More than 400 law school deans responded to a survey about how the pandemic has changed legal education. They said that online course work is likely to stick around for a while.
The Association of American Law Schools conducted the survey and found that the deans agreed that online learning and remote work arrangements were a boon to their students. They also praised the flexibility and accessibility of online classes, as well as the elimination of the need to cancel classes due to inclement weather and other setbacks.
Nevertheless, the study notes that moving to a fully online teaching model has its own host of issues, such as the lack of in-person interaction. Students who have taken entirely online classes have consistently rated their experience as subpar across the board. A Harvard Law student even attempted to sue the school over the switch to fully online classes during the pandemic.
Other aspects of the AALS survey included figures on the demographic diversity of current deans—41% of deans are women, 31% are people of color—as well as how “challenging” the dean found their professional relationships—53% had challenging relationships with their faculty, 39% with their students, and 23% with their university president/chancellor.
