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Issue 14: Fall Semester Review, 2014Suffolk University Law School SBA Executive Newsletter

Suffolklawsba.com Facebook: Suffolk Law SBA Twitter: @SULS_sba

SBA NEWSMessage from Tom Contents

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2 - 13

Message from SBAPresident Tom Davis

Fall Semester Wrap-up

Contact List & Preamble

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Suffolk Law Students,

It is my hope that you finished the fall semesterstrongly, enjoyed winter break, and enter thespring semester both on the right foot and eagerto give 2015 your best.

Ever since Monica and I were elected by you andgiven the privilege of representing ourimpressive community, we have led the SBA tothe best of our abilities. Beginning in thesummer, for the first time that I am aware of, weworked with each and every SBA member toextensively plan as a team how the SBA and itsmany resources could be best used to benefit theSuffolk Law community. After hundreds ofmeetings, I was able to come to an agreementwith each and every SBA committee in regard tonot only how much funding each would receive,but also specifically what each committee wouldbe responsible for. Given that we are operatingthis year with less funding than any SBA in thepast 10 years and that we still have a fullsemester ahead of us, I am proud to report thatthe SBA this year has been the most productiveon record.

Thanks to the hard work of Team SBA, I proudlyshare with you some of our many highlights ofthis past semester. After reading our semester

report, if you have any ideasas to how the SBA could better

serve you this semester, pleasedo let us know as we work foryou and only for you.

- Tom Davis

PresidentStudent Bar Association

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Suffolk University Law School SBA Executive Newsletter Issue 14: Fall Semester Review, 2014

suffolklawsba.com Facebook: Suffolk Law SBA Twitter: @SULS_sba

SBA Fall Semester: By The Numbers

14Newsletters

281

Likes on Facebook

94Facebook posts

87Twitter followers

4,133Total newsletter views

49Clubs

8Committees

$88,000Executive Budget

450

Number of Students atFall Ball

500%Increase funding for

Student Concerns

10Liaisons

17Section

Representatives

225%

Increase funding forAcademic Affairs


Sustainability


Diversity

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Fall Semester Wrap-up

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I. New SBA Website (www.suffolklawSBA.com)! Before this year, there was no single location to find all SBA related documents

and information. Thanks to the impressive efforts of our Tech Team RajBhardwaj, Jeremy Koufakis, and Christine Lee Suffolk Law students now have acentralized SBA databaseat www.suffolklawSBA.com. Key functions include:

! Master calendar

o Includes all SBA events

o Synched to Google Calendar and Google Maps

o

Any student may upload an event! Documents

o BOG agendas, minutes, and legislation

o SBA constitution, bylaws and other documents

o Printable treasury forms, i.e., check requests

! Media

o Video or audio recordings of BOG meetings

o Video or audio recordings of Town Hallso Archived newsletters with the most up-to-date issue featured on the front page

o SBA Facebook page linked to home page

o SBA Twitter live-stream on front page

! Contact Information

o Students Organizations

o SBA Executive Committees

o Section Representatives! Message Board

o Community for students to ask questions and communicate

533Highest traffic day

on the website

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II. First Ever Weekly SBA Newsletter

! To further increase student awareness, each Monday

Tom and 4A Section Rep Jess Barton published a

weekly newsletter on the new SBA website(www.suffolklawSBA.com). In addition to

highlighting for the student body what the SBA has

been up to during the week, SBA News includes a

Student Spotlight and Alumni Spotlight each weekas well as a monthly SBA

Committee of the Month Spotlight. Furthermore, every newsletter is archived

on the website and can be accessed at any time. These archived newsletters

contain information such as the SBA executive and club budgets, which areupdated after each BOG meeting. Next semester look for the newsletter to be

printed and made available to students at the soon to be launched weekly SBA

breakfast and afternoon coffee. SBA News stats include:

o 14 total newsletters published on the website every Monday

o Weekly message

o SBA executive announcements and happenings

o Events that will take place during the weeko Recap of events that took place the prior week

o SBA budget information

o Tip of the week

o Student Spotlight

o Alumni spotlight

o SBA Committee of the month

4,133

Total newsletter views

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III. Facebook & Twitter

! To further increase communication, Tom created an SBA Facebook page,

Facebook group, and Twitter accountso as to

communicate within and without our community

in a streamlined and professional capacity.

o Facebook: Suffolk Law SBA

o Twitter: @SULS_sba

o Keep the Suffolk Law community up to date on SBA events

o Tips for students on academic success and resources

o Consistent communication with the student body

IV. Student Engagement & Interaction

! Thus far, this years SBA is on par to engage students in more ways than the

previous three years combined. Examples of how we have increased student

engagement include:

o Weekly office hourswith Tom and Chief Justice Nick Smalley

o 1L Mentorship Programwas brought back after its absence last year.

Launched before the semester began, our Student Concerns Committee

paired 1Ls with upperclassmen who could assist with any and all

questions or concerns. Through this program, more than 100 1Ls were

afforded the opportunity to reduce stress and increase performance.

o Our Student Concerns team of Sandra Bauer-Evans, Kristina Foreman,

and Leah Brady also hosted two Town Hall Meetings, one of which was

paneled by Deans and faculty and the other by Tom and Monica. These

meetings opened the floor for students to ask questions directly and get

immediate answers. Both were recorded and posted to the SBA website.

o Our Tech Team held aWebsite Trainingfor clubs and committees to

introduce our new website and its many functions.

o Tom was able to ensure a Suffolk Law student voice in the official

search committee for our next Deanby working with the University

584Largest Facebook post reach

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Provost. Tom and Monica opened the application to all eligible students

and appointed 1L evening student Silas Cooper to serve in this

important role.

o For the first time in years, Tom made sure that the SBA Scholarship was

publicizedto the entire student body so as to give more students theopportunity to apply.

o Message boardon website

o Organized by Director Megan Weber, our Academic Affairs team held

three events for students during the Fall

2014 semester.

! In early October, we provided Panera

coffee, orange juice, bagels, and

pastries as a "Welcome Back"for the

day students and then a variety of sandwiches were provided for

evening students.

! In November, we provided food from Domino's when we held a

Q&A for 1Lsto come and talk to upper classmen about any

questions regarding internships, study abroad programs, clinics,

and more.

! Finally, in December, we had two shifts of coffee and donuts

provided for day and evening students as exam fuel.

o COP liaison Colette Heefner worked with students to create an

Environmental Law Club. The Council of Presidents (COP) met on

December 2, 2014 and approved creation of the club by a majority vote of

27/32. The Board of Governors (BOG) which will review the decision of

the COP at the Student Bar Association (SBA) meeting on January 25,

2015. A 3/4th's vote from the BOG will confirm or deny the vote of the

COP. Both potential organizations will speak at the SBA meeting to

present their mission and take questions about their operation.

450Number of Students at

Fall Ball

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V. Alumni Engagement! One of the greatest assets at the disposal of Suffolk Law students is our alumni

base. In an attempt to increase awareness of the importance of reaching out

to our alumni base, this semester we highlighted 14 of our alumni through

weekly Q&As, which also offer important insights to current law students. In

addition, we significantly increased student participation at Alumni

Weekend. Moreover, our Alumni Affairs team of Eunice Aikins-Afful, Erin

Knight, and Melissa Gaied is currently working with the Office of Alumni

Engagement to create the first-ever large scale SBA alumni event .

o Alumni spotlight in the newsletter

o Alumni weekend

o Planning of key alumni event for spring semester

VI. Community Engagement! Undoubtedly, we as law students have a moral obligation to lend a helping

hand to the communities surrounding us in need. Highlights of us doing our

part include:

o In August, Tom donated the childrens shoes from the Spring 2014

Community Day to Cradles and Crayons.

o In October, Sustainability Liaison Patrick Archambault organized a

Sustainability Conference, where local politicians and professors came

together to discuss the legal challenges to bringing the nation toward

sustainable practices.

o In October, External Affairs Director Christine DiBiase organized a

Breast Cancer Awareness campaign, where she collected donations for

the National Breast Cancer Foundation in order to raise awareness of

and fight against breast cancer.

o In November, Christine organized a Canned Food Drive Competition,

where she collected canned foods from all sections, which were then

donated to the Greater Boston Food Bank to help providemeals for

families during the holiday season. The 1L evening students, Section 4A,

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won the competition.

o In December, Tom and Jess cleaned out the SBA suite and Colette

donated four large boxes of clothingthat had built up over the years.

VII. Social! Our Social team this year received roughly 60% less funding than last year.

However, despite having significantly fewer dollars to spend, Directors Daniel

De La Torre and Lindy Nash found ways to be more effective than ever.

Through innovation and teamwork, our student body had numerous

opportunities to have a good time, including:

o Welcome Back to Boston event

o 1L Orientation Mixero Committee Mixer

o Fall Ball at the W

o Halloween Bash

o Holiday Mixer with the SULS grad school (first joint event with the

graduate school)

IIX. Fiscal Responsibility & Accountability! One of the main reasons that Monica and Tom ran for Vice President andPresident, respectively, was to make sure that student body money is allocated

and spent in ways that benefit as many students as possible in meaningful

ways. Consequently, we were pleased to have been able to significantly

increase funding to the below committees:

o Student Concerns = 500%

o Academic Affairs = 225%o Sustainability = 200%

o Diversity and Inclusion = 175%

! Furthermore, Tom established a policy that the Executive Council cannot use

any SBA money on its meeting. Hundreds of hours of work and meetings

later, not a penny of student body money has been spent by the Executive

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Council.

! Moreover, Tom is currently working to audit the SBA accounting systemto

make sure that student body money is being spent according to current SBA

operating guidelines.

! Finally, Appropriations director Gerald Glover is working with his associate

directors Micah Shalom-Kesselman and Jolethia Rogers on legislation to

ensure that SBA money is reimbursed in line with the reason it was

appropriated. Currently, there are no such rules in place.

IX. Diversity & Inclusion! This year, we invested 175% more funding into our D & I team of Joshua

Gonzalez, Sahara Defensor and Adebola Aderinto, which has allowed the

committee to make great strides in establishing themselves within the law

school community. Highlights include:

o Hosted the Diversity Meet & Greet, a welcome from the D & I

committee as well as the Dean of the Law School during orientation for

first-year students.

o Co-sponsored the Progress to Success Kick-Off Meeting. The purpose

of the program is to assist law students from underrepresented

backgrounds by providing them with mentors to help successfully

navigate the first-year of law school.

o Hosted a Diversity Meet & Greet with the Affinity Organization

Presidents. This was an introduction to the leaders of the affinity groups

and how the D & I Committee can be of support.

o Language Well-Intended People Should Reconsider. This event was

planned by the D & I Committee to engage the law school community on

how everyday language intended to provide support can actually strain

relationships.

o Movie Screening & Discussion of the movie "Dear White People"

o Co-Sponsored an event with the greater law school administration

regarding how campus-alerts can be more inclusive and be more

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mindful of underrepresented identities.

o Submitted the description and mission of the D & I Committee to be

placed in the SBA Constitution.

X. Health & Wellness! To help improve the health, academic performance, and networking

opportunities of Suffolk Law students, Tom created the Suffolk Law Running

Project. Benefits include:

o Free periodized training program ending with 5k road race

o Weekly group runs open to law students, faculty, and alumni

o Nutrition planning

! In addition, Tom is working with the American Bar Association and Harvard

Law to organize a Mental Health Symposium, the vision of which is to

educate students on the mental health options available to them as they go

through the stresses of law school. Our goal is to equip students with a

toolbox of data, resources, conversation starters, and reflections and thoughts.

XII. Issues Raised! Through our various student engagement mechanisms, the student body has

raised a wide variety of issues. Here is a list of key issues that we have either

addressed or areworking with the administration and law school

community to solve:

o Last year many in the graduating class were upset about not being

allowed to wear Tam Hats at graduation. Thus, Tom worked with Dean

Ferrari over the summer to ensure that this years graduating class hasthe option of wearing Tam Hats at graduation. Beginning in February,

Dean Cove will e-mail the graduating class with instructions about how

to purchase Tam Hats directly from the vendor for roughly $20.

o When campaigning for SBA President and Vice President, a central

complaint by the student body was that the SBA does not do enough to

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include evening studentsinto its events. Consequently, Tom worked

hard with all SBA committees to ensure that each and every SBA event

was accessible to evening students. If we held an event for day students,

we have invested proportionate resources into holding an event for

evening students. Furthermore, for any student who could not make an

event, we recorded the event wherever possible.

o Countless students have made clear on the record that they want the

American flag,which previously hanged from the forth floor, put back.

At the first SBA Town Hall, a reason was not given for its removal. We

continue to work with the deans to find a solution.

o The current exam policystates that students may move the time of one

exam if you have three exams within 53 hours. However, the deans have

instituted a policy that take-home exams do not count as an exam. Since

many students have raised this issue on the record, we are currently

researching alternate policy proposals to bring to the deans in the hopes

of allowing take-home exams to count as exams in the future.

o Sodexo costs are unreasonably expensive. As such, our organizations

spend too much money with too little return. We are in the process of

researching alternatives to the schools mandate that we use Sodexo for

student body events.

o Last year the faculty allowed the graduating class to continue with the

same graduation honorsit entered with. We are working with the

administration to allow the same outcome this year.

o Currently, many evening students are incapable of taking necessary

classes. For example, at our second Town Hall an evening student let us

know that there is no option for evening students who work full-time to

take the universitys only IP Survey Class, which is a course that all

employers require. We are in the process of working with the

administration to identify ways to ensure no evening student is

inherently precluded from taking necessary courses to get ahead.

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XIII. Moving Forward! Below is a list of what Tom and Monica have in store for the SBA in our final

semester. If you have any thoughts or ideas in regard to how we can better

serve the student body, please do share them with us.

o Bi-weekly breakfasts (for day students) and afternoon snacks (for

evening students): various SBA directors will host with coffee and

donuts and the newsletter and schedule of events for that week will be

available.

o Boston Area Law School Ice Skating Mixer: on February 5thbeginning

at 8:30pm, Christine DiBiase has brought together the SBAs of Suffolk,

Harvard, Northeastern, BC, and New England to break the ice at the first

of its kind ice skating mixer. Joining us will also be the BBA, Lexis, and

Kaplan.

o SBA Summit: on March 1st(tentative schedule), Tom will bring together

student body leaders from all Massachusetts law schools to discuss key

issues facing our law students and ways in which we can join forces to

take action.

o Diversity Week: Beginning in the fall semester, Tom tasked the

Diversity and Inclusion Committee with the goal of organizing an entire

week devoted to increasing diversity and inclusion at Suffolk Law. This

first of its kind week of advocacy and action will take place during the

week of February 23rd.

o Veterans Initiative

o SBA Audit

o Alumni Networking Event

o Legislation to improve SBA reimbursement policy

o 1L Cup

o Town Halls (2)

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o Barristers Ball

o Ski Trip

o Grad Week

o Bar Exam event

o Professors and Pastries

o Community Service initiative

o Staff Appreciation Day

o App

o SBA Video

o Book Exchange

o Class Gift

o BBA Event

o Yoga sessions

o Elections for the next SBA President and Vice President

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suffolklawsba.com Facebook: Suffolk Law SBA Twitter: @SULS sba

Contact InformationName Position Email

Tom davis President [email protected]

Monica Bellevue Vice President [email protected]

Neil Lindquist Chief of Staff [email protected]

Callie grossman Chief of Operations [email protected]

Kelley Sweetser Treasurer [email protected]

We the Students of Suffolk University Law School, in order to support and

encourage academic excellence and professional development; to preserve theright of students to acquire a quality legal education in a just and reasonableenvironment; to provide a means of communication between students and theLaw School; and to maintain a connection with alumni, do herby establish this

Constitution for the Student Bar Association of Suffolk University Law School.

SBA Constitution Preamble

For a full contact list of all SBA Directors please visit our website atsuffolklawsba.com

Vice President Monica Bellevue andPresident Tom Davis

SBA Newsletter 14 - 1/26/15

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