Council also highlights admissions, Asper Centre anniversary
On October 3, the law school held its first Faculty Council meeting of the academic year. The Council determines law school policy, usually based on recommendations from special and standing committees comprised of students, faculty and staff.
The majority of the meeting was spent discussing the Law Society of Ontario’s (LSO) accreditation changes and the JD Admissions Report. The Council also discussed the Asper Centre’s tenth anniversary.
LSO accreditation changes
The LSO is currently undergoing a review of its licensing process and has set out four possible options:
Option 1: No Change
Option 2: Enhanced protections for articling and the LPP
Option 3: Elimination of articling and the LPP, replaced by an exam only format
Option 4: Elimination of articling and mandatory completion of LPP for all law graduates
At the meeting, Students’ Law Society (SLS) President Solomon McKenzie presented survey results from an SLS consultation with law students. The results showed that Options 1 and 3 were the most popular and roughly equal in preference. Option 4 had the least supporters.
Dean Edward Iacobucci expressed his reservations regarding Option 4, citing problems with the institution of a mandatory, province-wide LPP. He also discussed the possibility of submitting a joint SLS-Faculty Council letter to the LSO.
According to Iacobucci, law deans in Ontario plan on submitting a joint letter to the LSO inviting further consultation with the deans, particularly in regards to the imposition of requirements on experiential learning.
Financial aid
Dean Iacobucci also announced that the Campaign for Excellence without Barriers, which launched last year, has raised $25 million of its $30 million goal. $20 million of the total will go to financial aid.
Admissions
Assistant Dean Alexis Archbold concluded the meeting with a discussion of this year’s JD Admissions Report. Compared to previous years, there was a sizable increase in applications received, from 2,199 in 2017-2018 to 2,388 in 2018-2019.
Despite this increase, offers decreased from 354 to 333, with 213 students registered. While the LSAT median remained the same at 166, the median B3 GPA for this year’s 1L class was 0.06 points higher at 3.87/4.00.
Indigenous student applications decreased significantly from last year, from 38 to 25. However, the number of offers made to Indigenous students has remained relatively steady.
