Deans' Forum Recap - August 2016

August 31, 2016| By Alexa Brown —Yesterday, students, faculty, and staff attended the regularly scheduled Deans' Forum, in which Dean Deanell Tacha and other members of the law administration discuss current campus news with the Pepperdine Law community in a town hall setting.

Dean Tacha brought up the search process for a new Dean, including that a national search committee had been partially assembled already and that a deadline for wrapping up the process had been set. At this time, no interim Dean has been named. Dean Tacha also reminded the community of Pepperdine Law's upcoming reaccreditation, including the ABA site visit taking place October 13-16. She announced that the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals would be hearing oral arguments on campus on October 4th, with more details to come soon.

Associate Dean Danny Dewalt provided an update on the upcoming renovation to the Law School. He explained that state-of-the art upgrades will be made to the auditorium and atrium and provided information about the noise and classroom closures.

Dean of Students Steve Schultz gave attendees some facts about the entering class, for those not present for the presentation during Launch Week: 53% are women, 39% are people of color, 36% are out-of-state students, 11 are veterans, and there are over 105 universities represented. He also provided his home phone number, reminding students of his availability to help them in whatever way possible.

Student Bar Association President Alex Caruso then introduced himself and touched upon funding for student organizations and what it means to be an SBA member. He announced Barristers Ball would be held on October 28th at the Jonathan Club in Santa Monica. He also announced that the 1L student section elections will take place on September 26th, with election packets provided in the Deans' Suite the week prior to that (around Sept 19).