Second Dean’s Forum of the academic year attracts standing-room-only crowd

USC Law Dean Matthew L. Spitzer addressed various topics — including café construction delays, bar exam passage rates, and the challenges of grading curves — during a Dean’s Forum on Feb. 3.

More than 100 students attended the lunchtime event, which traditionally has helped to bring about significant changes at USC Law. Parking concerns voiced during the last forum, for example, resulted in USC Law working even more diligently with USC Transportation Services to ensure that law students were given priority for the university’s new parking structure, which opened in January. Many students who were unable to secure permits in the fall were issued permits this semester.

One area that still awaits resolution, however, is the new student café. Dean Spitzer, in fact, opened the forum by apologizing for the unexpected delays in construction.

“Dean [Pauline] Aranas and I were given an absolute guarantee that construction will be completed by December,” he said. “I apologize to you for not being more skeptical about that. This has been an unpleasant, frustrating experience.”

He added that Aranas, associate dean and chief operating officer of USC Law, and a construction consultant, hired specifically to oversee the project, are working to smooth the process. Except for the kitchen, most of the facility should be operational by the end of April. It is still unknown, however, when the café will open for food service.

Aranas reminded students that the bulk of construction should occur early in the morning, late in the evening, and on weekends. Any concerns over noise should be reported immediately to the Dean’s Office.

During the Q&A portion of the forum, several students asked questions about the fairness of curving grades in small sections of legal writing, and about normalization in classes associated with academic support. Both Deans Spitzer and Altman agreed to investigate these issues.

“I will explore this further,” Dean Spitzer said. “The next time we meet, I’ll be better informed.”

Dean Spitzer also discussed the need to improve the school’s bar exam passage rate and urged students to take the bar very seriously. Scott Altman, associate dean of academic affairs, emphasized the correlation between bar results and grades, citing that students who fall in the bottom 25 percent of their class usually have a 40 to 50 percent chance of passing, while those at the top of their class pass 97 percent of the time.

The next Dean’s Forum is scheduled for March 10.