The State Board of Education and the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee of the Idaho Legislature recently approved funding for University of Idaho’s law school to offer second-year curriculum in Boise and fund the placement of faculty and other operational expenses, in addition to the Moscow law school funding — a project that’s been in the works for more than a decade years.
First-year law school student Jacob Thomas studies constitutional law at the Menard Law School.
“Gov. Otter supports funding for the second-year law program. So once the budget gets to his desk, I assume he would pass it as well,” said Ivar Gunderson, former Student Bar Association president. “My understanding is that the state lawmakers approve and support the program overall.”
Approval is still needed from the law school’s accrediting agency, the American Bar Association. The application for approval is pending, and the law school is awaiting a response in order to move forward.
“The ABA Legal Education Committee meets in April to discuss the program. Hopefully, they will approve and accredit the program as well,” Gunderson said. “Overall, there has been a positive report.”
The UI College of Law applied to the State Board of Education in 2008 to start the branch campus of the law school in Boise.
“We didn’t get any funding for that and it took us until 2010 to continue the funding to start the third-year program. Since that time, we’ve been looking to add a second-year program to the third-year,” said Don Burnett, professor of law and former UI President and College of Law Dean.
Currently, students begin law school in Moscow and have the option to finish the full three-year program in Boise — depending on the subject matter they’re most interested in. The Boise location offers students an opportunity to specialize in certain areas of law that have a natural locational advantage. Areas of emphasis offered at the UI Boise campus include Business Law, Entrepreneurism, Economic Development, International Trade and International Property.
Third-year law students in Boise attend law classes in the UI Water Center. Gunderson said there is not enough space in the Water Center to accommodate both second and third-year law students, so space in the Ada County Courthouse has been appropriated for the second and third-year law programs and the final installment to renovate the old Ada County Courthouse has been approved by the Legislature.
The building will be renovated into the Idaho Law and Justice Learning Center and will also be the site of the Idaho State Law Library, Judicial Education courses and law-related specific education open to the general public and partnered with the Supreme Court.
The last phases of renovation are occurring now. Completion of renovation is anticipated by fall 2014.
“It will benefit the students and it will also benefit the state of Idaho. We will be fulfilling the statewide mission that has been given to us by the State Board of Education and our faculty and students can be helpful to state government in their research, teaching, service and outreach in the state capital,” Burnett said. “I think it’s also important to the university that it will have a high profile program in the state capital.”
Once everything is completed with budgeting, renovation and accreditation, the school will organize faculty and staffing for both campuses.
Katie Franklin, a current second-year UI law student will study in Boise next year for the third-year program. She is looking forward to a wider array of class options with the presence of the second-year curriculum.
“The advantages of Boise campus are what it will take away from the Moscow campus,” Franklin said. “It could mean less classes in Moscow and it will take away from the environment in general of the school. I worry that expanding into Boise that much is going to take away from the tradition, and from the campus in general.”
Current goals are to have the second-year curriculum, in addition to third-year curriculum, operating by fall 2015, depending on actions taken by the ABA.
The long-term plan is to offer first-year law curriculum in Boise as well. This will take further application to the SBOE for approval and extended efforts to obtain the funding to support it.
Arianna Anchustegui can be reached at [email protected]