Managing a LSSO
Elections
Eligibility for LSSO leadership must also be open to all law students. Elections are held in the beginning of each Spring Quarter.
New incoming leaders must attend all leadership meetings scheduled by the Dean of Students Office. Current year (outgoing) leaders are expected to stay involved through the end of the academic year and help the board transition.
Advertising Elections/Applications
Elections/applications occur in the Spring quarter. LSSOs should advertise their elections via lsa_elections@lists.uchicago.edu. Please do not email the law_events listserv with your election information. The lsa_elections@lists.uchicago.edu list will go to all continuing 1Ls, 2Ls, and JSDs at the Law School.
Board Transitions
The outgoing President should submit any incoming board information (name, position, email) to the Dean of Students Office. Current year leaders are expected to stay involved through the end of the academic year and help the new board transition. This includes submitting an End-of-the-Year Programming Summary to the Dean of Students Office and holding a board transition meeting. Board transition meetings should cover at minimum:
- Review of the End-of-the-Year Programming Summary and End-of-the-Year Budget Summary
- Ensuring all documents are transitioned from old to new board. LSSOs may utilize their LSSO UChicago Box folder to store historical information from year to year.
- Start discussing plans for next year
- Review your by-laws. Confirm no changes needed or provide updated version to Candace Mui, mui@uchicago.edu, and save in your LSSO UChicago Box folder.
End-of-Year Programming Summary
An End-of-the-Year Programming Summary is a document (in any format) that should include:
- A complete list of the programs and events your organization was able to execute, including costs
- A transition memo explaining how the year went for your organization
- Programs and events that you planned to host but were not feasible (and why)
- Any other issues your group ran into
- Questions, notes, advice for the incoming board, etc.
Email Addresses and Membership List
All LSSOs are required to use a UChicago email address for all official LSSO business (e.g., not personal Gmail). Unless the organization is new this year, the LSSO already has an external email address in place and this information is shared with the incoming President every year. The President is assigned as the designated person on the LSSO board to manage and maintain the LSSO email. LSSO email addresses are for distribution only so any emails sent to the student organization’s email address will be redirected to the person designated to maintain the email account. LSSOs that need to set up an email address, change the designee, or have questions, should contact Candace Mui, mui@uchicago.edu.
Membership Lists are managed on each LSSO Group page in Law Connect. The executive board for each LSSO will have access to update membership list.
LSSO Box Drive
Each LSSO has their own UChicago Box folder that is accessible to all current board members. LSSOs should use this folder as a place to save information regarding programming, speaker contact information, budget information, organization policies and procedures, and anything else the organization deems important such as bylaws.
To access the LSSO Drive visit UChicago Box and sign in with your UChicago ID and password. Once logged in, the organization’s folder should be visible upon sign-in. Please contact Candace Mui, mui@uchicago.edu, if you have questions about accessing your LSSO drive.
Mentoring Programs
Many LSSOs seek to network with attorneys and other professionals who share similar interests or backgrounds. While the Law School encourages the development of mentoring programs as a mechanism for creating professional networks, the Law School wants to ensure that both the students and the mentors have a positive experience.
Any LSSO with a mentoring program (defined as a program by which a student organization matches practicing lawyers or other professionals with current students for the purpose of facilitating the professional or academic development of the student) must meet with the External Affairs Office at the beginning of each academic year to discuss the student organization’s plan for the mentorship program for that academic year.
Any organization interested in creating a mentorship program must meet with External Affairs Office prior to launching the program. LSSOs with mentoring programs are expected to contribute, both through engagement and financially, to program events. LSSOs may contact Anna Jenkins, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations, Office of External Affairs, annajenkins274@uchicago.edu,to further discuss.
Tax-Exempt Status
All official University-recognized LSSOs (including RSOs) qualify as tax-exempt organizations under Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code. A copy of the IL Sales Tax Exemption Certificate required by most establishments to demonstrate proof of tax-exempt status at the time of purchase can be requested by emailing the Dean of Students Office at deanofstudents@law.uchicago.edu.
Webpages
Each LSSO has a webpage on the Law School’s main website that must is to be maintained by the organization’s board members. Unless a LSSO is new this year, all LSSOs are listed in the law school student organization directory. Each new academic year, the site must be updated with the new board members and any other new information. To update webpages, contact Quinn Baron, qbaron@uchicago.edu, in the Communications Department.