability to bring about change for students.
• Improved election procedures with actual election privacy dividers for voting
• Held a general membership meeting at beginning of each semester that was professionally done and helped showcase SBA to students
• Re-organized locker distributions and records
• Updated and created good solid records of SBA members
• Effectively Lobbied LSAC for additional funds through sweepings
• Partnered with outside organizations for socials: BarBri and FL Bar

SBA Reaching Out to New 1Ls:

• Created first ever SBA "Welcome to Tallahassee" Guide for incoming students and got local sponsors.
• Achieved an overwhelming growth in membership: 75% of 1Ls joined SBA.
• Had a major presence at 1L and Transfer Orientation
• Promoted 1L Rep. position heavily and had a record of 9 students run for the position!