Melbourne University Law Students’ Society - Summary of the Student Forum on 17 March 2016

MULSS
​Volume 9, Issue 4
Last Thursday, the Melbourne Law School Faculty (Faculty) ran 2016’s first JD student form. Dean Carolyn Evans reported on the steps taken regarding law school culture in response to issues raised last year. Further issues raised by students were then discussed.

Law School Culture Report
The Dean highlighted steps Faculty, the University and the Melbourne University Law Students’ Society (MULSS) had taken, which included:

• Faculty raising the issue at senior level university discussions, which led to the university-wide ‘Respect Week’. The Week includes Faculty’s ‘Healthy Breakfast’ at 9am on Wednesday March 23;
• Faculty revisiting university policy to ensure they are clear with regards to forms of assault. This involves working out if it is a policy or an implementation issue;
• The MULSS implementing its Social Media Policy to encourage respectful use of social media;
• Faculty training MULSS Communications Directors and De Minimis Editors on basic media law responsibilities;
• Faculty considering how diversity and non-discrimination skills can fit into the JD Curriculum review;
• The MULSS running panels on employer wellbeing, women and queer issues at the beginning of Semester 2;
• Faculty highlighting the importance of professionalism and the Professional Behaviour Guidelines at Orientation Day; and
• Faculty looking at training staff in how to approach certain sensitive issues, particularly those that students may have experienced personally.

Issues raised by Students
1. Recording of Lectures
Students commented on how the unavailability of lecture recordings can impact students with certain health issues as well as students that experience one-off emergencies. Faculty highlighted:

• how recordings would affect class attendance, and the MLS community. Students agreed with the importance of not affecting the MLS’s community spirit. Students suggested having mandatory attendance, however Faculty commented that many lecturers were against it;
• how the recordings would impact the lecturer’s ability to speak as candidly;
• how some students were against allowing only certain students to access recordings, as it was any students’ right to access them; and
• the practical problem that not all classes have recording equipment.

Faculty stressed that students with an ongoing health issue which requires accessing all recordings would only need to register once online with a medical certificate, rather than once per recording. Faculty and Students agreed that it was necessary to reasonably accommodate health issues requiring recordings. Some students said this had not been allowed when they had asked lecturers about the usefulness of providing recording access for both the ad-hoc emergencies and revision at the end of semester; and that providing only one recording per subject would not work as each lecturer has their own teaching style.

2. Faculty’s Channels for contacting Students
Students commented on how easy it is to miss Faculty’s updates and on problems with the online ‘Melbourne JD Community’ (accessed via the LMS). Faculty commented that it aimed to keep the JD newsletter as the one channel for contact with students, in order to not overwhelm students with emails. Faculty also raised the possibility of moving updates to the LMS, rather than the Melbourne JD Community.

3. A Melbourne Law School (MLS) Food Co-op
One student raised the idea of a food co-op in the renovated mezzanine level (see De Minimis Volume 9, Issue 3). Faculty highlighted that:

• The renovated mezzanine has already been designed, so it would be near impossible to accommodate the co-op there;
• The university’s contract with the Porta Via café may limit the ability to run alternative food suppliers in the law building;
• Enthusiasm and volunteers for the co-op could disappear as students driving the idea leave. As the co-op would involve dedicating law school space to the idea, there is a need for the co-op to be long-lasting.

The Dean agreed with the co-op’s merits and the lack of affordable, varied food around MLS. The Dean agreed that the Sustainability Business Clinic could help workshop the idea. She also pointed to other ideas such as bringing main campus’ Farmers Market to University Square. She suggested that the student raising the idea contact her to work on it further.

4. Indigeneity at MLS
One student raised the concern of how indigenous issues are treated at MLS. He mentioned the lack of Welcome to Country at the start of semester and the treatment of certain cases, such as Mabo, in classes.

The Associate Dean responded that the Reconciliation Working Group is currently working on how and where indigenous issues are recognised in the curriculum. She highlighted that this is a good time to get in touch with the Reconciliation Working Group to raise recommendations or concerns. The Group can be contacted through faculty members Lee Godden (lcgodden@unimelb.edu.au) and Mark McMillan (mark.mcmillan@unimelb.edu.au).

5. Curriculum Review
One student commented on the infrequent availability of certain smaller electives – such as Animal and Environment Law. Faculty commented that it previously ran surveys on which subjects students were most interested in. However, due to the inevitable 12-month lag in implementing survey results, many of the surveyed students had moved on by then. Faculty agreed with the importance of balancing varied law subjects. Faculty is meeting this week to discuss the electives offered, and will report back.

The student also raised the possibility of combining with other universities to provide smaller subjects more frequently. Faculty raised the concern of the difference between MLS’s graduate and other universities’ undergraduate courses, and of maintaining an equivalent academic level to MLS courses.

Other students highlighted how the MLS curriculum’s emphasis on exams and the course’s competitive nature encourages students to ignore non-examinable content. Students commented that experiential-based electives encouraged more academic curiosity than exam-focused compulsory units. Faculty agreed, saying it is looking at opening experiential electives up to more students. Students suggested that Faculty look at incorporating more experiential learning into compulsory units.

6. Clerkship Hysteria
One student raised the concern of the ‘clerkship hysteria’ that arrives in second year. Faculty agreed and said it is looking at addressing it both in the strategy its careers department is taking and second year re-orientation talks.​

Related articles:

• A Food Co-op for MLS?
  
• Sponsorship Syndrome

Also in this week’s issue of De Minimis:

• The Clerkship Diaries: Embracing Uniformity 
• Maybe She’s Paranoid, Maybe It’s…
• Other People’s Money: Life As A Law Student
• Mental Health in Law School: Speak Up
• Can’t Stop Won’t Stop