THE PROCESS OF SELECTING
A NEW LAW SCHOOL DEAN
Brad Myers, Interim Dean
University of North Dakota
School of Law
As I think you may all know, Kathryn Rand
stepped down as dean of the University
of North Dakota (UND) School of Law
effective Aug. 1. She had been our dean for
approaching a decade and led us through a
major addition and remodel of our physical
space and through a major restructure and
remodel of our financial space.
Kathryn’s high level of performance as
dean for such a long time makes her a very
difficult person to follow. The University
decided appointing me to the position in
the interim would take some of the pressure
off our next permanent dean. I have been at
UND for 17 years, and I have the obligation,
and pleasure, to guide the School of Law for
the next nine months or so until a permanent
dean takes over. While this is a challenging
time in higher education, I am excited to
have this brief opportunity to lead the School
of Law.
universities typically engage in a broad,
nationwide search to find a highly qualified
individual. This necessitates the naming
of a distinguished body of faculty, alumni,
and other stakeholders to guide the search.
The University named the co-chairs for our
Dean Search Committee in July. Somewhat
to our surprise, but definitely to our delight,
Chief Justice VandeWalle agreed to serve as
co-chair of the committee. For someone of
the Chief ’s stature to serve in this position
demonstrates the support the School of Law
enjoys in the state. Professor Jim Grajalva
agreed to serve as the other co-chair. He has
been at UND for more than 20 years, has
been president of the University Senate, and
served a year as the faculty representative to
the State Board of Higher Education. The
remaining 11 members of the committee
were named in August. The committee has
strong representation from the bench, the
bar, our alumni, faculty, and administration.
The committee members could not be more
qualified, distinguished, and passionate
about legal education in North Dakota. I
want to take this opportunity, on behalf of
the School of Law, to thank the members of
the committee and all the others across the
state who contacted the University to express
their strong desire to serve. The support and
affinity for the School of Law has touched
us all.
For my first Gavel column, I decided to write
about the process by which law school deans
are selected and some of the work we will be
doing this year until our new dean takes over. The University engaged Storbeck Pimentel
& Associates as a search consultant. They
visited the campus in August and talked to
as many of the School of Law’s stakeholders
as they could. With the assistance of the
consultant, the committee drafted a position
description. Beginning in mid-September,
this description was posted and the
solicitation of applicants began in earnest.
When an upper administrative position
at a national university must be filled, The committee began review of the
applications it received on Oct. 12 (this
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THE GAVEL
should not be considered a closing date and
new applications will be received until a
new dean is selected). The committee then
selected a group of candidates for initial
interviews conducted via distance technology.
Finalists travel to the University for two days
of interviews, meetings, and presentations.
I should note, under state law, only the
names of the finalists for the position will be
publicly disclosed.
The final action of the committee will be
forwarding at least three names to the
provost for consideration. At that point, the
committee’s work ends. The committee will
not select the new dean. That decision is
solely in the hands of the provost.
During this interim time, the School of
Law still has quite a bit to do. We will spend
part of this time continuing our efforts to
ensure our citizens in rural communities
have access to justice and legal services. In
conjunction with SBAND and the courts,
and with some very generous support from
donors, we have increased our efforts to
place students in externships across the state.
The challenge has been finding a way for
students in placements far from Grand Forks
to maintain full-time student status. To that
end, we will invest time this year creating
courses that can be offered over distance
technology. Students will be able to complete
these classes while living and working in
courts and firms across the state.
This year, we will also work on a plan to help
some enter law school sooner. In conjunction
with our good friends in the College of Arts
& Sciences and the College of Business &
Public Administration, we are developing
what is called a 3+3 program. This will allow
students in some undergraduate majors to
complete both their bachelor’s and juris
doctor degrees in six years. The program will