LMU's Duncan School of Law not meeting accreditation standards

Georgiana Vines
Special to USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee

The Duncan School of Law at Lincoln Memorial University has been found to be “significantly out of compliance” on accreditation standards dealing with admissions.

This is according to an April 5 letter released by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions of the American Bar Association.

Gary Wade, Dean at Lincoln Memorial University’s Duncan School of Law, speaks with Gatlinburg resident Erik Cooper, center, and Robert Hill during a symposium on Thursday, March 16, 2017, about the recent wildfires in Gatlinburg and the Smokies.

The standards have to do with attrition and an incoming class' academic credentials, said Gary Wade, dean and vice president at the School.

LMU already is dealing with the issue, Wade added.

The ABA is trying to make sure students who are admitted are capable of finishing and passing the state bar examination.

The Law School has provisional status that continues, according to the letter from Barry A. Currier, managing director of accreditation and legal education.

The school, named for U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., got its provisional accreditation in 2014, following multiple applications, a federal lawsuit and changes in the school’s leadership.

Three years to bring up to standards

Wade, a former Tennessee Supreme Court chief justice, became dean after the provisional status was granted. After the provisional status was granted, considered a routine step, LMU had five years to complete the process of full accreditation.

Wade said it was in preparation of applying for full status that he wanted a “dry run” and requested a visit by a team in March 2017. The letter was based on that visit. Since then, the school has had another visit as part of a report requesting full accreditation. This visit was in September, he said.

Former state Supreme Court Justice Gary Wade, dean of Lincoln Memorial University's Duncan School of Law, front left, speaks before a debate hosted by the Knoxville/Knox County League of Women Voters on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, in Knoxville. Behind Wade are candidates for Knox County property assessor, from left, Andrew Graybeal, Jim Weaver and John Whitehead, and candidates for Knox County law director Nathan Rowell and Richard "Bud" Armstrong. (WADE PAYNE/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS SENTINEL)

The team from the September visit filed its report in December, Wade said.

“The accrediting committee had not yet considered it yet,” he said.

Wade said chairmen of both team visits gave “positive comments.” The March 2017 team visit was “so positive we chose to file the (September) report. We have every reason to be optimistic,” he said.

The News Sentinel contacted Tom Guernsey, now retired dean of Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California, who chaired the March 2017 visit, for comments on the Duncan School but he said he was not at liberty to discuss the visit or report made on the School.

Attrition issue is new

Former judge Gary Wade and Dean t the LMU Duncan School of Law, front left, speaks before a debate hosted by the Knoxville/Knox County League of Women Voters a Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, in Knoxville, Tenn.} Behind Wade are candidates for Property Assessor, from left, are Andrew Graybeal, Jim Weaver,  John Whitehead, candidates for Property Assessor, Nathan Rowell and Richard 'Bud' Armstrong. (WADE PAYNE/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS SENTINEL)

Wade said the issue on attrition is new and based on Congress placing pressure on the U.S. Department of Education to make sure “students who (had loans) had the ability to get a law degree so they could pay back their student loan.”

He said the ABA responded to that and adopted an attribution rate of 20 percent based on students dropping out, failing or on a leave of absence. The leave of absence is new and “what tripped us up,” he said.

The Duncan Law School’s non-transfer attrition percent was 22.2 percent of its first year class, Wade said.

The School has gone from having 93 students in fall of 2015 to 241 in the fall of 2017, which Wade described as “solid growth ever since provisional accreditation.”

The school graduated 87.5 percent of its students in 2016 and 72.22 percent in 2017, with both having small classes, he said. A proposed ABA standard is that 75 percent of the class must graduate within two years, he said.

The ABA also requires that students pass the Law School Admissions Test. LMU’s incoming classes will be required to score 146 and above for the LSAT and have a 3.0 and above GPA, Wade said.

Wade provided the News Sentinel with a statement he also gave the ABA Journal that said, in part, “Our school is particularly mindful of admitting only those students who are capable not only of graduating but also having success on the bar examination.”

He said the school ”continues to grant generous scholarships to the higher scores and places emphasis on undergraduate grade point average, which typically evinces a strong work ethic.”

Tuition refund, deadline

LMU also is going to refund tuition to those students within the lower 25 percent by LSAR score or GPA who are declared academically ineligible after the first semester, he said.

The April 5 letter gives the school until Aug. 1 to submit a report and to appear before the Accreditation Committee at a Nov. 15-17 meeting. Wade said he intends the report to demonstrate compliance to the standards so the appearance at the meeting will not be necessary.

The school, while named for the current congressman, is honoring the political Duncan family. A room is named for Duncan’s uncle, retired state Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joe D. Duncan. Portraits of both are outside Wade’s office. Wade said a portrait of the late U.S. Rep. John Duncan Sr. will be added next year.