A second-year law program in Boise for University of Idaho students is under consideration following the UI Faculty Senate’s unanimous endorsement at its Sept. 11 meeting.
The UI College of Law’s proposal isn’t for a new law school or degree program, but instead to add second-year courses to the third-year curriculum already available in Boise.
UI would still offer one Juris Doctor program. Pending approval by the Idaho State Board of Education, the full three-year curriculum would be available to students in Moscow, while the upper-division curriculum would also be offered in Boise. All law students would be required to take their first-year courses in Moscow, and those who wish to continue on in Boise would complete their second and third-year curriculum there.
Don Burnett, dean of the UI College of Law, said in a teleconference with the senate that offering second-year courses in Boise would allow law students to pursue their upper-division courses in a comparatively advantageous location.
“We can teach certain subjects better in Boise than we can teach them in Moscow and vice versa,” Burnett said.
Burnett said because of its metropolitan location in Idaho’s capitol, the Boise program would boast advantages in courses relating to entrepreneurism, business law, international business, economic development, preparation for the bar exam, etc.
He said Native American law, litigation, natural resources and dispute courses are taught more readily by Moscow faculty.
The estimated cost for implementing this second-year program in Boise is $900,000, Burnett said. Aside from utilizing student fees and $300,000 per year in a continuing strategic investment by the university to start and sustain the program, UI is asking the SBOE for $400,000.
Burnett cited three reasons for pursuing funding from the SBOE.
One is that the American Bar Association prohibits the College of Law from diverting its resources in Moscow to support the program in Boise. The ABA also requires full-time instructors, opposed to adjuncts, to provide the majority of the J.D. program instructionand caps law students’ distance education hours at 12.
If the SBOE approves this proposal, Burnett said two full-time faculty members will be hired at the Boise location.
Burnett said UI began the strategic process for implementing a law program in Boise in 1999-2000, as the only institution with a statewide mission in legal education.
The SBOE authorized only the third-year Boise program in 2008, and asked UI to return later with a proposal for a full three-year plan.
Burnett said given the SBOE’s original decision, it came as no surprise when a private university took the opportunity to enter the Boise market. Concordia University, a non-profit, unaccredited Christian college, launched its law program this fall.
Burnett said UI is working toward a full three-year program in both Boise and Moscow, while emphasizing the Moscow location and planning for a smaller program in Boise.
Britt Kiser can be reached at [email protected]