WORKING TO FACE THE CHALLENGES
AND MEET THE NEEDS OF THE
SCHOOL OF LAW
Brad Myers, Interim Dean
University of North Dakota
School of Law
At the UND School of Law, we expect our
new dean will start work for the 2019-2020
academic year. While the hope for any new
administrator is to have some time to ease
into the position, our next leader will not
have that luxury. While we continue to offer
a strong program of legal education, budget
cuts and other developments over the last
couple of years have stretched our ability
to continue to deliver a top-notch legal
education. The American Bar Association
(ABA) will be making an accreditation visit
in 2021, and we have begun the process of
making sure our entire operation complies
with ABA standards, many of which have
changed recently.
Let me take a little time to talk about law
school accreditation. The ABA Section of
Legal Education & Admissions to the Bar
accredits the School of Law. With some
minor exceptions, if a law school is not
accredited, its graduates cannot sit for the
bar exam. The accreditation process compares
a law school’s operations to the extensive
ABA Standards and Rules of Procedure for
Approval of Law Schools. ABA standards
are very specific and enforced diligently.
Law schools are the most highly regulated
discipline in higher education.
22
THE GAVEL
The ABA takes its role of protecting students
from substandard educational institutions
very seriously. Within the last couple years,
the ABA withdrew accreditation from
Charlotte Law School, Indiana Tech, and
Arizona Summit. (These schools are now
closed, as is Savannah Law School, bringing
the number to seven closed law schools,
counting the Mitchell Hamline merger
and Whittier’s plan to close by 2020. And
there are more in danger). A host of other
schools have received censure, required
remedial action, faced findings of significant
noncompliance, or were placed on report-
back status, including the University of
South Dakota School of Law.
While many of these schools look drastically
different from UND (very low bar passage
rate or significantly lower student attributes),
we would be negligent if we did not look at
the issues raised at those schools concerning
finances, students, faculty, and staff.
On the finance front, the School of Law,
like the rest of the University, has been
asked to find ways to either increase revenue
or further reduce expenses. The University
raised law school tuition over the last two
years with another increase slated for next
year. Even with these increases, revenue from
tuition does not come close to covering the
expenses of operating the School of Law.
I do believe, strongly, the School of Law
continues to takes its fiduciary duty to be a
wise steward of the taxpayers’ money. Those
of you who have seen our building addition
have seen how much we could do with
relatively little.
Finding the correct tuition level is a
major challenge. The name of the game in
higher education recruiting right now is
discounting. Set a higher tuition level and
then use scholarships and tuition waivers
to make the perspective students feel
special enough to come to your institution.
Currently, we have minimal ability to offer
any kind of recruitment dollars and we lose
students each year to those places that can.
Generous contributions from our alumni and
friends have certainly helped in this regard.
Our ability to attract students is subject to
demographic changes resulting in greater
competition. We just have fewer potential
students. Our financial projections plan on
a first-year class of 85 students. Since 2012,
only about 100 North Dakota students take
the LSAT annually. Some of those do not
apply to UND and some of the others do not
qualify for admission. UND needs students
from elsewhere to fill a first-year class. As
our tuition goes up, we lose a competitive
advantage making it more difficult to attract
students from elsewhere.
Crucial to recruiting students is the ability
to offer them field placement experiences
outside of Grand Forks. The School of Law