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Monday, December 12, 2005

Ind. Gov't. - One state law school needs fixing up while others cite wishes for a third state law school

The Indiana Daily Student reports today that the IU Board of Trustees met Friday and, inter alia, voted to rehab the Bloomington Law School:

Law School Renovations

During the meeting. the board also approved a $1.8 million renovation of the law library and the first and second floors of the law school to make the space more functional.

Dean of the School of Law Lauren Robel said the renovations will make room for more classes.

"We are desperately short of classroom space," she said.

In addition. the school will try to upgrade its infrastructure to make it more accessible to bring electronics into classrooms and transfer many of the law journals into digital format to free up space, said John Applegate, law school executive associate dean for academic affairs.

"It appears that over time there is now a greater need in different areas than before," said trustee William Cast. "Virtual cyberspace is now much more of a priority."

Robel said the renovations would start this summer and continue for 18 months.

"This renovation will enable us to meet our students' needs better than the existing space does," Applegate said.

Meanwhile, there is talk, in Terre Haute, of adding a third state law school, according to this AP story:
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State University is considering creating a law school, but the proposal is in its early stages. ISU has completed a preliminary review of the idea, and will now work on a more detailed feasibility study, which should be completed by June, said university president Lloyd Benjamin. "The concept appears to have a lot of merit," he said. "At the same time, it has a lot of questions."

If Indiana State establishes a law school, it would be the third public law school in the state, along with Indiana University School of Law at Bloomington and IU School of Law at Indianapolis. Two private universities -- Valparaiso University and the University of Notre Dame -- also have law schools.

If ISU officials decide they want to establish a law school, the proposal would have to be approved by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Stan Jones, state commissioner for higher education, said he knows little about the idea, but had concerns about whether there was demand for another public law school. "I think we need to be certain we really have a need in the state for another law school before we would walk down that path," Jones said. "I've not been aware that we need more lawyers in the state."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 12, 2005 03:49 PM
Posted to Indiana Government