College of Law seeks ABA approval
Campus Times
April 3, 1998
The University of La Verne Board of Trustees voted Saturday, March 21,
to seek American Bar Association (ABA)
accreditation for the College of Law's La Verne campus.
The issue is being evaluated after the recommendation of an independent
commission appointed by the Board last year.
Besides seeking approval from the ABA, the report recommended that the
College's La Verne campus be moved east to a new facility and the San Fernando
Valley campus be established as a separate corporation. It would still be
related to ULV, but have its own board of directors.
The Board has directed that appointment of a special board committee
to develop an implementation plan for achieving the American Bar Association
(ABA) approval on an operationally self-funding basis. During this process,
the committee will seek input from all areas of the university community.
The process to recruit members will begin immediately.
"Seeking ABA approval underscores the continuing commitment the
university has towards providing the highest quality legal education. The
recent performance of graduates from the College of Law in taking the bar
exam, validates the pursuit of ABA approval," said Kenneth Held, dean
of the College of Law.
The process will be self funded by the College of Law.
The report demonstrated the need for an ABA school in the Inland Empire.
The benefits of an ABA accredited school to the total university community,
and the ability of the College of Law and the community interested in legal
education to fund the quest for ABA approval.
This decision reflects the Board's continuing effort to strengthen the
academic quality of ULV. ABA approval would represent a quantum leap in
building the University's reputation, and would take the college of law
from regional recognition to national recognition. ABA approval is expected
to enhance the image of the entire university and to have positive financial
impact on all of ULV's programs.
For years, the Southern California legal community has encouraged ULV
to seek ABA approval. This would allow graduates to sit for the bar exam
in any state in the nation. The most recent bar pass rate at the ULV campus
surpassed that of nine of the 17 ABA schools located in California. President
Stephen Morgan will work with the entire campus community sharing information
on the progress at faculty and town meetings.
"This is probably the most important decision the Board has made
in my 12 years as president," said Dr. Morgan.
