Kevin Morrow, a third-year law student and president of MSU’s Business Law Society, said although Acting Dean Clifford Thompson has exceeded expectations, not having a consistent face leaves students in limbo and a state of wonder.

“When a permanent dean is put in place, it will be refreshing and it’s going to make students more confident about where we are going to be in the future,” Morrow said.

Last year, Morrow said there was a lot of secrecy and uncertainty over whether the previous dean would be staying or leaving.

“There is a different atmosphere this year, and students have had a better attitude toward the acting dean and the search for a new one,” Morrow said.

The college has designated a dean search committee headed by Alvin Storrs, a professor in the college.

There are 10 people in the committee made up of faculty, student representatives and alumni from the college — picked by Provost Kim Wilcox.

The group was formed in September and will perform the initial screening and review of all the applicants on a nationwide level. Storrs said the process is projected to be completed by early spring.

In May 2006, there was a letter sent to the MSU College of Law Board of Trustees and other administrators by tenured faculty members demanding the previous dean, Terence Blackburn, be removed.

But Clifton Haley, president of the law college, said in a letter dated Oct. 17, 2006, that the board agreed there wasn’t enough justification for his removal. The next day, Blackburn was given permission for an administrative leave until June 30, 2007, according to a previous State News article.

Thompson came to MSU in January to fill the position of dean while Blackburn was on leave. Calls to Blackburn on Sunday were not immediately returned.

“At first I was supposed to be acting dean for six months — from January to August, but when it was clear Dean Blackburn was going to resign, I was asked to stay as acting dean until the search for a new dean was completed,” Thompson said.

The hope is to have the new dean ready to start in the fall.

“We are looking for the future, we’re not stuck in the past and (we’re) looking to continue the strong progress the law school has made on a national level,” Storrs said.