RWU Law Students Praise their Law School Experience in National Survey

RWU Law is one of almost 150 law schools from across the country that participates in the Law Student Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE).  The program, designed by social scientists, asks students to provide a candid evaluation of their law school experience on a range of important aspects of their academic and co-curriucular experience.  These results are then compared with the results from other participating schools, and a report is released analyzing and comparing (anonymously) the responses from the schools, identifying those topics where your students’ answers are considerably above, or below average.  Participation in LSSSE gives us an in-depth sense of how our students perceive the quality of their legal education compared to how students at other schools evaluate their experiences.

Here are some of the key findings from LSSSE 2008:

• RWU Law students spend more time than peers at other schools preparing for class


• Are less likely to come to class without completing assignments


• Feel challenged and report working harder than they thought they could to meet faculty expectations


• Felt challenged to do their best work on exams  


• Reported less memorization of facts and more focus on analyzing and synthesizing of ideas and information and more reliance on making judgments about the value of information


• Were regularly called upon to apply concepts to practical problems or to new situations

Consistent with the positive evaluations above, students praised the RWU Law faculty and staff:

• Faculty rated as available, helpful, and sympathetic


• Relationships with faculty rated higher


• Getting the support needed to succeed academically


• Significantly higher satisfaction with administrative staff and offices


• The school encourages contact among students from different backgrounds


• High quality of relationships with faculty members

Finally, the bottom line:

• How would you evaluate your entire educational experience at your law school?
  
  Response: rated between good and excellent


• If you could start over again, would you go to the same law school?
  
  Response: rated between probably yes and definitely yes.