The Board of Supervisors will discuss and vote today on a resolution to realign the Paul M. Hebert Law Center with the LSU A&M campus.
The Law Center has been an autonomous campus within the LSU system since the 1970s, when it was separated from the flagship campus.
Over the years, the law school has worked closely with programs at the LSU A&M campus, and the realignment of the two campuses will allow for better transparency between the programs, said Stuart Bell, executive vice chancellor and provost.
Jack Weiss, chancellor of the Law Center, said in a statement that the realignment or “reunification” of the two campuses would allow the school to better take advantage of the academic and other resources and allow the school to live up to its potential in today’s highly competitive law school world.
Bell said the realignment would allow students to “have their feet in both places” and pursue a more varied and interdisciplinary education. He also said there would be discussion about reorganizing the schools’ administration, should the resolution go through.
The merge of the two campuses would have to comply with the accreditation requirements, and if it’s approved, it will be completed by early 2015. The Law Center is required to uphold the American Bar Association’s standards for accreditation of law schools, and if it joins LSU A&M, it will have to also be approved by the University’s accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
Weiss said to provide the best legal education for students, the Law Center needs to “have a seat at the LSU family table and to be a part of the ongoing conversation there.” He also stressed the important of offering more creative pathways for students in education because the dual-degree programs currently available are not enough.