Dean Matthew just sent out an email about credit policies at the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia. This email arose principally from a beef alluded to here. According to Matthew, Virginia does not allow any credits from journals, exterships or moot court competitions to count towards the minimum for graduation, while Michigan only allows twelve credits to count, including nine pass/fail credits, and three credits graded based upon a 30-60 page paper. While it's all well and interesting that Michigan and UVa have different systems, however, the comparison seems inapt.
Let's start with Michigan. Whereas only 10% of Michigan's alums remain in-state, a full 80% of CU's graduates stay in Colorado, in part because 50% of our incoming students must be state residents, and in other cases because people take jobs where they did externships. Moreover, while our career development office has to beg firms to show up and recruit here, the top firms in the country beat a path to Michigan's doorway on an annual basis. To me, the latter fact seems to argue towards focusing efforts on better tying externship efforts to our career development office, and away from administrative bean counting in the Dean's office.
Now for Virginia. You know that figure the administration likes to tout about our graduates taking up jobs in public service? Imagine what would happen if we stopped counting externships credits towards the minimum, like Dean Matthew's alma mater. Oh, and while Virginia doesn't wield quite as powerful of a firm magnet as Michigan, I would suggest that they're doing a hell of a lot better drawing employers to their campus than our overworked, overburdened, underfunded CDO. Again, an inapt comparison.
Then there's Colorado. Unlike Michigan and Virginia, we have five vacancies on our faculty, resulting in an overwhelming number of adjuncts teaching fundamental classes. Of those adjuncts, I can count on one hand those with a good reputation among the student body, at least as didacts. Virginia and Michigan, on the other hand, do not keep professors listed on their rolls who left two years ago. (Cough, Reitz) Why, then, should our students stick around to take classes with lesser teachers if the administration can't hold up its end of the bargain with regards to recruitment, and when we have the aforementioned problems with job placement?
Finally, I should highlight Colorado's the "judge/RA" discretionary credit process. Hearsay suggests that a person cannot apply for credits beyond the first four that don't involve working for a judge or as a research assistant. As such, if you want to take all seven credits, go work for a firm first, and screw the rest of you that relied upon the administration's previous policies.
In sum, the policies at Michigan and Virginia matter little. Give me a better argument, and maybe I'll listen. As it stands right now, however, the Dean's argument sounds like something I'd expect to hear from one of the adjuncts.
6 comments:
It is also funny to read the Dean's reactions transcribed by one of our fellow students on this same subject at the Townhall. You can always take more practical hours, even if they don't count towards graduation... Really? With what available time? And what about the Conflict with other classes that many of the practical classes (not clinics) have? Will they help us around that?
Either make it simple for us to obtain jobs (increase the profile of the school, get more firms here willing to hire) or let us get out into the world to obtain our practical skills while marketing ourselves. Theoretical classes may help us understand the law, but as CU Law stands now, they are not aiding us in obtaining employment. (After all, law school is a professional school).
My best experiences in law school were externship related (judge, law firm), and certainly helped me secure a job. No single class even came close to those experiences. Why CU insists on obtaining externship credits an uphill battle further exemplifies why so few of us feel any loyalty to this school that seems to care so much more about self-preservation than assisting students in the most important aspect of it all--getting a job.
In her defense, I think that's an error of the faculty's policy-making, and not the dean's office.
Dean Matthew is a faculty first dean, and will always will be. Has anyone ever gotten a response from her on anything that didn't have undertones of trying to make CU into Michigan? Her basic message regarding student complaints is "Deal with it." The purpose of Law school in the eyes of the Deans is publishing, accreditation, tenure and personal gain. It's called the "ivory tower." Yale and Harvard grads frequently complain about not actually learning the law, but instead learning what their professors think the law should be. In the long run, a good reputation, not an overworked CDO, brings employers to schools. How to foster that good reputation is the question. Do you want it to be student-orientated or faculty-orientated? The deans here take the latter approach, and are failing miserably. Maybe CU should give free ski passes for employers to come... The Kappa Sig kegger was killer, brah. Keg stands in 307 at 9 PM....
So should we stand arm in arm in front of the building at night and keep everyone out? I'm for it!
WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!
Dean Matthews response was patently inept. Who does she think we are... a stupid jury that needs to be told? Maybe she should read Rousseau or Hobbes and realize that the legitimacy of any leader resides in the will of the people to follow her. She needs to stop being so damn condescending and 'lawyerly'. Her job is to administer. The point was raised that the Rule is unfair. So she disregards that complaint... and launches into a defense of how she is applying it... no regard or attempt to deal with the overall question of the unfair result the Rule provides. She should work for the Bush administration. This is the same strategy she demonstrated last year at the 1L meeting. Fact was that the people w/ 4 classes on 1 day got ScREWED. My comprehension & quality of life are much better w/ a max of 3 classes per day. Reality vs. forced reality.
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