To all Heads of Law
On 1st July 2011 I took over as Chair of CHULS from Liz Mytton. Liz was Chair for 30 months and led us with great skill and tact through some difficult times. As Chair until the end of December 2013 I anticipate leading CHULS in the way that Liz and her predecessors did. So the general approach will be one of continuity, whilst also being sensitive to the ever-changing world of higher education.
The raison d’etre of CHULS is to provide a service for Law Schools. It does this through bulletins, the website, the annual residential event and other events that we organise as and when there seems to be a need. We also have an AGM at the same time as the residential event. Broadly, we seem to provide two kinds of service: an on-going ‘support’/communications’ service through the website, bulletins and the residential; and a focal point for discussion about topical issues, largely through the residential and ad hoc events. This seems to meet current needs, but if there are other things CHULS should be doing, tell us.
The three big current issues, it seems to me, are: REF; changes to university financing, including the new tuition fee structure to start in September 2012; and the review of legal education run by the BSB and SRA, and overseen by the Legal Services Board. We will discuss these last two at the Residential in February. If there are particular aspects of these issues you think we should discuss, or other pressing issues, do let us know.
Overall, my priority as Chair of CHULS is the defence of Law Schools as places of academic independence and critical scholarship. This is at the forefront of my thinking in relation to all these 3 big issues. To my mind this means, among other things, defence of all types of legal and legally-related research (whether it has an ‘impact’ or not), and defence of the QLD as a free-standing programme with the same intellectual mission as the rest of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. The QLD should never be forced to become a vocational training programme. But how do we convince the professions and regulators, not to mention University Vice-Chancellors, of this? And what should QLDs be for? Is it enough to say ‘liberal arts’? Do we even know what we mean when we say that? These are some of the questions we should be debating over the next year or so.
Of course, the importance of these issues will vary from School to school. There are a lot of differences, particularly between pre- and post-92 Universities. In recognition of this, the chair alternates between the two, and the Executive represents both groups equally. The Executive meets roughly 3 times/year, and much of the work is done by individuals with particular responsibilities. You’ll find our details elsewhere on the website, but Chris Gale is Vice Chair and Secretary/Treasurer, Peter Alldridge has responsibility for REF matters, Tom Allen the HE White Paper, Liz Mytton the review of legal education, Caroline Strevens looks after Neuberger and the CHULS website, and Helen James will take the lead for the 2012 residential at Warwick on 23/24 February 2012.
Do please let me, or any other member of the Executive, know what you think about anything that we are, or should be, doing. My
e-mail address is a.h.l.sanders@bham.ac.uk, and my phone number in Birmingham is 0121 414 6318. In the meantime, best wishes for an enjoyable and productive year, and I hope to see as many of you as possible at Warwick in February.
Andrew Sanders
Chair of Committee of Heads of University Law Schools