William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, has begun the search for our next President and Dean. Eric Janus, who has deftly, strategically and passionately led us over the past turbulent decade in legal education, has decided to step aside and return to teaching.

A link to the website with more information about the search is at the end of this message.

Eric will step aside as Mitchell is poised to embark on new and exciting ventures. Founded in 1900, we have long been a pioneer in affording access to practice ready legal education and as a leading incubator for the bar, bench and civic leadership in our region. Clinics, externships, and skills simulation courses have long been incorporated throughout our curriculum, and the distinctions between skills and non-skills courses have almost entirely dissolved.

We recently became the first undefined and still only undefined law school authorized by the American Bar Association to offer a hybrid, 50% online J.D. course of instruction. Our plan is to take our access mission boldly into the coming years and decades. The new President and Dean will lead the implementation of the on-campus/on-line Hybrid Program, whose first cohort commences study in January 2015.  We plan to expand the models for legal education to include one allowing student’s access to a law degree and license without having to relocate from their own communities.

Still, the Twin Cities is a wonderful and hip place to live, with natural beauty, culture, a progressive political tradition and a vibrant civic life. Mitchell is a nimble, independent institution with a faculty that is deeply engaged in teaching and practice, with a resourceful Board of Trustees, a shared sense of mission among constituents, and alumni who play an outsized role in the business, judicial and civic life of the Twin Cities, Minnesota and the entire Upper Midwest.

I am one of the faculty representatives on the dean search committee, headed by retired Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Helen Meyer.  Please contact me (Ann Juergens) if you have questions or suggestions of potential candidates.  I am happy to chat!  Colleagues who also teach clinic, Peter Knapp, Carolyn Grose, Brad Colbert, Joanna Woolman, Colette Routel, Sarah Deer, are also able to speak with you about our law school, about the position, about Minnesota.

Kindly pass this announcement on to anyone who might be considering a deanship in her or his (near) future, or simply call or email me with ideas for potential applicants.  It is rolling process, so earlier applications are better than late ones.

Here is the link to information about the position and the application process:

http://web.wmitchell.edu/about/dean-and-president-search/\<http://web.wmitchell.edu/about/dean-and-president-search/><http://web.wmitchell.edu/about/dean-and-president-search/>