Memo on possible relocation of AMSL to Florida

Hot off the press - this was released after 5:00pm Friday. We have been preparing a lengthy post which will be up by 6:30pm today. Stay tuned...

MEMORANDUM
TO: FACULTY, STUDENTS, STAFF, AND ALUMNI AND ALUMNAE
FROM: BERNARD DOBRANSKI, PRESIDENT AND DEAN
SUBJECT: POSSIBLE RELOCATION OF AMSL
DATE: 3/17/2006

At its March 8, 2006 meeting, the Board of Governors discussed the question whether it would be in the best interests of the law school to relocate to the Naples, Florida area.
The first thing to emphasize is that the Board did not make a decision on the ultimate question of relocation. It simply began an evaluation process to gather the kind of information necessary to make a thorough, careful, and well informed decision on what is in the law school’s best interests.
As a first step in this process, the Board authorized an updating and broadening of the 2003 Feasibility Study. To perform that task, the Board has employed Professor James White, from the University of Indiana, Indianapolis, and Professor Frank. T. Read, from the South Texas College of Law. Professors Read and White are two of the most experienced individuals in American legal education. Professor White served for twenty-six years as the Consultant on Legal Education to the ABA Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the most important position in legal education. As the Consultant, he oversaw and guided the development of the ABA Standards on Legal Education, during the most critical period in legal education. He also served as a member of the team which conducted the 2003 Feasibility Study. Professor Read not only served as Dean at five different law schools, but also served as Deputy Consultant on Legal Education. He is also a past president of the Law School Admissions Council and past Chairman of the Board of the Law Access Group (legal education’s loan program). In addition, Professor Read served as our Consultant on Accreditation.
In outline, the process will be: Update and broaden the earlier Feasibility Study to provide the Board with all the relevant information necessary for an informed decision. Input will be sought from the faculty, students, staff, and alumni and alumnae. After all the necessary information is gathered, the study will be presented to the Board for its consideration and deliberation. It will also be shared with the Ave Maria Law School Community. If the Board, based on the information available to it, decides that it is not in the best interests of the school to move, the matter ends. On the other hand, if it decides it would be in the school’s best interests to relocate, the matter must then be submitted to the ABA for its acquiescence.
No timetables or timelines for this process have yet been established. I will share that information with you as it becomes available.