Workshop-Ottawa2008-Meeting

NACLE Business Meeting 

October 5, 2008 

The Ottawa workshop concluded on Sunday morning with a business meeting at the Lord Elgin Hotel. In attendance were Steve Zamora from UHLC; David Gantz and Carolyn Coolidge from Arizona; Jimena Moreno and Ana Elena Fierro from CIDE; Lee Paddock from GWU; Tony VanDuzer from Ottawa; Claire Young from UBC; Francisco Ibarra Palafox from UNAM-IIJ; Esteban de J. Lara, Roberto Ibañez and Rodolfo Cruz Miramontes from UP; Jamela Debelak from Fordham; Gil Winham from Dalhousie; and Evan Fox-Decent from McGill. Also present were NACLE coordinators Natalie Kurz and Astrid Stimac.

Budget

The meeting began with a discussion of NACLE’s budget – both a report on expenditures for the last fiscal year, and a proposal for expenditures for the current fiscal year. (NACLE’s fiscal years coincide with the academic year, running from September 1 to August 31 each year. Please note: The budget reports for FY 2008 and for FY 2009 (projected) are attached to the end of this report. During the previous fiscal year, FY 2008 (Sept 2007 to August 2008), NACLE did not hold an annual workshop, since we had decided at the New York workshop (April 2007) to hold our workshops in the Fall. As a result, NACLE ran a surplus in FY 2008, allowing us to save resources to be used in the current fiscal year, FY 2009. Extra expenditures for FY 2009 may involve some of the proposals discussed in the report below, such as the publication of a NACLE brochure, developing distance courses or modules, or increasing the interaction among NACLE students via the internet or otherwise. NACLE members are encouraged to use available resources at their own schools, such as IT departments that can assist with implementing existing technologies in various ways. To ensure responsible spending, the group proposed the creation of a budget committee (this matter is taken up again at the meeting’s close, see below).

Membership

NACLE currently consists of 13 member schools, each paying $2,000 USD annually in dues. There was some discussion of the commitment of UC Berkeley to the goals of NACLE, due to Berkeley’s low level of participation to date. Steve Zamora reported that when he visited Berkeley last Spring, and the law school administration is committed to NACLE, albeit with a cautious approach to the number of NACLE exchange students who will be admitted to Berkeley each year. There was general agreement that Berkeley was a good addition to the NACLE membership, and we look forward to more interaction with Berkeley colleagues. Berkeley has remained current in its payment of NACLE dues. 

We discussed the possibility that the Facultad de Derecho (Law School) at UNAM might participate in NACLE, through the membership of the UNAM Instituto de Investigaciones Juridicas, which is a founding member of NACLE. The Instituto is a research center, rather than a law school, and does not accept students, although it does have a doctoral studies program. The concern over adding the UNAM law school as a full-fledged member is that the student population is approximately 11,000 students, and could overwhelm NACLE with applications for study. Nevertheless, given the prestige of UNAM, and the possibilities of coordination with the Instituto, the group authorized Francisco Ibarra Palafox of UNAM’s Instituto and Steve Zamora to begin discussions with UNAM about the possibility of a limited arrangement with the UNAM Facultad de Derecho that would allow participation of some UNAM law students in NACLE, and would allow students from NACLE members to attend the UNAM law school. This would allow NACLE students to undertake research at the Instituto as well as register for classes at UNAM, which could provide an excellent opportunity. 

The group also discussed the possibility of inviting individuals who may not come from NACLE schools to attend future workshops, to enrich our discussions. There was general agreement that such invitations could be useful, and should be encouraged, especially with younger scholars who could benefit from as well as add to NACLE’s workshops.

Workshop 2009

Members agreed that holding the workshop in the Fall of each year was better than holding it in the Spring. The group expressed its gratitude to the University of Ottawa for hosting an outstanding meeting. There was general consensus on holding the Fall 2009 workshop in Mexico, most likely in Mexico City. There was some discussion of collaboration between CIDE, UP and UNAM in holding the workshop. Steve Zamora suggested the need to form a program committee to begin working on the 2009 workshop.

Operating Agreement

The NACLE Operating Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding, signed when NACLE was formed with its original 9 members, was expanded three years ago when we added UBC, CIDE, Berkeley and Fordham. The deans of the new members signed short letter agreements adhering to NACLE’s existing agreements. Steve Zamora asked the group if we should sign new, revised agreements with all members, indicating the expanded membership. There was general agreement that we should not sign new agreements, but we should post copies of the letter agreements of our new members on the NACLE website.

New Committees

NACLE operates in an ad hoc fashion, without formal committees. There was a discussion of the need to create several committees in order to advance NACLE’s agenda more effectively. The group approved the adoption of two specific committees at this time: 

• An Executive Committee consisting of 3-5 members will work with Steve Zamora to help plan NACLE projects, and to budgetary oversight, responsible spending and transparency. David Gantz, Roberto Ibanez and Tony Van Duzer were appointed as a nominating committee that will nominate 3-5 members, with at least one member from each of the three NACLE countries. 
• A Committee on Academic Resources will help enhance our Academic Resources on the NACLE website. Steve Zamora suggested the appointment of law librarians from each of the NACLE members to comprise this committee, and to enhance our website’s information resources. Steve Zamora will ask NACLE members to enlist law librarians and others to comprise this committee.

Promotional Materials

To encourage student mobility (especially from the U.S. to Canada and Mexico, where NACLE seems to have difficulty encouraging U.S. exchange students), the group was suggested that NACLE schools outside of the U.S. send promotional materials to the U.S. members to distribute to students, including as pamphlets on opportunities for various masters and doctoral programs. The attendees also discussed creating a NACLE brochure to distribute within NACLE law schools to draw attention to NACLE exchanges. Lee Paddock offered to work with NACLE and with his communications department at GWU to produce brochures or cards to help advertise NACLE to our students and faculty. There was general consensus that having a brochure that could be distributed at all NACLE law schools would be valuable, and would justify some expenditure of NACLE funds. We will work with Lee Paddock to try to achieve this.

Student Exchanges

We held a separate meeting on NACLE student exchanges at lunch on Saturday. Steve Zamora distributed historical data on NACLE exchanges that have taken place since 2000. From 2000 to 2008, 169 NACLE students have successfully done semester-long exchanges. Problems continue to arise in certain areas, including the following: 

• Failure of students to fill out exit questionnaires that discuss their experiences. These would be valuable, not only in improving the exchange experience, but also in helping to promote student exchanges within our schools. Natalie Kurz, our NACLE Coordinator from the University of Houston, has suggested the implementation of an electronic NACLE registration form to be filed when a person begins an exchange. This will allow us to keep track of NACLE exchange students, and make sure that the students file exit questionnaires. 
• As the attached figures show, there is a relative lack of exchanges by U.S. law students. This is due to several reasons, including the short period of law study (3 years, including one year of required courses) and budgetary problems students face. Steve Zamora presented a proposal to the group to have each NACLE members school – in particular Canadian and Mexican law schools – present specific proposals for exchange students that would include a particular, attractive course of study to be combined with an internship or other attraction. For instance, law schools in Mexico City can offer course on human rights or indigenous rights, to be combined with a clerkship opportunity with the National Commission on Human Rights, which would be an attractive opportunity for a student. Steve Zamora will be contacting members to ask that each school devise one or two packages of this type, to advertize on the NACLE web site. 

Before the meeting adjourned, all the members repeated their gratitude to the University of Ottawa for hosting such an outstanding meeting.

Budget reports for FY 2008 and for FY 2009 (attached below)

Student Exchanges Statistical Data (attached below)

Downloadable Resources
697_NACLE_Student_Exchange_Statistical_Data.xls

Student Exchange Statistics and Graphs
701_Budget_Report_2008-2009.pdf