Law School To Cut Tenured Faculty To Solve Budget Problem

What a way to attempt to bring the school back to financial solvency.

Although more students may be interested in going to law school thanks to Donald Trump’s presidency, some law schools are still facing financial troubles. One of them is Vermont Law School, which has been consistently ranked as the top law school in the nation for those who are interested in environmental law.

Earlier this month, Thomas McHenry, the school’s president and dean, sent a memo to alumni, explaining that the small, standalone school has been facing “considerable financial pressures,” and detailing how he plans to solve the school’s monetary issues while still maintaining its environmental law program as a “core, integral part of the school.” Unfortunately for faculty and staff, the school’s fiscal problem has now fallen into their laps. From Dean McHenry’s missive to alumni:

[W]e are currently undergoing a process of programmatic restructuring: one that focuses our faculty and staff resources on our core educational goals and most essential and useful programs.

Since October, we have been engaged with our staff and faculty in looking closely at our financial model—soliciting their ideas and feedback on various proposals, listening to their concerns, and weighing options. We have worked hard from the outset to come up with solutions as a community. We have received great ideas and some incredibly generous offers from faculty, some of whom have offered to transition to part time, to take on more work and responsibility without a pay increase, and even volunteered to reduce their salary. We are beyond grateful for their commitment to the school, and for exemplifying the ethic of sacrifice for the greater good.

Indeed, this process has also raised some difficult decisions and conversations. We continue to work aggressively to be as fair and equitable as possible, to develop solutions cooperatively, and to provide options to all impacted faculty to continue their working relationships with VLS in some form. However, some current faculty and staff will move on and pursue other opportunities. They will always have our utmost respect and gratitude for the time they have served the VLS community.

Earlier this week, news of Vermont Law’s faculty restructuring hit local media with a bang, because we now know that more than a dozen faculty members will lose their tenure as part of the school’s efforts to get back on budget. The VT Digger has additional information:

While many of the tenured faculty will remain at the school on contract, they will no longer have employment protections under tenure. The school is negotiating terms with each affected member of the faculty this week before the fiscal year ends Friday, the sources confirmed. Some contract faculty have not been given renewal offers; others have been encouraged to retire.

President Thomas McHenry was tight-lipped about the nature of the reductions in an interview last week, including the number of faculty who would not be returning to the school, saying it was a personnel matter. The school employs about 60 faculty, 20 of which are tenure positions.

Best of luck to those who may be losing their jobs or losing their tenure at Vermont Law. At least there’s a bright side here. Dean McHenry says that for the first time in five years, the school has a wait list.

(Flip to the next page to see Dean McHenry’s full memo to alumni.)

Sponsored

Vermont Law School restructuring faculty [VT Digger]


Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Sponsored