The State Bar Association of North Dakota Winter 2014 Gavel Magazine | Page 8

FROM THE
DEAN

Kathryn Rand

Dean, UND School of Law

Re-Accreditation at UND
School of Law: Frequently
Asked Questions
From Sunday, March 23 through
Wednesday, March 26, a team of lawyers
and academics chosen by the American Bar
Association will conduct a site visit at the
School of Law as part of a required national
law school re-accreditation process.
1. Why is the law school being evaluated at
this time?
The UND School of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA)
(and has been since 1923). Each fully accredited law school is evaluated by the ABA
every seven years.
UND School of Law’s last re-accreditation
occurred in 2007, so our regular “sabbatical” evaluation is scheduled for 2014. During the re-accreditation process, the School
of Law remains fully accredited.
2. What is the law school’s accrediting
agency?
Beginning in 1921, the ABA adopted
standards for the provision of legal education. The ABA Council of the Section of
Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar
is the national accrediting agency for law
schools. Since 1952, the Council has been
approved by the U.S. Department of Education as the recognized national agency for
the accreditation of programs leading to
the first professional degree in law, the juris
d