Few things affect legal education as much as the American Bar Association’s Standards for the Approval of Law Schools. "The standards," as they are more popularly known, set forth the minimum criteria every law school must meet in order to be approved through the ABA’s accreditation process. The standards were promulgated and are regularly revised by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, which is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the nationally recognized accrediting agency for programs in legal education that lead to the first professional degree in law.

The council is currently considering proposed changes to the standards based on recommendations from the section’s Standards Review Committee. In making its recommendations, the committee initially seeks comments from various groups, including law school deans, directors of law libraries, presidents of universities affiliated with law schools, chief justices of state supreme courts, and bar examiners.

One group whose input is not solicited prior to the public comment stage is students. Why? That is a difficult question to answer. At many law schools, student input is largely an afterthought. While it seems like forever at the time, we are not in law school for very long. Even while we are there, many of us focus on doing well in our classes or jobs, leaving little time to focus on issues like the standards.

There are indeed a number of opportunities for student input into the process. I serve as the council’s student member. When the proposed standards came before us, I actively participated in the council’s revisions. Students also had the opportunity to participate in public hearings, and they can also submit comments to me or directly to the council before final action is taken in June.

My point in raising the issue about student input is to advocate for something more. On an issue as important as the standards, student input should not be limited to the public comment stage. I hope that someday, a broader degree of student input will be sought in the initial stage in the process, as students are affected just as much as the other stakeholders whose input is sought.

I hope you will join me in commenting on the proposed changes during this public comment stage. The proposed standards can be found online at www.abanet.org/legaled/proposed.html. Among the proposed changes are the extension of recognition of graduating from an ABA-accredited law school to all individuals who graduate from a law school within 12 months of provisional approval, and additional language to have law schools more affirmatively provide information about character and fitness requirements and other qualifications for the bar.

Don’t let this opportunity for input pass you by. If you want more information about the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, you can go to its web site, which has a lot of good information. The address is www.abanet.org /legaled. Or, as always, you can contact me at kylemitchell@abanet.org.