Orientation is coordinated through the Office of Student Life. A variety of orientation programs introduce new students to the Law School each fall. Upper-class law students serve as orientation leaders to first-year, transfer, and graduate students, working closely with groups of new students during the orientation program.
The Office of Student Life recruits and coordinates orientation volunteers each year.
First Year Information Program
The First Year Information (FYI) program helps first-year students (1Ls) adjust to life as law students.
Incoming students will meet their FYI leaders during Orientation, and will remain connected to their assigned leaders throughout their first academic year.
Upper-class FYI leaders coordinate a variety of activities, ranging from small section information sessions to all-class social events, in order to provide 1L students with an informative and enjoyable transition into the first year of law school.
Becoming an FYI Leader
FYI Leaders are recruited during the winter semester. FYI Leaders are expected to participate in orientation activities prior to the start of each academic year. This provides continuity for the incoming students and introduces them to upper-level students to whom they can turn with questions or concerns.
FYI Leader training occurs each summer immediately prior to the start of Orientation.
FYI Leadership Board
The FYI Leadership Board partners with the Office of Student Life team to design and implement innovative programs and activities aimed at supporting students through their first year of law school.
Students who serve on the Board have an opportunity to create lasting change in one of the Law School's core student support programs. The Office of Student Life coordinates an FYI Board application and selection process at the end of each winter semester. Students who serve on the FYI Leadership board receive a small cash stipend.
Michigan Access Program
The Michigan Access Program (MAP) is an innovative social justice leadership program at the University of Michigan Law School that utilizes social justice curricula, experiential learning models, and intergroup dialogue to offer students from a range of social identities a resource for living, learning, and thriving in Law School.
MAP seeks to build and support a community of social justice leaders within the Law School, teach leadership and conflict resolution skills with an emphasis on intercultural competence, and provide students with opportunities to explore their own thinking, histories, and beliefs around the concepts of social identity and social justice. Every student is invited to participate regardless of background, with special emphasis on encouraging the participation of non-traditional students. Several members of the Law School faculty actively participate in this program as instructors, and as advisors throughout the academic year.
MAP has two basic components: a Pre-Orientation session that takes place in late August, and a series of workshops that occur during the academic year. The Pre-Orientation session is a four-day overnight leadership retreat for incoming 1L MAP students scheduled a week before the Law School's general orientation for new students. Although participation is open to all incoming 1L students, space is limited. Students interested in participating in the Pre-Orientation program must complete an application and demonstrate an interest in social justice leadership.
MAP continues during the academic year with workshops that are open to the student body on various social justice related topics, dialogues, and networking opportunities.