Section 2: CORE REQUIREMENTS

The institution has a governing board of at least five members that is the legal body with specific authority over the institution. The board is an active policy-making body for the institution and is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the financial resources of the institution are adequate to provide a sound educational program. The board is not controlled by a minority of board members or by organizations or interests separate from it. Neither the presiding officer of the board nor the majority of other voting members of the board have contractual, employment, or personal or familial financial interest in the institution.

A military institution authorized and operated by the federal government to award degrees has a public board in which neither the presiding officer nor a majority of the other members are civilian employees of the military or active/retired military. The board has broad and significant influence upon the institution’s programs and operations, plays an active role in policy-making, and ensures that the financial resources of the institution are used to provide a sound educational program. The board is not controlled by a minority of board members or by organizations or interests separate from the board except as specified by the authorizing legislation. Neither the presiding officer of the board nor the majority of other voting board members have contractual, employment, or personal or familial financial interest in the institution.  (Governing Board)
 

The School of Law is in compliance with this requirement.

The School of Law has:

The School of Law is in compliance with this requirement.

The School of Law’s Program of Legal Education satisfies the American Bar Association standards for curricula, which include a coherent set of requirements for the course of study. http://www.abanet.org/legaled/standards/chapter3.html

The School of Law’s Program of Legal Education was reviewed during Spring 2004 as part of the Sabbatical Reinspection of the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools; the final reports of those bodies will be available in the office of the Dean of the School of Law.

The School of Law is in compliance with this requirement.

The School of Law controls all aspects of its degree programs, except for the graduate school aspects of the joint degree programs offered in conjunction with other colleges on campus. The School of Law also participates in a cooperative Summer Law Institute in Guanajuato, Mexico, with two other U.S. law schools and the host university. See http://www.law.ttu.edu/academics/international/guan.asp. The Institute has been approved by the Accreditation Committee of the ABA Section on Legal Education. The Institute was reviewed by the ABA during Summer 2003, and a copy of the final report will be available in the office of the Dean of the School of Law.  Subsequent to that review, the Summer Law Institute was approved for continuation by the ABA’s Accreditation Committee in January 2004, and will be re-evaluated by site visit in 2010.

The institution has a sound financial base and demonstrated financial stability, and adequate physical resources to support the mission of the institution and the scope of its programs and services.

The member institution provides the following financial statements: (a) an institutional audit (or Standard Review Report issued in accordance with Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services issued by the AICPA for those institutions audited as part of a systemwide or statewide audit) and written institutional management letter for the most recent fiscal year prepared by an independent certified public accountant and/or an appropriate governmental auditing agency employing the appropriate audit (or Standard Review Report) guide; (b) a statement of financial position of unrestricted net assets, exclusive of plant assets and plant-related debt, which represents the change in unrestricted net assets attributable to operations for the most recent year; and, (c) an annual budget that is preceded by sound planning, is subject to sound fiscal procedures, and is approved by the governing board.

Audit requirements for applicant institutions may be found in the Commission policy entitled "Accreditation Procedures for Applicant Institutions.  (Resources)

(Not applicable for the Compliance Certification submitted by institution).

Section 3:  COMPREHENSIVE STANDARDS

Institutional Mission, Governance, And Effectiveness

The institution has qualified administrative and academic officers with the experience,
competence, and capacity to lead the institution.

The School of Law is in compliance with this standard and has experienced and qualified administrators.

Walter B. Huffman serves as Dean of the Law School.  In August 2002, Dean Huffman replaced W. Frank Newton, who had served as Dean since 1985.  Dean Huffman is also a tenured member of the faculty.  Dean Huffman joined the Texas Tech School of Law after a distinguished 25-year career in public service. As Judge Advocate General and the top military lawyer for the U.S. Army, Dean Huffman stepped down in 2001 after managing and leading a diverse legal workforce of more than 4,000 full-time uniformed and civilian attorneys and paralegal and support personnel in the United States and 17 foreign countries. During that time he was the first uniformed lawyer since World War II selected to serve on the Texas State Bar Board of Directors.

In addition to the Dean, the School has four associate and two assistant deans.

a.     Associate Dean for Law Library and Computing

Arturo Torres is the School’s first Associate Dean for Law Library and Computing, replacing the position of Law Library Director.  He is also a tenured Professor of Law, having been hired with tenure from his former position at Gonzaga University School of Law.  Dean Torres is responsible for the law library and its 18-person staff and for the School’s Information Technology Support Program and its six-person staff.

b.      Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Brian Shannon has been the School’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs since January 2002.  He also served as Associate Dean for Student Affairs during Fall 2001, and he is the Charles “Tex” Thornton Professor of Law.  Dean Shannon has respon­si­bility for all academic and faculty matters, including curriculum and scholarship; grade appeals proceedings; super­vi­sion of the Regis­trar; and oversight of the Legal Practice, Clinical, and International Pro­grams.  Dean Shannon also serves, in effect, as the School’s Vice Dean, filling in for the Dean in his absence.

c.      Associate Dean for Student Affairs

Susan Fortney became the Associate Dean for Student Affairs in August 2003; she is also the George Mahon Professor of Law.  In her capacity as Associate Dean, she supervises the School’s two Assistant Deans: the Assistant Dean for Recruit­ment and Admissions and the Assistant Dean for Career Services.  Dean Fortney also oversees the Academic Support Program, student organizations, and Honor Council matters.

d.      Assistant Deans

As noted, the School’s two assistant deans both report to Associate Dean Fortney.  Assistant Dean for Recruitment and Admissions Terence Cook oversees new-student recruitment and the overall admissions process.  Dean Cook is the first person to hold this position, which the School created in January 2002. Assistant Dean for Career Services Kay Fletcher deals with all matters relating to student place­ment and continuing legal education. She also is responsible for the graduation and honors programs.

e.      Associate Dean for Administration and External Affairs

In July 2003, Richard Rosen became the School’s first Associate Dean for Adminis­tra­tion and External Affairs. Dean Rosen assists the Dean with the day-to-day, non-academic operations of the School. This assistance includes supervision over the School’s budget and financial affairs, staff (except the library staff), alumni relations and develop­ment, and facilities and space manage­ment. He is also responsible for overseeing the operations of the Law School Founda­tion. Dean Rosen joined the faculty after completing a distinguished career as an officer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the United States Army. Prior to retiring from the military, Dean Rosen was Commandant of the Judge Advocate General’s School, U.S. Army in Charlottesville, VA, where he commanded the Army’s ABA-recognized law school.

The institution defines and publishes policies regarding appointment and employment of
faculty and staff.

• The Dean reports to the Provost and is evaluated annually. For the relevant O.P., see http://www.depts.ttu.edu/opmanual/OP30.15.pdf and http://www.depts.ttu.edu/opmanual/OP30.15A.pdf.
  
• All associate and assistant deans are reviewed annually by the Dean of the School of Law.

The institution’s policies are clear concerning ownership of materials, compensation,
copyright issues, and the use of revenue derived from the creation and production of all
intellectual property. This applies to students, faculty and staff.

The Law School went through a lengthy process to prepare its Strategic Plan.  The faculty participated in all aspects of the plan’s development, from initial brainstorming sessions through final word-by-word approval.  In essence, the strategic-planning process was run by a “committee of the whole.” Students provided input through their own stra­tegic planning committee, created in Fall 2000.  The student committee met on several occa­sions and provided substantial input into the final docu­ment.  The School particularly sought student input on the issue of expanding the clinical education program.  The School also gathered information from sister law schools, with a focus on “Big 12” schools and law schools similar in size and age.  The data received included information on faculty make-up; student population; student-faculty ratio; student access to clinical, externships, and skills courses; bar pas­sage and placement rates; library volumes and staffing; and student scholarships.  During the following six months, the faculty held four roundtables dedicated solely to the Strategic Plan.  In addition, the faculty discussed draft sections during its regular meetings.  On October 9, 2001, the faculty approved the final strategic plan, including the benchmarks, and submitted it through the Dean to the President of the University.

Much of the data review for quality improvement is undertaken by the Associate and Assistant Deans, with additional assistance from committee chairs such as the Chair of the Admissions Committee. (For example, see http://www.irs.ttu.edu/SACS/AssessmentReports/8_0_2003.pdf for a report on trend data and assessment.) 

However, another substantial review was undertaken through our internal self-study process that culminated in the 2004 Self Study Report prepared for the Sabbatical Reinspection of the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools (Feb.-March 2004). (A copy of the 2004 Self-Study is available in the Office of the Dean of the Law School, and another copy is available in the Office of the Provost of the University.) 

The self-study process took place between August 2002 and January 2004. Dean Huffman appointed the Self-Study Committee in August 2002.  Its changing membership has included Professors Daniel Benson, Wes Cochran, Bruce M. Kramer (Chair), Marilyn Phelan, Nancy Soonpaa, Larry Spain, and Jorge Ramirez, and Associate Dean Arturo Torres.  Associate Deans Brian Shannon and Richard Rosen were ex officio members.  Professor Kramer attended the ABA Site Evaluation Orientation Workshop in February 2003.  The com­mittee held several meetings in Spring 2003, assigning to its members responsi­bil­ity for preparing drafts of the various parts of the Self Study.   

Much like the Strategic Plan, the Self Study was the product of faculty discussion, delibera­tion, and input. In Fall 2003, the Committee met to review the work of its mem­bers.  Professor Kramer discussed the Self Study with the faculty at many of its regularly scheduled meetings and disseminated various drafts to the faculty for review and comment. The faculty met in special session to discuss the Self Study on January 16, 2004.  It approved the Report on January 21, 2004, in a 23 to 2 vote with one abstention.  No dissenting views or minority report were offered.

One area for future improvement that was identified during the self-study process is to develop a more formal process within the School of Law for assessing data and incorporating the results into quality improvements. The administrative team has determined that a permanent faculty committee will be appointed to review benchmark data on an annual basis to better facilitate continuous quality improvement, successful compliance with strategic goals, and to better identify needs to re-assess goals.

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES:

PROGRAMS

The School of Law does not have advanced placement credit.  In Spring 2004 the Law Faculty approved a Law & Science certificate program. A copy of the written program parameters is located in the office of the Dean of the Law School.  There are written policies for transfer credit consistent with American Bar Association policies. Transfers are only accepted from other ABA accredited schools, and students may not transfer more than 1/3 of the degree requirements (no more than 30 hours). Experiential learning is accomplished through the School of Law’s clinical programs and externship program, which evaluated by supervising professors consistent with ABA guidelines.

The School of Law is not currently offering any distance learning courses or other courses taught in a non-traditional mode of delivery.

In addition, the School of Law has a student exchange agreement with the Universite Jean Moulin, in Lyon, France, and a student/faculty exchange agreement with Pablo de Olavide’s School of Law (in Sevilla, Spain). These agreements are evaluated on an ongoing basis by the School of Law’s Director for International Programs and the Dean of the School of Law. Copies of the agreements are available in the Office of the Dean of the School of Law. See also http://www.law.ttu.edu/academics/international/abroad.asp.

There are no “majors” per se in the law program. However, the degree program for the Juris Doctor degree is coordinated by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (always held by a tenured full professor). Curriculum development and review is conducted by a Curriculum Committee (a majority of whom are tenured/tenure-track faculty), as well as by the Law Faculty, as a whole.

The institution’s use of technology enhances student learning, is appropriate for meeting the
objectives of its programs, and ensures that students have access to and training in the use
of technology.

RESOURCES

Section 4:  FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS

The School of Law is in compliance with this standard.

As part of the School of Law’s Strategic Plan, as well as American Bar Association and legislative mandates, the School of Law assess and reviews annually graduation rates, bar passage rates, and job placement rates. See http://www.law.ttu.edu/about/strategic.asp.

The School of Law is in compliance with this standard.

The curriculum of the School of Law is appropriate to the school’s mission and the J.D. degree.  The School has a curriculum committee of faculty, administrators, and elected student representatives who oversee any curricular additions, changes, or deletions. The curriculum must comply with American Bar Association standards and guidelines and is reviewed by the ABA and the Association of American Law Schools every seven years. See http://www.abanet.org/legaled/standards/chapter3.html.

The School of Law is in compliance on this standard.

Although the University, not the School of Law sets refund policies, the School of Law maintains its own academic calendar and grading policy. This information is available on the law school’s web site. See https://www.law.ttu.edu/students/calendar.asp and https://www.law.ttu.edu/assets/pdffiles/04_law_HB.pdf at p. 19.

The J.D. degree requires a minimum of 90 hours. See http://www.depts.ttu.edu/officialpublications/pdfs/CurrentLawCatalog.pdf.
This exceeds the minimum requirements set by the American Bar Association. See http://www.abanet.org/legaled/standards/chapter3.html.