Daniel Weddle, Contributing Editor
University of Missouri - Kansas City, School of Law, Director of Academic Support
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Professor Weddle joined the UMKC Law School in 1996. He serves as Director of Academic Support and teaches several courses, including Governmental and Legal Aspects of Education, Legal Aspects of Higher Education, Scholarly Writing, Litigation Drafting, Practical Skills, and Introduction to Lawyering Processes.
As Director of Academic Support, he oversees a comprehensive academic support program that includes a lecture series on effective study skills; a number of student-led structured study groups and academic enrichment workshops; and individualized instruction for first, second, and third year students. He is also Co-Editor of the Law School Academic Support Blog.
A former high school teacher and administrator, Professor Weddle has focused his research on issues in educational law, especially those concerning violence and bullying in schools. He has also been a frequent presenter at education law conferences, addressing religious issues arising in the public school context. He currently serves as chair-elect for the Education Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools.
In 1998, Professor Weddle developed and directed the first Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) Summer Institute ever held at UMKC and developed a second Institute for the summer of 1999. The six-week Institutes serve educationally and economically disadvantaged students who are planning to attend law schools around the country. He currently serves as a consultant to CLEO, designing and directing the annual CLEO summer Attitude Is EssentialWeekend Seminar and Mid-Winter Seminar, which provide initial preparation and mid-year follow-up to disadvantaged first-year law students who are unable to attend the longer summer Institutes.
Also in 1998, he co-founded the Central Region LRW/Skills Conference, held every two years and serving law schools in a twelve-state area. The conference focuses upon theoretical and pedagogical issues faced by those who teach first-year legal analysis, writing, and research.
From April 1999 to August 2000, Professor Weddle took a leave from the law school to serve as Interim Dean of Operations for the UMKC School of Education. While there, he worked closely with the Kansas City, Missouri, School District in a pilot project placing seniors from the School of Education in the KCMO schools as full-time teachers with KCMO faculty mentors. The project was designed to provide students with a deeper experience than they might have received in a traditional student teaching program and to encourage students to become committed to teaching in urban settings.
Professor Weddle graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1995, serving on the staff of the Kansas Law Review and as the editor-in-chief of the Law Review’s Criminal Procedure Review. Prior to joining the law school, he practiced with the Wirken Group, P.C., in Kansas City, where he specialized in business, family law, and tort litigation.
Prior to beginning his legal career, Professor Weddle served as Academic Dean and English Instructor at Maranatha Academy in Kansas City from 1980-1992, and served as an adjunct for Johnson County Community College for several years. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Secondary English Education from the University of Kansas in 1978.
You can access my papers on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=386589
