© 2013 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
(June 23)—It’s been a “busy and exciting” transition for Aric Short, who became the interim dean of Texas Wesleyan School of Law at the beginning of June after serving four years as associate dean for academic affairs.
He’s been focused on another transition. A year ago, Texas A&M University announced its plan to buy the Fort Worth law school for $25 million. Short said though the deal hasn’t closed yet, Texas Wesleyan is on track for A&M ownership by the end of the summer.
The two universities submitted a joint proposal to the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) seeking approval of the acquisition this past spring. SACS, which is the regional accrediting organization for both universities, was considering the proposal last week.
“My number one priority as interim dean is a smooth transition to Texas A&M, while still performing at a high level academically,” he said.
Short says he has helped lead the law school’s effort to gain American Bar Association approval for the acquisition. The Accreditation Committee for the ABA’s Section on Legal Education is meeting next week in Baltimore to consider the law school’s application. The next step would be review by the Council of the ABA’s Section on Legal Education—which serves as the accrediting entity for law schools in the U.S.—in early August. The parties hope and expect that all of the required approvals will be in place for the law school to begin operations this fall as Texas A&M.
The new interim dean succeeds Frederic White, who completed his five-year term in May. Short says his term as interim dean is for the coming academic year, and he has not yet decided whether to put his name into the running for the permanent position.
“In making this appointment, I have been in close consultation with the provost and dean of faculties at Texas A&M University. Aric received overwhelming support for this appointment from the law school faculty and was the consensus choice of both Texas A&M and Texas Wesleyan,” Texas Wesleyan University President Frederick Slabach said in a statement issued by the law school.
In addition to leading the school through what would be a significant transition, Short will try to lead the school in a challenging time for law schools—as of May 17, law school applications are down 13.4 percent from 2012, according to data compiled by the Law School Admission Council.
“There has been lots of soul searching across the country about what legal education should try and achieve,” he said. “Our biggest challenge is answering that question while transitioning to A&M ownership.”
As associate dean, Short helped put together various efforts to answer that question including adding a skill-based winter term, establishing clinical partnerships with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office and the Federal Aviation Administration and adding an oral skills graduation requirement. Additionally, the school has added externship opportunities and several certificate programs.
The University of Texas School of Law graduate began at Texas Wesleyan as a professor and taught property, wills and estates, and other property-related courses before taking on administrative roles at the school; he was voted “Professor of the Year” by his students six times.
Prior to joining the Texas Wesleyan faculty in 2004, Short practiced international law and litigation at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C. and environmental and administrative law at Vinson & Elkins in Austin, Texas.
Texas Wesleyan professor Maxine Harrington, who joined the faculty in 2003, will fill Short’s place as associate dean for academic affairs.
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