A new academic year is upon us! As our law schools welcome new and returning students, our campuses and calendars are becoming more crowded. We hope you will continue to make time to engage with the IA Section and our national network of advancement professionals.
Before charging ahead into the fall semester, we would like to thank our summer webinar panelists and attendees for a very productive conversation about student-alumni dining programs. The July webinar’s moderator was Jayme Little (University of Indiana, McKinney School of Law) and panelists included Wanda Hoover (Arkansas Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law), Lori Nelson (University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law), and Heather Rappaport (University of Nevada, William S. Boyd School of Law). View a recording of the webinar, and sign in to your AALS account to access the session’s handouts in the library.
I’m Making a Newsletter – Now What?!
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
12:00 PM EST / 3:00 PM PST
Moderators: Liz Field and James Greif
Join this webinar to learn how to initiate a newsletter for departments, centers, or your law school. You will learn how to start a newsletter from scratch, how to refine a long-standing newsletter, and how to work with key stakeholders to optimize content. We will also hear from AALS on what kinds of content they will put in their weekly newsletters from member schools. Join us!
Click here to register! (FREE)
IA Section Social: Why You Should Attend the 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC
October 2023 – Date Forthcoming
Time TBD
Facilitators: Liz Field and Stephanie Silvestri, Co-Chairs, IA Section
Our IA Section Co-Chairs will preview the 2024 AALS Section on Institutional Advancement Annual Meeting planned for January 3-5 in Washington, DC. In addition to sharing details of the program, Liz and Stephanie will help you build a case for attending the in-person meeting!
Registration forthcoming
Making the Case for Legal Education
November 2023 – Date Forthcoming
Time TBD
Details & registration forthcoming
Our IA Section members are hard at work around the country. We invite you to share photos from your events, travels, and other happenings! To be featured in an upcoming newsletter, submit your photos with brief captions to Robin Langhans at [email protected].
SIU Law Director of External Relations Carly Holtkamp (left) and her colleagues, Director of Development Kate Worland Hanson, Career Services Director Casey Parker, and SIU Law Dean Camille M. Davidson, had a great time sponsoring the Marion, IL, Chamber of Commerce Luncheon on Aug. 9 at Heartland Regional Medical Center. Dean Davidson gave an update on the upcoming 50th year at the law school and the group learned about protecting its legacy from other local businesses.
Shara L. Boonshaft, Assistant Dean for Development & Alumni Relations at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, recently spent a day with her team planning for the year ahead. Together, they recommitted to working collaboratively with the collective goal of serving the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law alumni and the broader law school community with kindness, integrity, and passion. Shara reports they are fired up and ready for a great year that will include many exciting celebrations, gatherings, and initiatives, and she thanks her team for their hard work, creativity, and dedication!
Congratulations to Courtney Stombock, Associate Dean for Advancement and Alumni Engagement at Emory Law, who recently announced she accepted a new position as Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Relations at the American University of Paris. Courtney served on the 2023 IA Section executive committee and was instrumental in creating a webinar on leveraging university relationships. We wish you the best in this next chapter, Courtney!
We don’t believe in thankless work, so please send us a note about a job well done, an accolade for a colleague, or a successful event or project you or your team has recently undertaken! You can submit kudos to celebrate yourself or a colleague on this quick and easy form.
July/August Sharing Topic – Newsletters: The Good, the Bad, and the(hopefully not!) Ugly
Does your law school have one or more newsletters in its strategic communications plan? Have you been successful in creating an alumni newsletter that engages your grads? We welcome IA section members to share copies of their newsletters on the Section Sharing Sheet on the Institutional Advancement Website!
We’re also interested in hearing about your strategies for soliciting/gathering newsletter content, empowering faculty and staff colleagues to be more self-directed in creating a newsletter and managing expectations around this topic. Bonus points if you upload your materials prior to the September webinar!
Good Read
Dean Schwartz, a contributing author to Incorporating Antiracist Principles in Alumni Affairs and Advancement (Vol. 8) of the book series created by Penn State Dickinson Law’s Antiracist Development Institute, shares the knowledge he gained in researching his chapter on “Antiracist Metrics for Alumni Engagement, Fundraising, and Communications.” The multivolume book series is entitled “Building an Antiracist Law School, Legal Academy, and Legal Profession,” and will be published by the University of California Press. On his blog, Dean Schwartz shares three posts: (1) Introduction to Advancement Metrics and Fundraising Metrics, (2) Alumni Engagement Metrics, and (3) Communications Metrics.
Good Listen
The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down the consideration of race in college admissions has sparked a strong push also to end the consideration of enrollment legacy in admissions. Here’s what’s behind the push and a look at other ways colleges are trying to encourage diversity in light of the new ruling.
Good Watch
If you missed it on basic cable or have been meaning to revisit it since the series ended in 2019, one of TV’s longest-running legal dramas is topping the charts on Netflix. Suits is about a brilliant law school dropout named Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), who is hired as an attorney at a high-powered New York firm thanks to Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), a rainmaker with loose ethics. Meghan Markle – yes, the Duchess of Sussex, wife of Prince Harry – plays Rachel Zane, a principled paralegal who falls for Mike and helps protect him from his many rivals, both inside and outside the offices of Pearson Specter.
Did you know that you can watch recordings of past Section on Institutional Advancement webinars on the section’s webpage? Click on the Webinars & Webinar Replays link towards the bottom of the page. Recordings of June’s AALS Institutional Advancement Conference are also available here.
Feel free to reach out to your 2023 IA Section Officers:
Access past newsletter issues and archived webinars on the Institutional Advancement website
