Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law v. American Bar Association (TV1)

Filing 32

NOTICE by Lincoln Memorial University Duncan School of Law re 2 MOTION for Temporary Restraining Order MOTION for Preliminary Injunction MOTION for Permanent Injunction, 5 Memorandum in Support of Motion of Filing of Supplemental Authorities (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A: ABA Internal Operating Practices 5)(Watson, Robert)

2011–2012

Standards and Rules
of Procedure for
Approval of Law
Schools
American Bar Association
Section of Legal Education
and Admissions to the Bar

Case 3:11-cv-00608 Document 21-3

Filed 01/03/12 Page 1 of 13 PageID #: 343
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particular issues which need to be reviewed at the school, and the need for multi-level
diversity in the make-up of the teams.
(c) Evaluation - The Consultant should seek to evaluate the quality of work done by
individual site evaluators. This may be accomplished by corresponding with the chair of
the team and the dean of the school visited. The objective of this process should be the
development of a pool of well- experienced site evaluators.
(d) Training - The Consultant shall conduct, each year, workshops to train evaluators
(particularly new or relatively new ones), and chairpersons of site evaluation teams. These
workshops should cover the Standards, Interpretations and Rules of Procedure; current
matters of accreditation policy, process considerations for the conduct of an on-site
inspection, and the drafting of the site team report. Current instructions concerning the
conduct of a site evaluation visit and the content of a site evaluation report should be
supplied to each site evaluator.
4. Notice of Schools and Programs to be Accredited, and Preparation of Schools for Site
Evaluation Visits
(a) The Consultant shall publish on the Section website a list of all law schools which are
scheduled to be visited during the upcoming academic year for sabbatical, provisional or
full approval site evaluation visits, or a visit in connection with an application for
acquiescence in a major change of organizational structure. The notice should also state
that interested persons may submit written comments regarding the school by a date certain
determined by the Consultant. The Consultant may also publish such information in other
media or formats as deemed appropriate.
(b) The Consultant shall conduct, each year, one or more workshops to prepare schools for
undergoing site evaluation visits. Such workshops may be, but need not be, held in
conjunction with the workshops for training new site evaluators. These workshops should
cover the Standards, Interpretations and Rules of Procedure, current matters of
accreditation policy, preparation for a site evaluation visit, the conduct of a site evaluation
visit, and the expected content of a site evaluation report. Current instructions concerning
the conduct of a site evaluation visit and the expected content of a site evaluation report
should be provided to each school well in advance of the scheduled site evaluation visit.
5. Notification of Council Decisions
In accordance with Council policy, the Consultant shall:
(a) Provide written notification to the Secretary of the Department of Education, the
appropriate state licensing agency, and the appropriate accrediting agency, at the same time
the Consultant notifies the law school in writing of any decision to deny, withdraw,
suspend or remove the approval or provisional approval of the law school, or to place a law
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school on probation, but no later than thirty (30) days after the Council reaches the
decision.
(b) Provide written notification to the Secretary of the Department of Education, the
appropriate state licensing agency, the appropriate accrediting agency, and the public,
within thirty (30) days, of:
(i) a decision to grant provisional approval or full approval to a law school;
(ii) a decision by an approved or provisionally approved law school to withdraw
from approved or provisionally approved status; and
(iii) a decision by a law school to allow its approval or provisional approval to
lapse
(c) Provide written notification to the public within twenty-four (24) hours of the time the
Consultant notifies the law school in writing of any decision to deny, withdraw, suspend or
remove the approval or provisional approval of the law school, or to place a law school on
probation.
(d) Make available to the Secretary of the Department of Education, the appropriate state
licensing agency, the appropriate accrediting agency, and the public within sixty (60) days
after final decision, a brief statement summarizing the reasons for the decision to deny,
withdraw, suspend or remove the approval or provisional approval of a law school, and the
comments, if any, which the affected law school may wish to make with regard to that
decision or evidence that the law school was offered but declined to provide any
comments.
6. Due Regard for Decisions of Other Accrediting Agencies
(a) The Council approves only those institutions that are legally authorized under
applicable State law to provide a program of education beyond the secondary level.
(b) The Council does not usually renew the approval or provisional approval of a law
school or a law school program during a period in which the school or its parent institution:
(i) is the subject of an interim action by a recognized institutional accrediting
agency potentially leading to the suspension, revocation, or termination of
accreditation or preaccreditation;
(ii) is the subject of an interim action by a State agency potentially leading to the
suspension, revocation, or termination of the law school’s or the parent institution’s
legal authority to provide postsecondary education;

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