Law Faculty Postpones Discussion On Proposed Law School Council

The Law School Faculty yesterday postponed discussion of a controversial report from the school's Committee on Governance calling for increased student participation at faculty meetings, more student representation on Law School committees and the establishment of a student-faculty Law School Council.

After dismissing a voting role for students at faculty meetings as inappropriate at this time, the Committee on Governance opts for a "gradualist approach" whereby five permanent members of the proposed Law School Council, student representatives of committees with business on the agenda and five "random" students are entitled to participate in faculty meetings.

The composition of the proposed Law School Council is five faculty members, one teaching fellow chosen by the dean, five students from each class elected by their classmates, and one graduate member elected by the school's graduate students. All student terms will be for one year.

The general function of the Council would be to consider "any matter of Law School policy or practice touching the interests of students" and to serve "as a forum for the expression of student views and concerns on such matters."

Student representatives for each of the school's established committees would also be selected by the student members of the Council.

Postponement

The faculty ended a three-hour meeting yesterday after hearing only a briefintroduction of the Governance Committee's recommendations by its faculty chairman, Abram J. Chayes '43, professor of Law. The faculty agreed to consider the committee's full report at a special meeting, probably on May 25.

Most of yesterday's meeting concerned reports from the Committee on Legal Education and the Committee on the First Year. Both reports received the unanimous approval of the faculty.

The Committee on Legal Education memorandum calls for the implementation of an exam schedule for take-home examinations, and reviews the new written work programs in the second and third years.

The Committee on the First Year recommended that students' choices of small group courses be postponed until the fall semester is underway and that first-year courses on Legal Method be conducted only during the first ten weeks of the fall semester.

Required Elective

The committee also proposed that first-year students be required during the spring semester to take an "elective course" conducted in small groups. Written work in the elective courses is to consist of one long paper or two short ones.

Limited changes in the composition and timing of the annual Ames Competition for first-year students were also proposed by the committee and adopted by the faculty.