Utah Law hosted the National Association of Law Student Affairs Professionals (NALSAP) Conference June 9-11 for its 10-year anniversary. As Salt Lake City is an Olympic city, conference chairpeople chose an Olympic theme with a tagline of “Summon the Heroes,” a nod to the student support colleagues’ often unsung work and the heroic things they do for students each day.
More than 250 attendees from over 100 law schools across the U.S. and Canada attended the event. Topic sessions included supporting students with ADA accommodations and engaging law school stakeholders in productive dialogue. The conference also offered special sessions for first-time attendees and embedded counselors.
Conference highlights included Olympic Gold Medalist Derek Parra’s keynote address, a plenary featuring all 10 of the previous NALSAP presidents, and the Decennial Torchlight Celebration at the Ken Garff University Club in Rice-Eccles Stadium.
“It was an honor to welcome our law student affairs colleagues to Salt Lake City! As one of the conference co-chairs, I was grateful for the opportunity to help create an event through which student affairs professionals could connect with colleagues, share best practices, brainstorm solutions to challenges, and recognize the incredible work that happens every day—often behind the scenes—to support law students,” says Dean Brian Burton. “It was also a wonderful opportunity to showcase our beautiful building, campus, and city, as well as to highlight the outstanding work of our staff and community.”
Burton says NALSAP has been invaluable in helping him build connections with professionals who are deeply committed to student success in legal education.
“I have always found great value and inspiration in learning what other law schools are doing, how they are navigating the evolving landscape of legal education, and how we can continue identifying best practices to support students,” he says. “Through the programming and activities this year, one of our main goals was to provide meaningful opportunities for attendees to connect, learn, and share. The conference was certainly energizing for me.”
He is also grateful to the many people who made the conference successful.
“The presenters were outstanding, our keynote speaker was inspiring, our event and custodial teams were brilliant as always, and our conference planning committee and volunteers were truly incredible,” Burton expresses.