Acting U of L law school dean told she won't get the job
The acting dean of the University of Louisville's Brandeis School of Law for five years was notified this week she won’t get the job permanently, but she has been offered a post as dean of the University of Mississippi School of Law.
Susan Duncan gave faculty the news on Thursday that she has been eliminated as a candidate for the position.
In an interview, Duncan said she was informed of the decision Tuesday by Acting Provost Dale Billingsley, whom she said didn’t cite any reasons for it.
University spokesman John Karman said Billingsley couldn't comment on why Duncan was passed over because it is a personnel matter. However, in a statement, Billingsley said:
“Many outstanding applicants expressed interest in the dean’s position...The search process is ongoing, and we hope to make an announcement of a new dean soon. We want to thank Interim Dean Susan Duncan for leading the law school for the past five years. Her hard work and dedication have laid an excellent foundation for the school’s future.“We wish Susan the best in all of her future endeavors.”
Later on Thursday, one of Duncan's colleagues, Professor Russell Weaver, said she had been offered the deanship of the law school at University of Mississippi and provided an email in which the faculty there were notified of a vote tomorrow on her title and whether she should be offered full tenure. She couldn't be reached for comment.
In an email to U of L law school faculty, Duncan said: “Serving as dean of this law school has been the honor of a lifetime. Over the past five years, I’ve been so impressed with the talent, heart and hard work displayed by our students, faculty and staff.”
In an email, Shelley Santry, director of the school’s Robert and Sue Ellen Ackerson Clinic, said, “Not hiring Susan is the biggest mistake U of L has made in a very long time, and that is really saying something.” In an interview, Santry said Duncan inherited many problems but turned the law school around. Several other law professors did not respond to requests for comment.
Duncan was one of four candidates for the job, according to information posted on U of L’s website. The others are:
► Geoffrey Rapp, a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School who is currently associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Toledo's law school.
► Colin Crawford, a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School who is currently a law professor at Tulane University and director of International Development Studies there.
► Wesley Oliver, graduate of the University of Virginia and Yale School and currently professor and associate dean for faculty research and scholarship and criminal justice program director at Duquesne University School of Law.
Duncan, who began teaching at the law school in 1997, said she hasn’t decided if she will remain on the faculty. She will continue as acting dean until June 30.
Under Duncan’s watch, applications to Brandeis declined, but that mirrored a nationwide trend in which prospective students have chosen other fields because of declining job prospects and mounting student loan debt for new lawyers.
The Courier-Journal reported in 2014 that applications to Brandeis had plummeted 59 percent over the past three years, to 618 from 1,495, while enrollment of first-year students dipped nearly 30 percent, to 94 from 132. Duncan said the school has 111 first-year students this year.
The school also was rocked by a scandal in 2014 in which its former admissions director, Brandon Hamilton, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful access to a computer for promising incoming law students $2.4 million more in scholarships than the university had to offer.
On the other hand, the school, the nation’s fifth-oldest law school in continuous operation, has enjoyed some major honors and recognition. In recent years, it has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the most efficient law school in the nation and has appeared on The National Jurist’s list of the top 20 Best Value Law Schools.
Duncan said the law school has been successful, despite a lean budget. She said she graduated from the school and hopes it flourishes, regardless of who leads it.
“It is my school,” she said.
Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at 502-582-7189 or awolfson@courier-journal.com.
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