Role
Elyse Wakelin is the Head of Undergraduate Programmes at Nottingham Law School, where she holds strategic responsibility for the undergraduate portfolio. In this leadership role, she ensures the academic quality, relevance, and student experience across all undergraduate law courses, working closely with members of Nottingham Law School to maintain the school’s strong reputation for legal education. Elyse is also an active member of the Centre for Legal Education, contributing to research and innovation aimed at enhancing the student experience and advancing legal education.
Career overview
Before taking on the role of Head of Undergraduate Programmes, Elyse held several positions at NLS since joining in 2015. Most recently, she served as the NLS Principal Lecturer for Student Experience, where she collaborated closely with the Deputy Dean on initiatives like Success for All and the NSS.
In her role as Principal Lecturer for Student Experience, Elyse was involved in various school-wide projects, such as cert mentors, personal tutoring, and leading student induction efforts. A significant aspect of her work focused on NTU’s Success for All project, where she contributed to the NLS strategy aimed at closing gaps in student progression and achievement. This allowed her to engage with projects like the decolonisation of the curriculum and enhancing personalised student support, particularly for WP, BTEC, mature, and international students.
From 2017 to 2020, she was the Course Leader for the Graduate Diploma in Law Distance Learning (GDL DL), where she played a key role in shaping responses to the SRA's proposals on the future of legal education through the SQE.
Elyse has extensive teaching experience in Constitutional and Administrative Law at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as in criminal law, mooting, and legal method. Before joining NLS, she taught Constitutional and Administrative Law and Criminal Justice at the University of Leicester. She holds a PhD from the University of Leicester, which explored the relationship between EU membership and minority rights. Her recent research, however, has focused on areas related to legal education.
Research areas
Elyse is an active member of the Nottingham Law School Centre for Legal Education, with her research primarily focused on student wellbeing in legal education and improving the student experience. She has presented at various national conferences on legal education and served as the subject convenor for legal education at the Society of Legal Scholars' annual conference in September 2024. Elyse was recently invited to review book proposals for Routledge, specifically in the area of sustainability in legal education.
Her recent work includes exploring the role of personal tutors in legal education, and she has been invited to speak internationally on this subject.
Publications
Chapter in book
WAKELIN, E., 2020. Rule of law and the UN sustainable development goals. In: W. LEAL FILHO, A.M. AZUL, L. BRANDII, P.G. ÖZUYAR and T. WALL, eds., Peace, justice and strong institutions. Encyclopedia of the UN sustainable development goals . Cham: Springer. ISBN 9783319710662
Conference contribution
WAKELIN, E., 2019. The raising pressures on pastoral care and support for students in legal education: how to deal with this growing concern. In: Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) Annual Conference 2019, UCLan, Preston, 3-6 September 2019.
WAKELIN, E., 2015. Minority right obligations in Europe: when claims of double standards are simply not enough. In: Annual Research Symposium of the UACES CRN Centrifugal Europe: New Perspectives in European Studies: Europeanisation in the EU and the Neighbourhood, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, 6-8 March 2015.
WAKELIN, E., 2014. Bosnia and Herzegovina: the need for belonging in a state of minorities. In: UACES 44th Annual Conference, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, 1-4 September 2014.
WAKELIN, E., 2014. The end of EU conditionality: what next for the EU enlargement process? In: 15th Annual UACES Student Forum Research Conference, Aston University, Birmingham, 24-25 April 2014.
WAKELIN, E., 2013. Minority rights protection in contemporary Europe: the double standards between member states and candidate countries obligations. In: Seminar Series of the UK Network on Human Rights and Minority Rights, University of Reading, Reading, 12 June 2013.
Thesis
WAKELIN, E., 2018. Minority right protections in contemporary Europe; the double standards between member state and candidate country obligations. PhD, University of Leicester.