a) Working Parties
Unfortunately working party meetings have been postponed this month due to a few hiccups with our teleconferencing facilities. I can confirm this issue has now been resolved and working party meetings will take place across the next fortnight. Further emails will be sent to Council from the Education Officers advising you of times, dates and agendas.
The working party membership is open to all students and involvement is entirely self-managed as to whether you merely participate in meetings or make further contribution. To officially be joined to the membership databases please fill out these forms:
Higher Education: http://alsa.wufoo.
Curriculum Review: http://alsa.wufoo.com/
or email Naomi to join Depression and Mental Health or Social Justice at educationofficer@alsa.asn.
It is strongly recommended at a minimum that your LSS Vice-President (Education), and Education Officer/Director/s join the Higher Education and Curriculum Review Working Parties, and any Social Justice/Equity or perhaps Education Officer/Directors/s join the Depression and Mental Health and Social Justice Working Parties.
Once more regular updates, discussion and media are facilitated via the respective Facebook pages:
Higher Education: http://www.
Curriculum Review: http://www.facebook.
Depression & Mental Health: http://www.facebook.
Social Justice: http://www.facebook.
All agendas, advertising and minutes of meetings will be made available on these pages. Specifically see the HE and CR agenda’s and materials on Facebook and from your prior emails!
It is envisaged that the Depression and Mental Health Working Party will be working on constructing a 5 year plan for ALSA’s Depression and Mental Health progression and LSS Guide. Accordingly diverse contribution is required for these goals to be achieved so please come along or email the Education Team to contribute.
b) Survey
Now handover has most likely officially occurred for the majority of LSS’s, the promises of predecessors was that the new executives would complete the following survey:http://alsa.wufoo.com/
Name and shame will occur in the January Newsletter for those LSS’s who still have not completed this survey. This survey is designed to keep the portfolio current with the needs/wants of Council so as it is in your best interests to complete it please have someone off your LSS hop to it!
c) CBL International
Firstly I thank those students who have contacted me in reply to my comments in the last Newsletter. After discusssion with many students who have previously partaken in CBL programs, ALSA will no longer be pursing a partnership with CBL based on the experiences of Australian law students. Should you wish to discuss this matter with me further please email me atvp_ed@alsa.asn.au.
d) Submissions
I am currently working on a response to the AQF Council in relation to their AQF Council Review of Graduate and Vocational Graduate Certificates and Diplomas in the Australian Qualifications Framework November 2011.
Should you wish to make any contribution that you would like me to consider in drafting ALSA’s submission please forward all comments to vp_ed@alsa.asn.au by 31 December 2011.
e) Upcoming Conferences
1. Clinical Legal Education Education Best Practices
8 December, MelbourneNo funding is being provided by ALSA for attendance. This Conference is day long to discuss the national project on clinical legal education and how it can be improved by greater integration of clinical methologies.
2. ALTC Capstone Experiences Project
13-14 Feburary, BrisbaneNo funding is being provided by ALSA for attendance. Australian Learning and Teaching Council Project that aims to improve capstone experiences in Australian legal education through final year curriculum renewal. The aims of the project are to articulate a set of final year curriculum principles to aid the design of effective capstone experiences and to develop a transferable final year model (a ‘toolkit’) to exemplify possible capstone approaches. During this Conference I will be making a presentation on behalf of ALSA encompassing the views of students.
3. Commonwealth Law Students Association (CLSA) Regional Conference
19-22 April, SydneyThis will be the regional conference of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association designed to complete the Constitution for CLSA and interim arrangements for CLSA to lay the groundwork for the launch of the CLBA in South Africa in 2013. ALSA has an active role as the student representative in the establishment of this Association.
f) Pro Bono Practices Guide
It is now over 2 years since The Pro Bono Practices Guide: A National Guide to the Pro Bono Practices of 30 Australian Law Firms (the Guide) was released and the National Pro Bono Research Centre are requesting feedback from you.We ask that you please take the time to share your thoughts and experiences with the Guide by completing the following brief survey. The survey is only a few questions long and should take no more than 2 mins to complete!
All information gathered in this survey is to help to decide about a new edition of the Guide and is done so on an anonymous basis.
To complete this survey, please click on the link:https://www.surveymonkey.
g) A Message from Inter-University Centre - Dubronik
Inter-University Centre (IUC) Dubrovnik is an independent international institution for advanced studies. The mission of the IUC is to bring together professors and students from different backgrounds and cultures, thus promoting dialogue and understanding. That mission is being realised through the organisation of courses and conferences in a vide range of academic fields (humanities, social sciences, technical and natural sciences and medicine). The courses are being organised by the professors from different IUC member institutions and they are always academic, international, graduate or post-graduate. Some times, if it is being arranged at home institutions, those programmes also offer ECTS points to those participants who fulfil the requirements of the course.
More information about our institution can be found on our web pages www.iuc.hr. (http://www.iuc.hr/courses.
For further information please see the Education section of the ALSA website.
h) Your Updates
Please consider the ALSA representation upon your LSS websites as some of you have some very outdated information/blurbs.... If you would like something current please just ask!
Remember to follow the VPE on Twitter @ALSAvpe!
Should you have any queries or comments in relation to any of the above please do not hestitate to contact me further at vp_ed@alsa.asn.au.
Best,
Aimee
