In Other News
Apparently Dean Edley has decided step down as Dean effective December 31. (I got an e-mail from the Alumni Association, the text of which is posted in the EWI thread). I actually did not know about the Dean's medical issue, but I wish him and his family the best. I'm hoping he does not turn to cooking meth to secure the financial security of the law school (or acting as the lawyer for meth cooks?). Jokes aside, it's a bit too early to write the history on Dean Edley's tenure at the law school, but this is the law school that I entered in 2004 along with a freshly minted Dean, who for the first time was not a Boalt insider:
-- No wireless or electrical outlets in classrooms. If you sat in the front row and had an exceptionally long power cord, you could plug in your laptop to a surge protector. And the battery power in laptops those days were not what they are today. You'd see solitaire on people's screens in class.
-- Chairs would break. During class. With people sitting in them. Torts.
-- Ranked 13th.
-- The law school's website has neat graphs on faculty numbers. Suffice it to say, we've hired some top caliber talent during Dean Edley's tenure, including Interim Dean Lester.
-- The elephant in the room is the increase in fees. I used to be of the mindset that Dean Edley was correct to try to set Boalt on a path that followed the Michigan / UVA model. That made sense in an era of one budget crisis after another. It also made sense in an era of boom law firm hiring. With the benefit of the economic collapse of 2008, I've been gradually second-guessing the wisdom of that plan. There is now no legitimate public law school option in California. I think what really bothered me the most is that we went from a really crappy loan repayment program to a really good loan repayment program funded by increased fees and donations to a government sponsored loan repayment program. A large part of the fee increases were earmarked for loan repayment. If current Boalties are using government loan repayment programs, where's the extra money going? Deep down, I'm bothered by that. It's one thing to increase fees knowing that the school will guarantee loan repayment for those who work in public sector / public interest jobs. If that were the case, the nominal fees would be high, but in terms of actual costs, the school would continue with its core mission of serving as a public law school. Instead, we are back to square one: depending on the whims and wishes of legislators eager to cut funding. I don't get it.
Regardless, I'm terribly sad to see Dean Edley step down.
-- No wireless or electrical outlets in classrooms. If you sat in the front row and had an exceptionally long power cord, you could plug in your laptop to a surge protector. And the battery power in laptops those days were not what they are today. You'd see solitaire on people's screens in class.
-- Chairs would break. During class. With people sitting in them. Torts.
-- Ranked 13th.
-- The law school's website has neat graphs on faculty numbers. Suffice it to say, we've hired some top caliber talent during Dean Edley's tenure, including Interim Dean Lester.
-- The elephant in the room is the increase in fees. I used to be of the mindset that Dean Edley was correct to try to set Boalt on a path that followed the Michigan / UVA model. That made sense in an era of one budget crisis after another. It also made sense in an era of boom law firm hiring. With the benefit of the economic collapse of 2008, I've been gradually second-guessing the wisdom of that plan. There is now no legitimate public law school option in California. I think what really bothered me the most is that we went from a really crappy loan repayment program to a really good loan repayment program funded by increased fees and donations to a government sponsored loan repayment program. A large part of the fee increases were earmarked for loan repayment. If current Boalties are using government loan repayment programs, where's the extra money going? Deep down, I'm bothered by that. It's one thing to increase fees knowing that the school will guarantee loan repayment for those who work in public sector / public interest jobs. If that were the case, the nominal fees would be high, but in terms of actual costs, the school would continue with its core mission of serving as a public law school. Instead, we are back to square one: depending on the whims and wishes of legislators eager to cut funding. I don't get it.
Regardless, I'm terribly sad to see Dean Edley step down.
Labels: Dean Edley
posted by Armen Adzhemyan at 10:05 AM
4 comments
