MOVING FORWARD FOR
A GREAT FUTURE AT UND LAW
MICHAEL S. MCGINNISS
Dean, University of North Dakota
School of Law
Having officially begun my service as the
Dean of the University of North Dakota
(UND) School of Law on July 1, I am both
humbled and excited by the opportunity to
provide leadership for a law school I love
so much. I am grateful to Interim Dean
Brad Myers, who did an excellent job under
very challenging circumstances to bring us
through our time of transition as we worked
together for our law school community. I am
also grateful to our Dean for so many years,
Kathryn Rand, who recruited me to our
faculty in 2010; offered me immense support
and opportunities to grow in my teaching,
scholarship, and service; and provided such
strong and effective leadership to our School
of Law through the positive challenges of
enlisting financial support for our law school
building project and seeing that project
through to a completion that was timely and
amazing in its quality and results.
I undertake this role with an acute awareness
that I follow in the footsteps of many deans
before me who helped make UND Law’s
traditions, values, and integrity so strong,
and an institution in which its alumni and
friends take so much proper pride. I have
been deeply honored, and moved by the
numerous calls, emails, and other expressions
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THE GAVEL
of enthusiastic support that were made on
my behalf in the dean selection process, and
that have continued to arrive in the forms of
congratulations and expressions of support
for my leadership of the UND School of
Law. Thank you to all who have done this,
from the fullness of my heart.
Since joining our faculty nine years ago, I
have considered it my responsibility to serve
our North Dakota legal community and act
as an ambassador for the UND School of
Law. I have had opportunities to interact
with and learn from some of the best lawyers
and judges in North Dakota. But what I
have enjoyed most about my service here is
teaching and getting to know my students. I
have considered my role as a law teacher to
be analogous to that of a fiduciary. Students
place trust and confidence in us to care about
their learning and to devote ourselves to
teaching them effectively, both in and out of
the classroom. I have been privileged to have
countless conversations with students about
topics including their professional goals,
uncertainties in the face of ethical dilemmas,
or finding the will to persevere when
struggling with their studies or personal
obstacles. The relationships I have formed
with our students and graduates have meant
the world to me.
The UND School of Law is North Dakota’s
law school. I am deeply committed to
ensuring the qualities that have made
us so distinctive and special among law
schools endure for the future of our state.
Touchstones in my philosophy of legal
education are student success and well-being
in the short term – accomplished through
a rigorous academic program and a culture
of caring and respect for individuals – and
in the long term, including bar passage
after graduation and the best possible
preparation for professional life thereafter. I
also strongly embrace the reality that changes
in our national and regional landscape for
legal education (and for higher education
generally) will require continued innovation
and flexibility in both the content and the
delivery of our courses, yet always consistent
with sound principles of effective teaching
and learning.
We face many challenges, including the need
to recover from the consequential impacts
of the significant cuts to our budget that
occurred in recent years, and to flourish in a
very competitive environment for recruiting
and retaining law students in our region. I
intend to approach these challenges by (1)
making continued vigorous efforts as a strong
and effective advocate among all of our
stakeholders about the critical importance of
North Dakota’s law school to the future of
our state, and in providing the benefit of legal
assistance and access to justice for its citizens
and (2) being a servant leader who builds a
positive and rewarding law school culture
that promotes the dedication of each person
– student, staff, and faculty – to our common
enterprise of excellence in legal education.