‘Steep Mountain’ for FAMU to Climb to Full Accreditation, ABA Report Says

Law Schools

‘Steep Mountain’ for FAMU to Climb to Full Accreditation, ABA Report Says

Posted May 14, 2008, 02:33 pm CST
By Martha Neil

A fledgling law school at Florida A&M University reportedly is facing a tough accreditation battle, after a negative report by the American Bar Association earlier this year. But it's a battle that can still be won, the law school's new dean says.

A seven-member ABA accreditation team that visited the Orlando law school last fall issued a "scathing" report in March that cited faculty dissention, low bar exam pass rates and eroding trust between students and adminstrators as major roadblocks to FAMU's hoped-for full accreditation by August 2009, reports the St. Petersburg Times.

However, these problems are not new, the newspaper notes, and the situation may be changing for the better. The report cited some positives about FAMU, such as the quality of its teaching, which ranges from satisfactory to exemplary. And FAMU has hired seven new faculty members, including a replacement for a much-criticized former director of a legal writing program.

"The bottom line is, it's a significant challenge," says LeRoy Pernell, the law school's dean. But "as I read the report, it says you have a tough road, but not an impassable one."

Additional coverage:

Orlando Sentinel: "FAMU law school faces 'steep mountain' in effort to win full accreditation"

ABA Journal - Law News Now

Law Schools