Job Searches, Law Schools, Layoffs

Columbia Cashiers Career Services Dean?

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Universities are not immune to the economic downturn. Endowments are taking hits; hiring freezes are likely.

And maybe layoffs, too. From a tipster:

CLS Dean of Career Services Ellen Wayne has just been unceremoniously dumped from her post after nearly 20 lackluster years on the job (she was a constant source of complaints by students). She’s already been removed from staff listings and from the school’s internal telephone and email directory.

We tried emailing Dean Wayne at her Columbia address and received an automated reply: “I am out of the office.” Indeed.

[T]hey’ve not managed to erase all traces yet…. Her picture remains up on the front page of their employer section. No official email from the school to its students yet.

We reached out to the school for comment. Elizabeth Schmalz, executive director for Communications and Public Affairs at CLS, responded via email: “It is university policy not to discuss employment matters in public. Thanks for writing.”

So it’s not clear yet what happened to Dean Wayne. Is she being blamed for weak on-campus interviewing this year? Was she somebody’s target in Assassins?

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Our original tipster wasn’t a fan of Dean Wayne. But different CLS sources had more positive views.

Check them out, after the jump.


From a CLS source who was a fan of Dean Wayne:

I actually thought she was doing a good job, at least in terms of placing grads at firms. She always had helpful advice and I generally liked her staff. It isn’t exactly hard to get Columbia grads hired by law firms. EIP [Early Interview Program] this year was not as strong, but I attributed that to the market, not to her.

I think our clerkship process is rather weak, but I am not sure to what extent, if any, she is responsible for clerkships as we have a separate clerkship office. Overall I thought she was nice, approachable and very knowledgeable. I am sad to see her go and especially in such an unceremonious way. Something must have happened to trigger this.

Update (12:45 PM): From a Columbia Law School alum:

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I am rather shocked. I always felt that Career Services was the only functional and student-friendly part of the administration. Other offices are either dysfunctional (student services), uninvolved (office of the Dean), or downright mean (registrar).

I served [in the military before law school] and have seen my fair share of complex operations with many moving parts executed flawlessly. OCI is quite an operation with hundreds of canidates and interviewers conducting thousands of interviews over a week. I thought Dean Wayne and her staff ran the event flawlessly and happily made themselves available for advice and guidance. If the sticking point is clerkship placement, then someone else should have been let go as the clerkship program is run out of Student Services.

If you have info to share, feel free to email us. Thanks.

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