Monday, June 02, 2008
The seven constituencies of a law school
I don't want to turn this blog into an ongoing tribute to Jim Chen, but it's starting to look like that is inevitable. Most recently, I noticed his Moneylaw post on "Anna Karenina and the art of academic management," in which he breaks down the constituencies of a law school, and which led to a long period of personal pondering. You can read the whole thing here. His description of the seven law school constituencies is excerpted below.
All happy law schools are alike; every unhappy law school is unhappy in its own way.
There are no fewer than seven distinct constituencies in most law schools. If any one of these constituencies behaves dysfunctionally, the entire school will reflect that dysfunction.
First, university administration must treat the law school as a vital part of the university as a whole. If it treats the law school as a cash cow or ignores it in favor of other initiatives — such as undergraduate education, other professional programs, or athletics — such favoritism will backfire. We're all on the same team, if not the same campus, and success breeds success.
Second, the dean must keep her or his eyes on the right prize: the well-being of the students and graduates of the law school. Acting as "the servant of the faculty" is a guaranteed formula for failure. So is managing from a position of diffidence, as if retaining the deanship took precedence over doing the right thing.
Third, the faculty must be committed to the right values. Law school teaching is the easiest, most rewarding, perhaps even the best job available to intellectually inclined people holding J.D. degrees. And the vast majority of people doing this job get to do it for life. So teach conscientiously, keep up with the law and allied fields through active scholarship, and above all do not treat a faculty appointment as either a sinecure or a personal expense account.
Fourth, staff should work as a cohesive, professional crew. Nonfaculty employees almost invariably do. But law school administration and faculty must take care to treat staff with respect, and there must be some sort of constructive mechanism for correcting instances when this aspiration is not fulfilled.
Fifth, students arguably have the easiest role in ensuring their law school's success. In most cases, doing what comes naturally consists simply of studying hard, playing fair, passing the bar, and getting jobs. But it does help if the students actually want to be at the school they're attending. Schools that are destinations of choice for their students tend to be happy. Schools that are fallback destinations tend to be less happy. Don't confuse this with rankings: a gaudy ranking is neither necessary nor sufficient for student satisfaction.
Sixth, alumnae and alumni should not treat their alma mater as though a law school education rested on some sort of fee-for-service contract. Ideally the relationship between a school and its graduates spans a lifetime. Too young and poor to give cash? We'll take in-kind contributions, even moral support. Even if your own experience was awful, smart leadership today will work with you to make tomorrow's graduates more appreciative of their degrees — and yours.
Finally, the local community must take a stake in the well-being of the law school. Members of the local bar, no matter where they attended, benefit from a robust local law school. Public schools depend on enlightened state legislatures who understand that investments in education pay multiple dividends in the form of future economic development.
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All I know is that no woman at my law school, professor or student, had stiletto heels like the woman in this photo.
# posted by 
: 12:05 PM
: 12:05 PM
I think we do pretty well here. Unless the IT folks count as staff. They do not appear in my observation to have any desire to be a part of the success of this school.
Eighth, the law Library should turn into a 1970's era disco when not functioning in its intended capacity. With a badass Panda for a bouncer.
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