When did you arrive here?
I was appointed Assistant Dean for Law Career Services after serving as Assistant Director since the fall of 1999. At that time, I had recently relocated to Santa Clara to join my husband and decided to pursue a long-time interest in higher education. With post-JD legal and non-legal work experience, I was attracted to the opportunity to help law students explore the broad range of options available to them as law graduates and realize their career goals.
What have your responsibilities been?
During my tenure as Assistant Director, I have counseled law students and alumni, conducted career related workshops, participated in employer outreach efforts, supported recruiting programs, and expanded resources to assist students in exploring career options and developing job search skills. These years have given me the opportunity to develop strong relationships with recruiters and practitioners within the Bay Area legal community who support my work with students and alumni. When counseling students I also draw on my experience as a former corporate attorney who was involved in hiring decisions as well as my previous experience as a business consultant.
What contributions or accomplishments have you made over the years?
I find my work with students at Santa Clara extremely rewarding and feel a sense of accomplishment every time I am able to assist a student with achieving a career goal. I also feel that I have contributed significantly to the development of a student-centric office. A specific accomplishment I am particularly proud of results from my efforts to effectively raise awareness around opportunities with the judiciary both during and after law school. When I arrived at Santa Clara, few students even knew that opportunities with the judiciary existed. Today, opportunities with the judiciary are now one of the most popular of the work experiences law students pursue. In fact, more students have participated in judicial externships and clerkships every year during the past four years. I am also particularly proud of the leadership roles I have achieved within the legal recruiting community. As an active member of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), I am currently the elected representative from the Western/Rocky Mountain Region responsible for appointing the 2004-2005 NALP Board. Active in the Bay Area Legal Recruitment Association as well, I was recently appointed a committee Chair and previously served as Secretary for the 2000 Board.
What are your future plans in this new position?
My goals for Law Career Services center on using technology and increasing marketing efforts to provide improved services to both students and employers. For instance, I plan on increasing our outreach efforts to smaller firms, which desire a greater degree of flexibility, by exploring new ways they can interact with students beyond the traditional on-campus interviewing model. Other plans for improvement include a newly designed website, same-day appointments, online career development workshops, a mock interview program, and Saturday programming for part-time students.
And anything else you like to say.
I have always had an open door to students and enjoy feedback. If you have an idea, question or concern, please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to serving Santa Clara as the new Assistant Dean for Law Career Services.
