The Student Life and Academic Committee is co-chaired by the Vice-President Academic and the Vice-President Student Life. The Vice-President Academic role is currently vacant.
Overview
The Student Life and Academic Committee (SLAC) is the advocacy branch of the SLS. SLAC consists of four representatives from each year of study, along with the VP, SLAC and President. SLAC advocates on your behalf to members of the law school faculty and administration.
SLAC meets weekly at lunches; in 2024-25, meetings will be in person, but a zoom link will be provided to students who would like to attend. All students are welcome to attend and participate in meetings. Tentative agendas will be posted in each week’s SLS Weekly. Matters discussed include anything that requires a bridge between students and the law school administration, whether or not it is strictly related to academic matters. To that end, if you have an issue that you would like to bring up and you’re not sure who to get in touch with, do not hesitate to contact an SLAC member who can bring your issue to the Committee or point you in the right direction. You can also contact the SLS generally at studentslawsociety@gmail.com.
In addition to the weekly meetings mentioned above, each SLAC member sits on Faculty Council, the governing body of the law school. Their role is to ensure that students maintain a strong voice in the administration of the school. SLAC members also sit on the faculty’s Dean’s Committees (see below - e.g., Financial Aid, Admissions, Mental Health & Wellness, and Gender, Accessibility & Diversity) which traditionally submit reports to Faculty Council for approval at the end of the academic year.
SLAC members also consult with students to ensure they have a strong voice in law school policy and operations in order to advocate on students’ behalves to members of the faculty and administration with respect to mental health, tuition, financial aid, accessibility, equity, and academic matters. SLAC also sends weekly SLS newsletters, and provides students with resources through various social media platforms including the exam and summary database.
Please see below for more information on your Reps, Dean’s Committees, Memos, and Policy Papers. For recent statements and letters, please visit our News page.
Students are able to see SLAC’s past meeting minutes and financial statements on the Minutes and Financial Statements page.
Student Life and Academic Committee for 2024-2025
President: Isabel Brisson
Vice-President Academic: Maria Bon
Vice-President Student Life: Chelsea Musanhu
3L SLAC Reps: Carson Cook, Mahnoor Noor, Abhirami Sasitharan
2L SLAC Reps: David Niddam-Dent, Andre Lanoue, Kabir Singh Dhillon, Ethan Kibel
1L SLAC Reps:
To get in touch with your SLAC Reps individually, please use the e.Legal Directory
Faculty Council
The SLS currently has fourteen seats on the Faculty Council. Faculty Council meetings are open to all students to attend. You can find more on e.Legal about Faculty Council, including 2024-25 meeting dates.
Dean’s Committees
Each year, the Dean strikes up committees and tasks each of them with a mandate to be addressed throughout the academic year. Each committee is composed of a mix of faculty, staff, and students (almost exclusively from SLAC). While some committees typically have the same mandate every year (e.g., Mooting & Advocacy), others have mandates that vary in response to issues as they arise. Some mandates span several years. SLAC members bring student concerns and perspectives to the policy recommendations which arise from these committees. In general, SLAC reps advocate for robust student consultation before recommending material changes to the JD program or its policies.