© 2024 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Apple's latest iOS (17.4) is preventing our livestreams from playing. We suggest you download the free Boise State Public Radio app & stream us there while we work to troubleshoot the issue.

Concordia Law Dean Confident Boise's School Will Get Accreditation

Emilie Ritter Saunders
/
Boise State Public Radio

It has been a tense few weeks at Boise's Concordia School of Law. Faculty and students had hoped to hear earlier this month if the American Bar Association (ABA) would grant it provisional accreditation. Instead, the ABA decided it needed more time to consider and would send someone to Boise for a closer look at Concordia.

But the ABA didn’t tell school administrators why it wanted closer scrutiny or give a timeline for when things might move forward. But now Concordia dean Cathy Silak says the ABA told her Tuesday it will send a fact-finder in September. 

“I feel like we’re making good progress on the accreditation,” Silak says. “The fact that the ABA is helping move this along very expeditiously, I think gives us a real sense of progress towards that goal of provisional accreditation.”

If Concordia doesn’t get the bar association blessing before spring, its first class of graduates will not be able to take the bar exam in Idaho and so won’t be able to practice law in the state. Concordia opened in 2012 and is the only three year law program in southern Idaho. 

It usually takes the ABA a couple years to grant new law schools provisional accreditation, and several more for full accreditation. But there is no guarantee the association will give its OK before spring, or at all.

Silak says Concordia administrators are sitting down with third year students to help them craft individual plans. Some students, she says will push on toward graduation this spring, others will go part time and plan for graduation in spring 2016. About half of third year students are taking the fall semester off to see what happens.

The Idaho Statesman reports that some second and third year students are transferring to the University of Idaho. Silak doesn’t think those empty desks will impact how the ABA fact-finder perceives the school.

“We have approximately 100 students currently enrolled at the law school and that’s not counting those that are on leave of absence,” she says. “That’s a good sized student body. We’re hoping the fact finding team will meet some of our students and be impressed with the caliber of our students.”

Silak says she feels confident the ABA decision will be favorable. She wants to look beyond the current tension to what Concordia will be able to accomplish when it has the ABA accreditation.

“We have added to our faculty this year and I can foresee in the future that we will be adding additional faculty,” Silak says. “I think that we’ll be expanding our class offerings, especially the clinical offerings because we’ll be recruiting a full time clinical faculty member. I think our future is bright in terms of preparing our students through a rigorous educational process, giving them experiences out in the community and helping to really make a difference in the Boise, Idaho legal setting.”

Find reporter Adam Cotterell on Twitter @cotterelladam

Copyright 2014 Boise State Public Radio

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.