Vol. I
No. 4
ADVOCATE
DECEMBER, 1982
ABA Review Stirs Concern
Dean George Takes On New
Responsibi Jlties by Karen Schwartz His phone is constantly ringing, he has an appointment uptown, an interview with the ADVOCATE, and to top if off the word processor is on the fritz. Deputy Dean B. James George, seems to be taking it all in stride, but said he is feeling a bit harrassed these days. No wonder. In addition to the responsibilities of his recent decanal appointment, he has had to cope with a full class load and meet two longstanding publishing commitments. As the first deputy dean in the history of NYLS, George describes the position in terms of corporate organization. He see the deputy dean as "the chief operating officer under the Dean, who is chief executive officer. I am C.0.0. and all things having to do with academic programs, research and publications." Created at the recommendation of the faculty and approved by the Board of Trustees, the deputy deanship is an interim post, which will expire with the arrival of a new Dean. If a dean designate has not been identifie-d by the end of the academic year, an acting dean will probably be appointed. No change has been made in the powers of the office or the dean, so Dean E . Donald Shapiro will serve as dean of the law school until June 30th, when his resignation becomes effective. George's appointment has simply instituted a different reporting chain. Previously, Dean Bearn, (Continued on Page 2}
There is much concern among the NYLS administration and faculty o' :!r the American Bar Association's vi:>it to NYLS this spring to evaluate its merit as an accredited ABA law school. The ABA evaluation committee visits every American Law School on a rotating basis, with approximately seven years between visits. Such a visit is not necessarily good news for the NYLS community. "We are very concerned," said one NYLS faculty member, "that New York Law School will not be favorably reviewed. A loss of accreditation would be catastrophic." The pending visit was revealed to students at a student's organization meeting with Dean Bearn and Professor Samuels in late October. The ABA has requested a selfevaluation report from the school, with input to be provided from the faculty, administration, Board of Trustees, and student body. How student input is to be solicited is not clear. At the meeting, one student suggested that a questionnaire be devised and circulated to students. Professor Samuels, head of the school evaluation report committee, greeted
the idea with interest. Dean Bearn, however, was not enthusiastic. She expressed concern that students would lambast the school with "pet peeves," so that the true merit of the school would not be revealed, and this information would then have to be handed over to the ABA. "Are you scared of what the student's might say?" Dean Bearn was asked. "No," she said. "Yes," interrupted Professor Samuels. "This will not be a white-wash job, I assure you." "Students¡are in a precarious situation," said one member of the Student Bar Association."lf we attempt to lambast the administration before the ABA committee, it will undoubtedly hurt all of us. And yet, l think that giving the administration a vote of confidence would violate ethical considerations. We get so many complaints from the students, and are faced with such an uncooperative attitude by the administration, that I believe things must change. If the ABA visit is the catalyst or the leverage needed to bring about such changes, well, we should closely consider our options."
NYLS Briefly New York Law School was founded in 1891 and rose close to the top of the law school ranks prior to World War II. Supreme Court Justices Harlan and Frankfurter each attended NYLS, although Frankfurter left after his first year. Following the Second World War, however, NYLS fell on hard times. The school was unable to attract students, and its faculty declined. The loss of benefactors also contributed to the school's near collapse. When Dean Shapiro took over as Dean in 1972, there were only seven full-time faculty members. Shapiro's aggressive style brought respectability back to NYLS. The purchase of the B and C buildings gave the school a small but viable physical structure. The r ecruitment of a strong faculty al o helped to raise the school's reputation. Although the space has increased, the size of the student body has increased even more and the NYLS community again has become too
large for its limited space. An architect was hired to draw up plans for a modern facility to be built in the parking lot site next door which would solve most of the school's space problems. Dean Hillman indicated in late 1981 that the alumni association had contributed enough money to build the building. Ground breaking was rumored to have been scheduled for April 1982. That date came and went with no action. In October, a combined committee of administration, faculty, and trustees discovered that the architect's estmate of cost was forty percent lower than the lowest construction bid. Since t h en, sa id another source, " controlled panic has set in. We are scrambling t o figure out what to do. It is pos sible t hat NYLS will move to a nearby building with more space in the very near future. But I can assure you that a building r esembling the architect's plan will not be built."
The major source of concern, said a faculty member who asked not to be identified, is the physical plan of NYLS. "It is much too small to accomodate the number of students that it serves. The administration has consistently, over the past several years, admitted far more students than the school can adequately serve. Dean Scanlon is "shocked" every year at the number of students who attend NYLS after being accepted. The faculty has become rather perplexed at the situation, because "it is our jobs which are now on the line. If the ABA pulls accreditation because of our overpopulation problem, we'll lose our jobs." The ABA visit comes at a time when the recently rebuilt faculty is beginning to assert itself more in the affairs of the school. "It is no secret that the faculty is displeased with the administration. We are beginning to deal directly with t he Board of Trustees," said a faculty member. "At one time during the beginning of Dean Shapiro's tenure, the administration was hustling to do a good job, and they pulled NYLS up by the bootstraps. Now, however, absent eeism, complacency, and a general lack of direction has led t he faculty to believe that major changes are needed." The degree of fear expressed by many about a possible withdrawal of accreditation by the ABA may be unfounded. Margorie Karjewski, a representative of the ABA in Chicago, told the Advocate that the reviewing committee has no fixed standards when it evaluates a school, even for faculty-student ratio. Each school is evaluated with its own character and history in mind. Even if the commit t ee is not satisfied with a spect s of the school, the result is not a n automatic withdra wal of accreditation, Karjewsk i said. The committee issues a rep ort recommending various changes, a n d the school h as thirty days to respond. The school has six months to make some changes before the ABA acts. Even then, there are no fixed deadlines and the ABA tries to be flexible to the needs of the part icular school. Thus, an unfavorable review by the ABA, while causing problems of its own, will not spell automatic doom for NYLS.