Update on the results of negotiations during the Spring Quarter.

As a result of the student efforts in working with law school faculty this past Spring, the Governing Council of NUSL passed an amendment to the Interim Charter that reflected negotiated changes to the faculty appointments process. As everyone in the room knew, the vote on the amendment was purely symbolic because the law school is not hiring any faculty next year. The students knew this would be the case going into the meeting, but our hope is that the amendment, which satisfactorily addresses the students' principle concern by giving student representatives a meaningful voice in the appointments decision-making process and which received a favorable vote, will serve as a solid basis for future negotiations and thus we as a community would not have to go back to the drawing board when we revisit the issue in the Fall.

The Council also voted to extend the Interim Charter, which was set to expire after this past year, for the next academic year to allow more discussion on other substantive issues that effect the drafting of the new Charter (e.g., the role of CAIR under the new Charter arose as a major issue that needs to be addressed). The discussions about drafting a new law school charter are on hiatus for the Summer. When the Fall arrives, it is my hope that the students can meet with faculty members who have the remit and authority to speak for the entire faculty. The most frustrating part of the process this Spring is that countless student hours were spent trying to hammer out an agreement with faculty on an ad hoc committee who actually were not able to speak for the faculty members who would ultimately vote on the ad hoc committee's recommendations. So though the participation of those faculty members was invaluable in providing students a view into the minds of faculty, the progress was perhaps slower and less fruitful than initially expected. Chalk it up to experience learned.

As for my part as co-chair, I will return in the Fall hoping to drum up some interest in this issue. First year students played a big role in the process last year, and hopefully will again this coming year.