News, Views and Careers for All of Higher Education
Sept. 11, 2007
— Scott Jaschik and Elizabeth Redden
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Mr. McGhee, Help me out here. How many people are salaried employees of the “Higher Education Accountability Project.” Knowing this information will help me put your views in context. I am also curious as to what “pRocess” standard you are referring to, and why it is “clearly” inadequate. Since you fail to provide any specifics, about why something is so “clear” (and you don’t even define “adequate”) I am beginning to think that 1) your “project” of which you are a “director” of is just you – since you do not even have your own website; and 2) your comments are political in nature, and are not even informed by any knowledge of legal education. While is is considered “hip” to bash the ABA’s standards, it is also considered “not hip” to attend a school that lacks the ABA’s stamp of approval.
Larry, at 11:45 am EDT on September 11, 2007
Hi Larry. I’m sorry that my website wasn’t what you wanted. A lot of work over the past few years has gone into it. You may contact me through my site.
You are right, though: I am interested in higher education accreditation reform in general. The lack of “minimum standards” is appalling to me, especially in regard to faculty (the subject of the Ave Maria story). Thus,the ABA seems no different to me than the regional guilds.
Spellings recent defeat by the HE guilds and their members points to the deep reserves of strength and political clout that neutralized her rather modest attempt at reforming the ineffective and incestuous system we now have.
Glen S. McGhee, Dir., at Florida Higher Education Accountability Project, at 6:25 pm EDT on September 11, 2007
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ABA’s Spaghetti standard
It is deeply ironic that the ABA has “reason to believe” that the school isn’t in compliance with a standard “to establish and maintain conditions adequate to attract and retain a competent faculty,” in view of the fact that the ABA lacks objective standards for faculty.
Here’s the ABA’s minimum standard for faculty: http://www.abanet.org/legaled/sta...apter%204_20061005150212.pdfStandard 401. QUALIFICATIONS A law school shall have a faculty whose qualifications and experience are appropriate to the stated mission of the law school and to maintaining a program of legal education consistent with the requirements of Standards 301 and 302. The faculty shall possesses [sic!] a high degree of competence, as demonstrated by its education, experience in teaching or practice, teaching effectiveness, and scholarly research and writing.
This “process” standard is clearly inadequate for a key input of legal education, and the ABA should be criticized for its lack of attention to it.
How they can turn around and wield this spaghetti-sword to attack Ave Maria is beyond me.
Glen S. McGhee, Dir., at Florida Higher Education Accountability Project, at 9:15 am EDT on September 11, 2007