AMSL is not planning to move to Florida... yet vote to move might come sooner rather than later

I don't quite know what to make of this news story, other than it seems to be just another example of the double speak we've come to expect in regards to discussing an AMSL move to Florida.


Ave Maria law not planning move to Collier campus
By Jenna Buzzacco (Contact)

Monday, January 30, 2006

Everywhere Bernard Dobranski goes, people ask him the same question about Ave Maria School of Law.

It's not about the school's moot trial team or about the possibility it may have its first U.S. Supreme Court clerk among its alumni in the near future.

Instead, everyone wants to know if the Ann Arbor, Mich., school will relocate to Ave Maria Town once construction is complete.

"There are currently no plans to move to Naples," said Dobranski, the school's dean. "But with that said, we will have to seriously consider it, and we will more likely be doing that sooner, rather than later."

The school's Board of Trustees first explored the idea of moving in 2003, when Ave Maria School of Law and Ave Maria University founder Tom Monaghan announced plans to build a town northeast of Naples. At the time, the board of governors decided it was not the right time to relocate, but Dobranski said the board also passed a resolution that stated it would remain open to the suggestion of moving.

And with the town projected to be completed in 2007, the board will have to revisit the topic soon to start the decision process.

But with the school just receiving full accreditation from the American Board Association, the board has more to consider than just whether students and faculty would prefer life in Florida.

"For me it's all about what is in the best interest of the law school in the long run," Dobranski said.

In 2003, the school conducted a study to determine whether it would even be feasible to move. And while nothing has been formally said, Dobranski said an updated study could be conducted as soon as this spring or summer.

But Dobranksi said some faculty members and current students have already expressed their opinion on the possibility of a move.

"I think it's very easy to say you'd rather not do something if you don't have all the information," he said. "I think there is a natural reluctance to leave something when things are going well, and things are going surprisingly well right now."

One thing that is going well for the school is the speed in which it received its accreditation. The school received full accreditation from the ABA last August, after five years of lobbying for it.

"It can't be done any faster and the process was relatively trouble free," Dobranski said.

That doesn't mean questions concerning the school's mission, to educate lawyers using the teachings of the Catholic Church, didn't come up. Dobranski said the ABA asked several questions about the teaching of court decisions that don't necessarily reflect Catholic teachings, like Roe v. Wade. The answer was always the same.

"You teach constitutional law, so you teach the case," Dobranski said. "The nature of our discussion may be a little different based on the background of students, though. But we have a corporate tax adjunct professor who openly says he has more academic freedom here than he does on the University of Michigan campus."

The ABA would need to give Ave Maria School of Law acquiescence before it would be able to relocate, Dobranski said. In order for the ABA to give acquiescence, the school must prove it will be properly financed, have a facility that meets the associations standards and that it will still attract students.

But even knowing that, Dobranski said, it's unclear what the process will be like when, or if, the school applies for acquiescence.

"Nothing quite like what we may do has happened before," he said.

While the ABA has a set of standards for major changes, the total relocation of an established school is not defined in those standards. And since no request for acquiescence has been made yet, ABA spokesman Karl Camillucci said "the American Bar Association does not comment on hypothetical situations relating to specific law schools."

One thing is for sure, though: All of the students who currently attend Ave Maria School of Law will graduate from the Ann Arbor campus. Dobranski said he told students that a move would not come before fall 2008, which would be the first year it would be feasible to relocate.

There's another thing Dobranski said won't be happening if the board decides to relocate the school: Ave Maria School of Law will not become affiliated with Ave Maria University, at least not immediately.

Currently all three Ave Maria education institutions, the law school, university and Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, are separate from one another, each with their own board of trustees. Once the new campus is opened, Ave Maria University will encompass both the university and the college, while the law school remains autonomous.

But Dobranski said, like relocation, becoming affiliated with the university is considered a major change, and one that the ABA may not look fondly upon.

"There is no indication that the ABA would give acquiescence to us if we become affiliated with AMU," Dobranski said.

"We have always envisioned that it could be reasonable down the road, but we will not compromise our autonomy."