A holistic approach to student success

“Law students carry an intense workload and have to be able to manage stress,” says Ashley Abbott, director of student life (and certfied yoga instructor).        

The wellness room, new this academic year, is in Room 640, adjacent to the Charles B. Sears Law Library. UB School of Law is one of the first law schools in the nation to create this kind of dedicated wellness space. It’s part of the law school’s ongoing commitment to providing students with holistic support through what might be the most trying time of their life.

“Wellness is one of our primary initiatives, and we have a lot of events related to students’ overall well-being,” Abbott says. Those include weekly wellness programs offering coffee and hot chocolate, tabling with community wellness organizations, visits by therapy dogs, and a focused Wellness Week each semester.

That support extends of course to students’ academic lives as well. The School of Law provides all students with dedicated faculty advising, professional development courses, a bar skills and strategies course, peer and professional mentoring, and other forms of both group and one-on-one support. No one goes it alone; from orientation through graduation and bar exam preparation, student success is a product of a full community effort, and the outstanding accomplishments of our students are proof of its effect.

With the right supports in place, good things are bound to happen. There’s much to celebrate in the awards, honors and accomplishments that our students continue to achieve. Here’s a brief sampling: