The Chicago-based American Bar Association is requiring CU president Betsy Hoffman and incoming law dean David Getches to appear before its accreditation committee in January to show why the law school shouldn't be placed on probation or removed from the list of approved law schools.
Hoffman and Getches have been asked to submit a written response to the ABA by November.
The ABA also is asking CU to explain a lack of minority and female faculty, and says it is concerned about the number of courses taught by adjunct professors, according to a letter sent by the bar association to CU.
In ABA questionnaires distributed during an accreditation visit in March 2002, students complained of the number of courses taught by part-time adjuncts - lawyers who aren't necessarily experienced or trained teachers like tenure-track professors.
In addition, CU ranks low for annual expenditures on law library materials - its $1.7 million is $1 million less than the average, according to the ABA.
Further, the ABA complained of a lack of faculty supervision in student internships.
All of the bar association's concerns are being addressed immediately, said Getches, who will start as law school dean July 1.
Reduced library acquisitions and departing faculty - including minorities and women - are a result of state budget cuts, he said. CU has been unable to compete with outside offers for its faculty, Getches said.
Adjuncts were hired to replace departing faculty, he said.
"The central administration is throwing us a (financial) lifeline from general campus funds," Getches said. "We will renew many of the 200 canceled subscriptions, and we have the go- ahead to recruit tenured faculty positions we've had to leave vacant because of the budget problem."
Getches said the school "has a handle on" its internship supervision - a relatively new program.
But it's the law school building that has emerged as the primary concern of the ABA.
"We are doing something about it," CU provost Phil DiStefano said. "I've pledged in the next three to four months a careful analysis of funding sources for the law school so we can start construction in the next 12 to 18 months.
"We are concerned because we are the only public law school in Colorado, but, unfortunately, because of the state economy and lack of capital funds, we are unable to break ground," DiStefano said.
CU's new $38.5 million law building is on hold because state capital construction funds have been frozen as a result of the budget crisis. It was scheduled to break ground a year ago and open in fall 2004.
The bar association report concludes that the 44-year-old Fleming Law Building is "woefully inadequate" and that the "the situation is worsening with each passing day." It said the facility has a "negative effect on the education students receive."
Specifically, the ABA is concerned by the lack of overall space and lack of library space, and it says it's growing impatient.
"The university has consistently assured the ABA since 1995 that it acknowledged the magnitude of the building crisis and was ... planning for ... a new building."
The law building can only accommodate 500 students, while the new building is planned for 600 students.
Private donors have given $7 million, and law students pledged $5.6 million through a self-imposed $1,000-a-year tuition increase.
But the state contribution of $23 million has been frozen as Colorado grapples with an $800 million revenue shortfall.
While the new Leon and Dora Wolf Law Building was buoyed by a $3 million gift from the Wolf family in 1999, it can't proceed without state funding.
Meanwhile, CU's medical school is working to address concerns by a federal accreditation committee about low minority enrollment and course quality, dean Richard Krugman said.
In September, CU is to issue a progress report to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the main accreditation board for the nation's 125 medical schools, which will send a team in April to make sure improvements have been made.
CU is likely to roll out improved courses in 2005, Krugman said. "Keep in mind we got a full, unrestricted accreditation (in November). There was no probation. These were areas they wanted us to address," Krugman said.
