OT -- Rutgers' law schools now officially merged

[retired711]

See below:

embers of the Rutgers Community:


On behalf of Chancellors Phoebe Haddon and Nancy Cantor, I am proud to announce that the American Bar Association has formally approved the merger of our law schools in Camden and Newark. This final step in the process, which follows Board of Governors approval this past spring, makes official the establishment of the newly merged Rutgers Law School, a single academic unit with locations in Camden and Newark. Effective immediately, Rutgers Law–Newark dean Ronald Chen and Rutgers Law–Camden acting dean John Oberdiek will serve as its co-deans.


This is a historic moment for our university and a welcome development for New Jersey and the region. The new Rutgers Law School is keenly attuned to the evolving demands of the legal profession and to the need for legal scholarship and education to address the public good. We are excited about the future of an institution that is both steeped in history as a cornerstone of one of America’s oldest universities and situated at the forefront of innovation in legal education.


As New Jersey’s public law school, Rutgers Law offers a wealth of advantages:

· A comprehensive curriculum, propelled by one of the nation’s largest faculties with wide-ranging expertise;

· Locations in two of the nation’s five largest legal employment markets, providing access to an extraordinary array of clinical, pro bono, and experiential learning opportunities;

· An active network of more than 20,000 alumni nationwide;

· Cutting-edge immersive technology bringing great legal scholars and students together in real time; and

· A proven tradition of educating diverse new generations of legal professionals for public and private practice.


The new Rutgers Law School is the culmination of conversations begun by former deans John Farmer and Ray Solomon several years ago and of plans embraced by faculty in both Newark and Camden. That same spirit of collaboration will continue to strengthen the programs and scholarship at Rutgers Law School, including the deep engagement with our host cities and regions for which Rutgers is already well known and highly regarded.


I know that Chancellor Cantor and Chancellor Haddon, who have brought their own tremendous energy to the merger process, join me in congratulating the faculty, administrators, and deans who have worked so hard to achieve this milestone. They and I look forward to working with Rutgers Law School to maximize the benefits of this merger for our students, New Jersey residents, and the region. We are eager to help as Rutgers Law revolutionizes legal education and scholarship for the 21st century.


Sincerely,


Bob Barchi

 

[SirScarlet]

Thx Camden

Would welcome your thoughts on this if you get some time.

TIA

 

[Knight Shift]

"embers of the Rutgers community". Freudian slip for slash and burn? [winking]

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Is this a good thing for RU as a whole?
For RU Newark?
For RU Camden?

 

[RU Husky]

This graduate of RC and RLS- Newark likes the merger.

 

[derleider]

Is this a good thing for RU as a whole?
For RU Newark?
For RU Camden?

It would seem to me to be basically neutral. They are still two schools physically that will draw from two seperate bases. Its not like students will be taking classes at both.

Basically improving the school is going to take money, and a commitment to making it excellent. And this doesnt seem like it will change either of those.

 

[RUScrew85]

This graduate of RC and RLS- Newark likes the merger.

Will any administrators be let go? Seeing as how there must be some duplication of work. I fear I know the answer...

 

[RU Husky]

It would seem to me to be basically neutral. They are still two schools physically that will draw from two seperate bases. Its not like students will be taking classes at both.

Basically improving the school is going to take money, and a commitment to making it excellent. And this doesnt seem like it will change either of those.

I disagree with your last sentence. I believe the merger will promote positive change in both of those areas.

 

[derleider]

I disagree with your last sentence. I believe the merger will promote positive change in both of those areas.

Why?

 

[RU Husky]

Why?

A lot will of course depend on management and at RU that is always a slippery slope. I think the merger will ultimately improve public perception- the law school should now be identified with the Rutgers brand- you decide whether that's good or bad- rather than with a branch of the lesser appreciated campuses. I also think this will allow for a better allocation of resources- if properly managed. I don't believe there is any precedent for this type of law school merger, so we are on unchartered waters, but I think this union will allow for more resources to be committed to excellence. So much, however, depends on effective leadership and management. I don't think the co-dean concept will last very long.

 

[CuredbywinningRU]

I am a grad of RC and RLNewark - the fundamental issues of Law-Newark (as evidenced by, among other things, that Seton Hall long ago passed it by in terms of quality of student body overall) may not be fixable by this action, though it certainly couldn't hurt.

Those fundamental issues relate to RL-Newark's long-time commitment to diversity, community and social involvement and related issues at the cost of achieving excellence as a law school overall. I am all for diversity and progressive ideals , don't get me wrong, and it is a good thing for society, of course. But a school which has historically eschewed (though it's been trying to change this) other things (such as corporate law programs) in favor of its overriding commitment to ideals other than academic excellence cannot succeed without a huge endowment (of course RL Newark has virtually no endowment) since it neither attracts nor graduates in sufficient numbers students interested (or in the case of the latter, qualified) to get jobs that will enable them to be in a position to give back to the school in meaningful financial ways to allow traditional aspects of law school education to flourish there.

And of course the relatively weak financial resources of RL Newark (like the rest of RU) has meant that where it once was on the verge of becoming a national leader through clinics etc. of pro-bono and other "good works", it has long ago been eclipsed even in this area of its purported expertise by far better funded institutions, most notably Georgetown - which also, of course, is a leader in producing highly qualified graduates who, among other things, work in large traditional law firms and other corporate world high profile and high paying venues.

 

[retired711]

Students will be able to take courses at either campus without any bureaucratic steps necessary. And both schools now have a classroom that allows students from both campuses to take a course simultaneously with very similar experiences.

As for lessening administrative costs, the two libraries have become one, and that's saved money on acquisitions (only need one copy instead of two, or one electronic subscription instead of two) and personnel.

The main goal, I think, is to brand the two law schools as "Rutgers" rather than "Rutgers Camden" and "Rutgers Newark." It is thought that will increase the prestige and desirability of the schools.

 

[BuggsyRU]

A lot will of course depend on management and at RU that is always a slippery slope. I think the merger will ultimately improve public perception- the law school should now be identified with the Rutgers brand- you decide whether that's good or bad- rather than with a branch of the lesser appreciated campuses. I also think this will allow for a better allocation of resources- if properly managed. I don't believe there is any precedent for this type of law school merger, so we are on unchartered waters, but I think this union will allow for more resources to be committed to excellence. So much, however, depends on effective leadership and management. I don't think the co-dean concept will last very long.

I agree this will help.

It would be like UNC having law schools at Asheville and Greensboro campuses, but not at Chapel Hill.

Like it or not, the RU Camden and RU Newark campuses are NOT looked upon similarly to RU New Brunswick....so the perception of the two law schools took a hit.

This move better aligns the law school with the flagship N.B. school, rather than the smaller non flagship campuses.....and that branding will pay dividends.

 

[Ruthinking]

I am a grad of RC and RLNewark - the fundamental issues of Law-Newark (as evidenced by, among other things, that Seton Hall long ago passed it by in terms of quality of student body overall) may not be fixable by this action, though it certainly couldn't hurt.

Those fundamental issues relate to RL-Newark's long-time commitment to diversity, community and social involvement and related issues at the cost of achieving excellence as a law school overall. I am all for diversity and progressive ideals , don't get me wrong, and it is a good thing for society, of course. But a school which has historically eschewed (though it's been trying to change this) other things (such as corporate law programs) in favor of its overriding commitment to ideals other than academic excellence cannot succeed without a huge endowment (of course RL Newark has virtually no endowment) since it neither attracts nor graduates in sufficient numbers students interested (or in the case of the latter, qualified) to get jobs that will enable them to be in a position to give back to the school in meaningful financial ways to allow traditional aspects of law school education to flourish there.

And of course the relatively weak financial resources of RL Newark (like the rest of RU) has meant that where it once was on the verge of becoming a national leader through clinics etc. of pro-bono and other "good works", it has long ago been eclipsed even in this area of its purported expertise by far better funded institutions, most notably Georgetown - which also, of course, is a leader in producing highly qualified graduates who, among other things, work in large traditional law firms and other corporate world high profile and high paying venues.

I'm not an expert but from what I see and read, I strongly disagree with Seton Hall Law School having passed RU in quality of students. Is this just your opinion or do you have facts to back this up.

 

[retired711]

Ruthinking, I don't know if he's right but I do know that Seton Hall has been putting a lot of scholarship resources into attracting students. I *think* they've also diminished class size. In contrast, Rutgers does not put anything comparable into scholarships -- Temple has been beating our brains out in competing for South Jersey students -- and budget pressures make it hard to diminish class size, although we hope to move in that direction.

 

[CuredbywinningRU]

I'm not an expert but from what I see and read, I strongly disagree with Seton Hall Law School having passed RU in quality of students. Is this just your opinion or do you have facts to back this up.

I base it on many years being with large law firms and being involved in recruiting nationally and also it can be seen quite easily by looking at the credentials of the hires in the last 5-10 years of the top NJ firms - easy to see on online firm websites.

The RU-Newark law vs SHU differential is a rarity - SHU undergrad is much easier to get into than RU NB - I believe the acceptance rate is 80%- ish, but the law school gets better kids who get better jobs. It's been that way for at least 20 years and maybe more. RU's L-Newark has been good for (and has been mandated for) attracting non-traditional students (older, diverse, etc.) but that doesn't leave enough room for, or create an encouragement for the applications by large numbers of high quality traditional students who want to try to get to the top firms and companies rather than looking for something else in the public sector or just trying to add another academic credential to their resume late later in life.

Again, many top law schools have room for both. But when you start with RU-'s disadvantage of being in Newark and being woefully underfunded, and add the fact that it is widely viewed (in many ways correctly) as a "public interest law school" rather than a school that seeks to produce top level legal talent for all sectors, you can see why it has failed to produce a decent-sized cadre of lawyers who get jobs with, and succeed at top law firms and in house positions and even in the public sector and public interest areas, it has rarely made a dent in the consciousness of the national legal polity.

And I'm not even talking about national rankings (which are meaningless outside of the top 30 law schools or so in my view - SHU is 63 and we're 87 in USN ratings) - what counts is if you can get a good job out of law school and the SHU kids are beating us at that by a lot.

 

[JERSEYROOTS]

for one thing, RU can now report as 1 law school (all performance metrics, size, placements stats, etc) which helps with rankings across the board.

 

[HeavenUniv.]

A mention here about nearly half of New Jersey Law Journals 2015 new leaders hail from Rutgers--http://law.rutgers.edu/

 

[retired711]

for one thing, RU can now report as 1 law school (all performance metrics, size, placements stats, etc) which helps with rankings across the board.

exactly right. It's thought that the mere fact that the school is now *the* Rutgers Law School will help with people who have negative reactions when they hear "Newark" and "Camden."

 

[NotInRHouse]

I rarely agree with Cured but I think he raises some fair if albeit exaggerated points.

RU-N is the only law school in the country to my knowledge that has a non LSAT/GPA track to admission. And I knew a lot more people who graduated RU NB and chose a non RU law school- meaning that they got into RU-N or C but elected a higher ranked school- than who went to RU C or N.

I'm pretty sure that not only is harder to get into SHU or Temple but those schools give more scholarship money. I could have gone to both for the cost of RU or less.

To be fair, plenty of law schools outdo their undergrad reputation (ie, Alabama is like #20 something and ASU is 40 or 50 and NYU is #4). That said, RU has the worst or second worst law school ranked in all of the B1G nevermind SHU or Temple.

I generally agree that the law school needs to move to NB. There is no getting around Newark or Camden or the fact that TTFP moved their law school to State College and shot ahead of us in the process.

 

[CuredbywinningRU]

Not is correct that moving the law school to New Brunswick would be a very good step, but politics make that 100% not doable because the loss of law schools to the highly dysfunctional municipalities of Newark and Camden would be very severe.

But the bigger problem is that Newark Law - wherever it is located - has as its mandate the admission of too many unqualified students in the name of a 1960s political agenda and the result is that the admission of too large a cohort has been created that even if they graduate will never be able to achieve success in sufficient numbers to make a positive impact on the political agenda that helped get them admitted, let alone get the jobs in numbers sufficient enough to provide a base of potentially generous alums to turn the law school around.

The merger will help no doubt but as long as the current student selection regime is in place, Rutgers Law as a whole will continue to lag in student body quality, national reputation and, concommitantly, quality job opportunities for its students.

 

[IheartRutgers]

As both an RC and SHU law alum, I can say that Cured is right on the money. SHUL threw money at me. I was surprised how many of my classmates went to top undergrads like Yale, BC, and Georgetown (im sure the Catholic connection is a big factor). Plus lots of us from Rutgers as well.

have never had a difficult time getting a job with my SHUL credientials, even after I was laid off after the Great Recession. There are more SHUL alums than RU in NJ firms and we like to hire our own. We are a top 50 school according to Above the Law's ranking, which measures a multitude of things but most importantly employment as a lawyer (JD required jobs). Way more accurate than USNWR imo.

SHUL alumni are partners in NYC BigLaw, partners at every type of NJ firm, in house counsel for large corporations, and I heard one is even running for President. I myself work for a Fortune 50 company.

I do think the singular branding of the Rutgers schools will do wonders. I'm a rutgers girl and don't associate with SHU outside of the law school so I want RU to succeed.

 

[virginiaru]

I am a grad of RC and RLNewark - the fundamental issues of Law-Newark (as evidenced by, among other things, that Seton Hall long ago passed it by in terms of quality of student body overall) may not be fixable by this action, though it certainly couldn't hurt.

Those fundamental issues relate to RL-Newark's long-time commitment to diversity, community and social involvement and related issues at the cost of achieving excellence as a law school overall. I am all for diversity and progressive ideals , don't get me wrong, and it is a good thing for society, of course. But a school which has historically eschewed (though it's been trying to change this) other things (such as corporate law programs) in favor of its overriding commitment to ideals other than academic excellence cannot succeed without a huge endowment (of course RL Newark has virtually no endowment) since it neither attracts nor graduates in sufficient numbers students interested (or in the case of the latter, qualified) to get jobs that will enable them to be in a position to give back to the school in meaningful financial ways to allow traditional aspects of law school education to flourish there.

And of course the relatively weak financial resources of RL Newark (like the rest of RU) has meant that where it once was on the verge of becoming a national leader through clinics etc. of pro-bono and other "good works", it has long ago been eclipsed even in this area of its purported expertise by far better funded institutions, most notably Georgetown - which also, of course, is a leader in producing highly qualified graduates who, among other things, work in large traditional law firms and other corporate world high profile and high paying venues.

I too graduated RC and NL and totally concur with your post. The problem with NL has been the deliberate focus on social issues versus business. While resources have always been a problem, the decline of the school in terms of the legal market's perception is entirely self induced. The real, if politically difficult fix to all this (as mentioned by others) is to move the school to New Brunswick.

 

[derleider]

for one thing, RU can now report as 1 law school (all performance metrics, size, placements stats, etc) which helps with rankings across the board.

How? Why would placement stats be better - arent they percentages? Arent performance metrics essentially weighted averages that wont really change just because you have one larger school instead of two smaller schools? Its not like they will reduce te size JUST because they combine (although they might use the merger as an excuse to do what they would have done anyway.)

Im serious. I think there is alot of wishful thinking here and not alot of substance on how this is going to make a difference. Yes, in theory it might lead to better management, or it might lead to evne more incompetent management because you will have two people in the same structure trying to do whats best for what are ultimately still two separate schools. Which is more likely at RU?

The idea that not having Camden and Newark in the title is going to make a difference is absurd. Like people wont realize before they sign on where the campuses are.

The posters above are correct. The real move is to move them both to NB. As Ive suggested before they best way to do that is gradually. Start by offering a couple of joint majors with the business or med school with a couple of the key classes in NB and some in Newark or Camden. Then gradually add more and more stuff until there is a serious unit of the school in NB. Finally, wait for some crisis (say a very low ranking from both schools, compared to a very high ranking for the law students in NB) and announce that they only way to bring RU Law up to Big Ten standards is to combine into one location in NB with Newark and Camden being reduced or eliminated.

 

[CuredbywinningRU]

Again, moving to New Brunswick won't help materially as long as a too significant number of admitted students under the N-L regime continue to be under-qualified as is currently the case.

 

[retired711]

Admissions are going to be merged. I expect this will mean that Newark's admissions philosophy is going to change. As for the name change, it will help the rankings for the law schools not to be diminished by antipathy to the two cities. Finally, Penn State is actually going in the opposite direction. They decided to have separate law schools in Harrisburg and Happy Valley, and so they will have the problems of supporting two schools that Rutgers has had. Finally, it is expected that the merger will allow the new Rutgers law school to lower the number of students below the current enrollment at the two schools combined. Of course this will require more resources from the university, and as I've said before the merger means nothing unless there are more resources available.

 

[JERSEYROOTS]

How? Why would placement stats be better - arent they percentages? Arent performance metrics essentially weighted averages that wont really change just because you have one larger school instead of two smaller schools? Its not like they will reduce te size JUST because they combine (although they might use the merger as an excuse to do what they would have done anyway.)

Im serious. I think there is alot of wishful thinking here and not alot of substance on how this is going to make a difference. Yes, in theory it might lead to better management, or it might lead to evne more incompetent management because you will have two people in the same structure trying to do whats best for what are ultimately still two separate schools. Which is more likely at RU?

The idea that not having Camden and Newark in the title is going to make a difference is absurd. Like people wont realize before they sign on where the campuses are.

The posters above are correct. The real move is to move them both to NB. As Ive suggested before they best way to do that is gradually. Start by offering a couple of joint majors with the business or med school with a couple of the key classes in NB and some in Newark or Camden. Then gradually add more and more stuff until there is a serious unit of the school in NB. Finally, wait for some crisis (say a very low ranking from both schools, compared to a very high ranking for the law students in NB) and announce that they only way to bring RU Law up to Big Ten standards is to combine into one location in NB with Newark and Camden being reduced or eliminated.

Rankings are usually based on a institutions total size, total revenue, total scholarships, % of total students with x+ gpa, % of total students placed in high courts, etc. So, having one location in NB, or two locations in NWK CAM doesnt matter to the guys that crunch the numbers. 1 law school. 1 set of stats for that law school. combined size means greater presence. more funding. etc.

 

[CuredbywinningRU]

As with football star rankings, I am not a big fan of commercially based rankings. All that matters is job placement of RU Law grads as far as I'm concerned and until the student body gets significantly better as a group, that won't happen. And as we all know with all things, funding is the key to all. SHU got a huge donation (I believe from convicted securities fraudster Robert Brennan) ca. early 80s that I believe helped that law school get to where it is.

 

[derleider]

Rankings are usually based on a institutions total size, total revenue, total scholarships, % of total students with x+ gpa, % of total students placed in high courts, etc. So, having one location in NB, or two locations in NWK CAM doesnt matter to the guys that crunch the numbers. 1 law school. 1 set of stats for that law school. combined size means greater presence. more funding. etc.

US News is the bible of this stuff right? And its doesnt have a single category where being bigger is better.

camden - why do you think the merger will allow them to take fewer students than they would have as two seperate entities.

Also - Rutgers undergrad has one admissions for all of its schools - and yet, each school has different admissions standards. Why would that not be the case in the law school. Its not like people will be applying to the law school and getting randomly assigned to a campus - Newark will still basically have the same base of students, as will Camden. Do you think political pressure from the small, less important school in Camden is going to make Newark change its ways?

 

[Panthergrowl13]

As with football star rankings, I am not a big fan of commercially based rankings. All that matters is job placement of RU Law grads as far as I'm concerned and until the student body gets significantly better as a group, that won't happen. And as we all know with all things, funding is the key to all. SHU got a huge donation (I believe from convicted securities fraudster Robert Brennan) ca. early 80s that I believe helped that law school get to where it is.

National ranking may not be totally accurate but prospective students use them in their evaluation/selection process for determining which law schools they would want to apply.

I think going forward Rutgers will have to significantly reduce the number of students they accept if they hope to increase in the National Rankings.

Why? The pool of students applying to law schools have plummeted by almost 40% in the last several years because of the lack of jobs or low starting salaries. Recent Law schools graduates have average school loans now approaching $150,000. Getting your first law school job with a starting salary of $40,000 (30% of current law school grads are unemployed at graduation) is just not attractive. Compare that to a 4 year Engineering or IT Degree with starting salaries of $70,000.

With an ever decreasing supply of prospective law school prospects, law schools are fighting each other for good students to keep their LSAT and GPA scores High.

Rutgers is a good University but needs a comprehensive plan to increase their Law School National Reputation going forward.


US News (Best Graduate Schools Rankings- Law 2016 Ranking)

Temple University #52
Seton Hall University #63
Rutgers (Newark) #87
Rutgers (Camden) #102

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

 

[Ridge 22]

It never fails to amaze me how many of Rutgers problems are self inflicted. If there was a national championship for such a thing, we would be contenders every year.

 

[retired711]

US News is the bible of this stuff right? And its doesnt have a single category where being bigger is better.

camden - why do you think the merger will allow them to take fewer students than they would have as two seperate entities.

Also - Rutgers undergrad has one admissions for all of its schools - and yet, each school has different admissions standards. Why would that not be the case in the law school. Its not like people will be applying to the law school and getting randomly assigned to a campus - Newark will still basically have the same base of students, as will Camden. Do you think political pressure from the small, less important school in Camden is going to make Newark change its ways?

Derleider, combining the two law schools means there will be economies of scale, e.g. acquiring one library book or electronic service instead of two. By reducing overhead, it becomes more feasible to cut the size of the entering class.

There will be one admissions system, not two. Students will be judged on common criteria. This means that Newark can no longer continue to have its own admissions system with its own standards.

The boost in reputation will come to some extent just by getting Camden and Newark out of the names, and to some extent by having better student credentials through fewer students at the combined institution.

 

[derleider]

Derleider, combining the two law schools means there will be economies of scale, e.g. acquiring one library book or electronic service instead of two. By reducing overhead, it becomes more feasible to cut the size of the entering class.

There will be one admissions system, not two. Students will be judged on common criteria. This means that Newark can no longer continue to have its own admissions system with its own standards.

The boost in reputation will come to some extent just by getting Camden and Newark out of the names, and to some extent by having better student credentials through fewer students at the combined institution.

Ok. Thanks for the information. Should be interesting to see what criteria they settle on for admissions - after all - don't the people who enacted or have maintained Newark's program have a say in all of this?

 

[NotInRHouse]

I think we're at the tipping point Der is suggesting is needed to change minds. Rankings have plummeted. Admissions are down. The #1 law school for RU NB alums is Fordham. I doubt that any other B1G school aside from one like Indiana or Michigan where the law school is significantly harder to get into than the undergrad does not have the undergrad as its main feeder. Most B1G schools- tOSU, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconsin- are in the 20-40 range, and coincidence, all have on campus law schools. Indiana and Wisconsin are lower ranked undergrads and tOSU and Minnesota are right by us. It is no coincidence that #1 law school for RU NB grads is ranked #34. RU is basically saying take your tuition money and leave NJ. And as someone who went to Fordham, I know lots of NJ kids including RU alums that stayed in the city still. This is a brain drain issue.

I generally agree with Panther that salaries are down (and to be fair again, both SHU and RU alums mostly end up clerking for 40k a year to start off) but eventually many of those law grads will be making six figures and they will have money to donate and it won't go somewhere they were afraid to go outside the building at for 3 years.

Now the med school is in, I don't see why the admin cannot suggest this is at least a long term plan and get donors and alums excited.

 

[NotInRHouse]

Also, re: social issues, a New Brunswick location does not impede that. It's a politically active campus. Every NYC law school has students doing public service work in the Bronx and other low income neighborhoods. New Brunswick has plenty of low income people, slumlords, and corrupt pols for great clinical work. And, if Indiana in Bloomington can place students in Chicago, RU can in NYC and Philly, a fraction of that trek.

 

[NotInRHouse]

As both an RC and SHU law alum, I can say that Cured is right on the money. SHUL threw money at me. I was surprised how many of my classmates went to top undergrads like Yale, BC, and Georgetown (im sure the Catholic connection is a big factor). Plus lots of us from Rutgers as well.

have never had a difficult time getting a job with my SHUL credientials, even after I was laid off after the Great Recession. There are more SHUL alums than RU in NJ firms and we like to hire our own. We are a top 50 school according to Above the Law's ranking, which measures a multitude of things but most importantly employment as a lawyer (JD required jobs). Way more accurate than USNWR imo.

SHUL alumni are partners in NYC BigLaw, partners at every type of NJ firm, in house counsel for large corporations, and I heard one is even running for President. I myself work for a Fortune 50 company.

I do think the singular branding of the Rutgers schools will do wonders. I'm a rutgers girl and don't associate with SHU outside of the law school so I want RU to succeed.

To be fair, so does RU N, that will just change unless they change. RU N was ranked like 40 something at one point. Elizabeth Warren went there, Ruth Bader Ginsberg taught there. It's no slouch. But it is a neighborhood that has been bad for decades and lowered standards.

 

[NotInRHouse]

Admissions are going to be merged. I expect this will mean that Newark's admissions philosophy is going to change. As for the name change, it will help the rankings for the law schools not to be diminished by antipathy to the two cities. Finally, Penn State is actually going in the opposite direction. They decided to have separate law schools in Harrisburg and Happy Valley, and so they will have the problems of supporting two schools that Rutgers has had. Finally, it is expected that the merger will allow the new Rutgers law school to lower the number of students below the current enrollment at the two schools combined. Of course this will require more resources from the university, and as I've said before the merger means nothing unless there are more resources available.

If only moving one law school is a compromise it would be worth it.

But it will be nearly impossible to get NJ's best to go to RU in N or C when TTFP, among others, is offering a better rank, lower costs after scholarships, and the ability to walk outside around campus after dark.

 

[retired711]

Ok. Thanks for the information. Should be interesting to see what criteria they settle on for admissions - after all - don't the people who enacted or have maintained Newark's program have a say in all of this?

I have been told that R-N's administration is discontent with Newark's model in part because it is of dubious legality. But we'll have to see.

I can't contradict NIRH except to say that it is not impossible to have a first-rate law school in a bad neighborhood. Difficult, but not impossible. (Georgetown Law's neighborhood near the Capitol has come back, but for years it was simply terrible -- worse than Camden Law's situation.) And providing adequate resources for the new school will be a lot cheaper than trying to build a new law school in New Brunswick -- something the University administration seems to have absolutely no interest in doing.

 

[NotInRHouse]

Sure, but Georgetown is Georgetown, UPenn is UPenn, etc. If think most of the 20-40 group are in safe areas.

 

[retired711]

Sure, but Georgetown is Georgetown, UPenn is UPenn, etc. If think most of the 20-40 group are in safe areas.

And Rutgers, if it only got its act together, is Rutgers. Invest in the consolidated law school, and Rutgers could be at least close to being in the same league. As I said, it is difficult to overcome a bad neighborhood, but other law schools have done it. And let's face it -- there is *no* possibility, I mean *no* possibility that there is going to be a law school in New Brunswick in the foreseeable future. So Rutgers would be wise to invest in what it does have.