New law dean hopes to strengthen first-year programs, student aid

After serving as acting dean of law for nearly a year, Andrew Petter has been appointed the school’s dean for a five-year term.

The UVic law grad and former faculty member, who served in a variety of provincial cabinet positions during the 1990s, says the position is ideal for someone who regards his work as “a form of community service.

“I want to be more than an individual scholar. As dean, I can contribute to the law school and its various communities. The law school is such a wonderful institution. It has strengthened its national reputation in recent years and attracts students of extraordinary quality from across the country.”

Petter says the faculty has developed a “stronger sense of its mission and a greater confidence about itself” in the decade since he last taught in the Fraser Building. He praises the school’s recruitment philosophy that attracts students with varied backgrounds “which makes the school such a rich and diverse place to teach and work.”

The new dean admits he faces challenges. Higher differential fees loom on the horizon, but Petter hopes to use the additional revenue to “strengthen our programs, especially those offered in first-year.”

He hopes the faculty’s plans for increased student financial assistance will keep law education accessible to a wide range of students, and prepare them “not just for a traditional legal practice, but for a whole range of pursuits.” He wants to expand the law faculty’s co-op program, increase the endowment for the aboriginal justice program and maintain the school’s downtown legal clinic program — all initiatives that set UVic apart from Canada’s other law schools.

“We want to be able to offer students a rich learning environment from day one. The faculty here are very committed to both the university and the students. That makes the law school a wonderful place to serve as dean.”

Patty Pitts photo