Tight budget, ‘extraordinary circumstance’ led to hiring of UK law school dean
A tight budget and “extraordinary circumstances” led to the hiring of the University of Kentucky’s incoming law school dean, who was met with opposition from faculty, according to Provost Robert DiPaola.
DiPaola gave a 45-minute presentation to an unusually packed room of faculty at Thursday’s UK Board of Trustees meeting on why U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove is deserving of the role after Gov. Andy Beshear blasted UK for what he called a “partisan” decision.
Beshear’s comments were posted to social media Tuesday, prompting multiple days of back and forth as UK defended its choice, and Republicans showed support for Van Tatenhove.
DiPaola said he believes Van Tatenhove’s role as a longtime “executive” in the law field will make up for his lack of tenure, which is a requirement for accreditation in most cases by the American Bar Association. Van Tatenhove will not seek tenure in this role, UK said.
He also said Van Tatenhove’s extensive experience as a federal judge will create more career opportunities for students than a candidate with a heavy background in education.
Van Tatenhove has served as a district judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky since 2006, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky and chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Ron Lewis, a Republican. Van Tatenhove is also a former legislative aide for Sen. Mitch McConnell, who nominated him to fill the seat on the U.S. District Court in Kentucky in 2005.
Van Tatenhove said Thursday his appointment is unrelated to politics, and pointed to his experience as a judge as proof of that.
“I don’t think deans ought to be viewed as partisan,” Van Tatenhove said. “They speak for the university community, the College of Law community, which includes folks from a lot of different backgrounds.”
“Over 20 years ago, my job description included the requirement that I stay out of partisan politics, and I’ve adhered to that carefully, I’ve adhered to it during the search process and that important value does not end now,” Van Tatenhove said.
Did faculty get a say in appointment of new dean?
ABA standards for accreditation require “meaningful involvement by the faculty or a representative body of the faculty in the selection of a dean.” DiPaola said the process was no different from other dean appointments, which included perspectives of department chairs, faculty, staff, students and alumni of the college.
But faculty of the school have pushed back against Van Tatenhove’s appointment. DiPaola mentioned an email he received from Josh Douglas and Beau Steenken, associate deans of the law school, which opposed Van Tatenhove’s appointment on behalf of their faculty in February.
“A substantial majority of the faculty found (Van Tatenhove) to be unacceptable to be our next Dean,” said the email, obtained by the Herald-Leader.
Bar Association standards also dictate that deans should not be appointed over the objection of a substantial majority of the faculty. Still, DiPaola said Bar Association standards do allow for UK to pick Van Tatenhove because of an “extraordinary circumstance.”
Jim Gray — a trustee, former Lexington mayor and special adviser to the governor on transportation — questioned what qualifies this as an extraordinary circumstance.
“The budget is stuck, it’s fragile,” DiPaola said. “So some of this is seeing where things are going in the world, pressures on higher ed … looking for additional workforce skills.”
Van Tatenhove’s background could appeal to students, and expand enrollment and staffing of faculty, which DiPaola said are lower than they should be, though he did not provide total numbers of faculty or students.
Universities sounded the alarm about cuts in higher education funding earlier this year, especially after the initial executive branch budget bill proposed major cuts to Kentucky’s universities, which were eventually restored.
Van Tatenhove said he’s met with members of the law school and plans to grow its faculty.
“I think I’ve described this next season as pretty entrepreneurial for us,” Van Tatenhove told reporters.
DiPaola said he doesn’t expect UK’s law school to face accreditation issues with the Bar Association due to this appointment when the next evaluation takes place.
“I don’t foresee that, and I can’t speak for the ABA, but at the same time, these are extraordinary times,” he said, again.
