What an extraordinary year for all of us connected with Western Law. In January, following a year-long process of consultation with faculty, students, staff and alumni, the Faculty of Law adopted a new strategic plan – “Western Law: Achieving Excellence on the World Stage.” According to our strategic plan, Western Law remains committed to providing the best legal education for tomorrow’s leaders in a world-class research and scholarship culture. We are committed to engaging our alumni and other partners in our vision, investing our resources in support of excellence.
In February, a provincially mandated external review was completed of our JD program. Among the many positive comments, the external academic consultants reported that Western Law is “embracing an ambitious renewal program, with aspirations for grounded, thoughtful curriculum reform; offers one of the country’s leading advocacy programs; is well-known for its business law focus; creates a collegial learning environment for its students; provides students with outstanding international exchange and internship opportunities; and is home to one of the country’s best experiential learning centres – its Community Legal Services clinic.”
Two faculty retreats were held during the summer months to continue the process of curriculum reform. We expect to introduce a number of new and exciting changes to our curriculum for the 2015 academic year. These will include expanded legal writing opportunities, an enhanced business law program, expanded methods of assessment beyond final exams and innovative teaching reforms.
The law school itself reflects this period of growth and improvement, as we are well into the third and final phase of the renovations to our physical space. The many changes to be introduced this year will include another student commons area and a greatly expanded and upgraded Chambers. We are retrofitting one of our classrooms with the latest technology in order to provide our instructors and students with the best tools for innovative teaching and classroom experiences.
We have much to be proud of: our students continue to achieve great success in the classroom, mooting and advocacy competitions, and in the job market. And as you will see in the pages that follow, our impressive faculty and alumni continue to thrive and prosper as well.
The magazine profiles a number of our exceptional graduates. Our feature on public service typifies the many graduates of Western Law who have devoted their legal careers to achieving social good and transformative improvements to public sector networks in Canada and abroad.
Our staff continues to be an important part of our continued success and I invite you to welcome Manon Bone, Director of Development, to the Western Law team. Manon has extensive experience in leadership roles in the business community in New York and Toronto and will lead our efforts to reconnect with alumni and build on our successful alumni relations and development activities of the past.
Finally, I was delighted to appoint Professor Valerie Oosterveld as Associate Dean (Research & Administration) on July 1, 2014. Valerie, a recognized expert in international law, will succeed Craig Brown who stepped down after three years as Associate Dean. I’m extremely grateful for Craig’s support and wise counsel and am pleased that he will continue to benefit the Law School with his expertise and skills when he returns to teach in 2015.
As always, I look forward to the many opportunities that lie ahead for Western Law.innovative teaching reforms.
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