Law School Deans, Law Schools, Student Loans

Law School Dean Takes On 'The Blogs' But He Doesn't Have The Facts On His Side

Instead of releasing statements full of spin, law students could demand that their dean owns up and apologizes...

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DEAN RAYMAN SOLOMON — SCHOOL WIDE EMAIL

Dear Students,

You may be aware that we have become the subject of several blog postings among a group of bloggers. Three of these have cast Rutgers-Camden in a negative light. The first concerned an admissions letter that was sent to a group of students who had taken the GMAT test and we wrote those test takers to see if they had any interest in our JD-MBA program. I have already written you about that, and want only to repeat that a group of senior faculty reviewed the numbers and confirmed that all data were accurate and accurately reported on our publicly available website.

The second blog concerned an admissions letter to people who had taken the June LSAT. The blog did not question anything in the letter, and stated that there was nothing wrong with outreach efforts (in fact numerous schools do exactly the same thing). The blog suggested that our letter showed that we were desperate for students because of the harm caused to our admissions by the then-pending threat of the Rowan merger. I will discuss our admissions situation below.

The third post occurred on July 18th and questioned our reported number for average indebtedness at graduation. The reported number was incorrect. Here is the sequence of events: each year the ABA asks for information about student indebtedness. The number for average indebtedness was one that until this year had not been publicly reported – it was reported to the ABA and they did not reprint it or disclose it. Our process for determining that number is that one of our administrative staff members gets the data from the University’s financial aid office and fills out the answer to the question. The staff person interpreted the question as asking what the average debt was for a graduating 3L for the third year — not the total three-year indebtedness. This year US News asked for the data and we gave them what we had given the ABA. US News then did a ranking on least and most expensive schools. On the day the ranking came out I was informed by a fellow dean that we, along with a number of schools, had incorrectly interpreted the question. I immediately informed the ABA of our mistake. The ABA sent out an email to all schools and asked each to verify this number as there were enough schools that had the same problem to require everyone to recheck the information. We worked with financial aid to generate the accurate number, which was more difficult than one might imagine, as it required tracing students who had started in different years and taking out the undergraduate debt of Rutgers graduates. As soon as we could complete the process we reported to the ABA our accurate number. When US News requested the corrected number I supplied it to them. The ABA was completely satisfied that there was no intentional misconduct on our part. However, I sign the ABA questionnaire certification, and I take full responsibility for this mistake.

These are not the only times our School has been in the blogosphere recently. First, there was the report of our successful efforts to remain part of Rutgers University: http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leiter/2012/07/rutgers-camden-dodges-the-bullett.html As you know, the Legislature passed a bill reforming higher education which kept the Law School and the entire Campus as a vital part of Rutgers. It also gave the Campus an increase in administrative autonomy, and promised additional resources. This successful effort was the result of a great deal of hard work by students, alumni, faculty, and staff, as well as tremendous legislative and public support. You all deserve a great deal of credit and our appreciation

But this victory came at a real cost. The merger announcement came at the height of the recruitment season. The uncertainty about our future caused many not to apply and others to select other admissions offers over ours. We are going to have a small class – there is no doubt that it will be more than 50% smaller than last year’s class, which was the largest we have ever had. However, we are not in any way desperate or panicked. The University understands that this is a one-time problem that was not created by the Law School. The only problem with a small class is fiscal, and we have been assured that we will have the resources that we need. This commitment is demonstrated by the fact that the University has not increased the tuition at the two law schools for next year. The educational benefits of small first-year classes are terrific, and some faculty will be able to offer additional upper-level courses.

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This brings me to our other recent appearance in the blogs. A new survey of the impact of our faculty scholarship placed our faculty inside the top third of American law schools:http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/study_names_top_law_schools_for_scholarly_impact_18_significantly_outperfor This is reconfirmation of what we have always believed: we have a remarkably productive and influential faculty. Rutgers-Camden law professors have appeared at The Hague and the U.S. Supreme Court. They are authors of research articles in leading law reviews and peer-reviewed journals, widely-used casebooks, textbooks, practitioner treatises, and anthologies, as well as full-length monographs published by the very best presses, including Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Princeton, and Penguin.

We are delighted that to this impressive group we have added four remarkable young scholars: Stacy Hawkins, who has been a visitor for two years, Katie Eyer, Jean Galbraith, and Margo Kaplan, Their biographies are on the website. They bring a diversity of professional accomplishments, academic interests, and scholarly perspectives that will add greatly to our existing faculty.

Let me conclude by stating that as I begin my fifteenth year as dean of this wonderful Law School I continue to be committed to openness and transparency. We will endeavor to be at the forefront of effective recruiting which seeks to make certain that all who are interested in Rutgers understand all aspects of the academic and professional life they are choosing. I am also committed to making Rutgers legal education as affordable as we are able. We continue to work hard to raise additional scholarship support. I believe, even in this very uncertain time, that the future of our School is bright, and that we will continue to pursue ideas that will make it even better.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to seeing you on your return to School, and we will schedule a meeting then to discuss these issues and the future of the School.

All the best, RLS

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Mysteries of Rutgers [Inside the Law School Scam]
The wisdom of Solomon [Inside the Law School Scam]

Earlier: Rutgers Law Dean Offers Nonsensical Response To Transparency Criticism

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