Becoming a Professional- A Collaborative Capstone Course Developing Professional Identity; Integrating Theory, Skills,

1. Becoming a Professional- A Collaborative Capstone CourseDeveloping Professional Identity;Integrating Theory, Skills, Values Prof. Judith Wegner, U. North Carolina Dean Louis Bilionis, U. of Cincinnati Center for Creative Leadership (www.ccl.org)

2. Impetus for Change • Changing legal profession: • Need for range of non-litigation skills • Preparation for new forms and formats of practice • Need for more “practice ready” beginners • Changing legal education • Need for methods to address changes in legal profession • Need for integrated instruction for better learning • Need for better transition from “student” to “professional” including professional identity

3. Role of this Part of the Panel • Invitation to individual faculty members and law schools to do something that addresses the challenges of change where… • No need for added resources • Model with core design & instructional materials http://becomingprofessional.web.unc.edu • Easy opportunity for involvement of lawyers • Support and insight for students • Helps them shape their professional trajectories • Helps them build a range of skills and integrate their educational experience

4. What? A Collaborative Capstone Course • Seminar sized • Geared to fall semester 3Ls • Co-taught using distance technology and parallel game plan • High expectations of students • Perform in professional roles throughout • Develop range of skills including teamwork and oral/written presentations • Declare themselves with project and portfolio • Appreciate dynamics within profession

5. How? Course Objectives • Enhance understanding of nature and challenges facing the legal profession in time of major change • Develop skills not generally taught elsewhere, using both cognitive & skill-development strategies • Encourage students to understand how their personal values (along with professional values) can shape their future trajectories • Encourage students to reflect upon and shape professional paths based on deeper understandings of their personal and professional identities

6. How? Course Learning Outcomes • Knowledge: legal profession(s) & changes • Skills • Self-awareness and reflection • Team work: collaboration, feedback, leadership • Speaking and listening (not litigation) • Project design, planning, implementation • Technology use • Research • Time management • Values: professionalism and personal values • Professional Formation: project & portfolio

7. How? Integration • Of student • Thinking, doing, believing/being • Of lawyer • Values, skills, opportunities • Of student/lawyer at the point of transition

9. Professional Well-Being, Strength & Satisfaction: Center for Creative Leadership

10. UC’s Dean Louis Bilionis

11. Course Design: Methods • Modeling collaboration • Professor plus practitioner/judge • Center for Creative Leadership • Two sections (NC and OH) connecting virtually • Team assignments with virtual pairings • Retreats with practitioners and Center for Creative Leadership (www.ccl.org)

12. Assessment • Multiple reflective writing exercises • Team projects with presentations • Course project & presentations • Electronic portfolios

13. Student Work: Reflection Prompts • Do you agree with projections for change in the legal profession? Why/why not? Which of the projected changes scares you the most? Why? Which of the projected changes excites you the most? Why? • Class discussion centered on examples of situations in which lawyers encountered issues relating to values and diversity. What common themes emerged? Are there general lessons about how lawyers can respond when faced with situations of this sort?

14. Team Handout

15. Team Handout

16. Student Work: Projects • Proposed pro bono initiatives: • Website for pro bono litigants with resources relating to divorce and child custody • Clinic strategy for Hispanic community • Strategy for involving UC law students with teen shelter • Develop strategy for introducing UC law students to nonprofit volunteer opportunities • Partnership with nonprofit to involve students in post-conviction pro bono work • Strategies for dealing with toxic work place

17. UC Prof. Ken Hirsh on Portfolios

18. Student Take-Aways: Examples • “I learned to… • Present without power point • Work with teams and understand their dynamics • Appreciate different types of law practice and their dynamics • Collaborate with people not in the same room • Manage many small tasks throughout the semester • Set my own goals and find my own path

19. Professors’ Take-Aways • Challenges facing students • Are really grave particularly given debt loads. • Students want us to acknowledge and work with them to navigate these shoals. • Co-teaching with practitioners • Was rewarding and engaging • Added much to the class in terms of credibility and insight. • Entrepreneurial thinking • Course fosters entrepreneurial attitudes (social entrepreneurship, professional entrepreneurship) • Mix of instructional strategies (including retreats and assessments) was important

20. Additional Materials Available • Syllabus • Reflection Assignments • Retreat Outlines and Materials • Team Assignments: Discussion Leadership and Professional Subfields • Project Description and Assignment • Portfolio Description and Assignment • List of Student Projects • Website Resources: http://becomingprofessional.web.unc.edu Contacts: • UNC: judith_wegner@unc.edu • UC: louis.bilionis@uc.edu; hirshk@ucmail.uc.edu