It looks like our own Boyd School of Law will be losing at least three professors this year to other schools. Professors Raquel Aldana, Tuan Samahon, and Michael Higdon have all given Boyd notice of their departure. More alarming, however, is Samahon's revelation that he knows of an additional six professors who are interviewing elsewhere. Boyd only has approximately 40 faculty members, so losing nearly a quarter of them would not be good news.
One explanation for the departures comes from the current dean of the law school, who incredibly makes more himself than the three departing professors, combined ($339,560.00 vs. $324,823.00). From the LV Sun:
Boyd School of Law Dean John Valery White acknowledged the challenging environment. He said with so many talented young faculty, some turnover is inevitable. He said the law school is committed to attracting and retaining top talent.
“One of the components of my job is to build a strong faculty, but not under the assumption that we wouldn’t have any turnover,” White said.
Another component of Mr. White's job is, apparently, counting his money while cackling and smoking a cigar with his feet on the desk.
According to the leaked US News rankings UNLV took a good jump (I think 75th according to this website). So, even with higher tuition and teachers leaving in droves, students will get at least one year to enjoy the better ranking.
ReplyDeleteOne main problem with the school...they hired the dean based on politics and not off merit. Boyd will pay the consequences for years to come.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to Professor Samahon. He is (was) the best all around teacher at Boyd.
I agree with ANON 12:03, the school botched the hiring of the present dean. They brought in a Dean who had no ties to the community. There was a far superior candidate who I believe was not offered the job because of his religious affiliation.
ReplyDeleteLook at it this way: If you were an intelligent, talented, highly-educated professor-type, would you want to make your permanent home in Las Vegas? Las Vegas is a great place to live for a high school graduate who can make $90k a year as a valet attendant. But for those with real education, it is a barren desert devoid of culture. Its people are mostly uninteresting. Its public school system is among the worst in the country. It is unbrearably hot. And it is crime-ridden. If one considers all the places to live in the US which have a law school nearby, Las Vegas is among the worst. Nice place to live for a law school janitor, unattractive place to live for a law school professor.
ReplyDeleteLooks like three professors leaving who where *gasp* passed over for tenure. Not very shocking they didn't get tenure considering the funding problems Nevada higher education is having.
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate that the departing professors comments are anything less that positive.
Does anyone know where they're going?
ReplyDeleteIf these are lateral moves to similar law schools, we can probably assume it was Vegas, Boyd, or White that prompted them to move.
But if these moves are to more prestigious law schools, more money, more opportunity, etc. - then maybe the professors simply made a rational business decision.
Aldana: McGeorge
ReplyDeleteSamahon: Villanova
Higdon: Tennessee
Dean White's job is (essentially) to get donations. Instead, at a recent Dean's Forum, he admitted that Boyd is eating their seed corn i.e. using their endowment for operating expenses.
ReplyDeleteHe has no ties to the community. He has hardly any relationships to the students. Why exactly is he still here?
UNLV 2L.
Aldana: McGeorge
ReplyDeleteSamahon: Villanova
Higdon: Tennessee
All three have better academic reputations and are more prestigious than Boyd. And all three are in more liveable cities. Can you blame them for leaving Las Vegas?
At some point you become tenured and therefore tied to the community in which your institution exists. For the kind of person who becomes a law professor, Las Vegas is not the type of community to which you'd want to be tied.
On the positive notes, USN&WR ranked Boyd's legal writing program #3, up from #4. Boyd is also among the most diverse, and in the top 10 for dispute resolution.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=69318
UNLV 2L
Let's face it. When you pick Boyd, you know pretty well what you are or are not getting. These professors leaving or coming aren't going to magically make career prospects better or worse for Boyd students. Employers' opinions are not as flexible as even USN&W rankings.
ReplyDelete"All three have better academic reputations and are more prestigious than Boyd. And all three are in more liveable cities. Can you blame them for leaving Las Vegas?"
ReplyDeleteWell for the first part, they're all about the same as Boyd. US News has Tennessee at 52, Villanova at 68, and McGeorge at 95. None of them are that prestigious. But with the current problems with Nevada's finances they're probably just paying more.
Anyone who bases the quality and prestige of a law school on the survey-based USN&WR renkings is going to be sorely disappointed. If your plan is to stay in Vegas after graduation, you might have a shot with a Boyd JD. If your plan is to go to another state, especially one with a better law school, Boyd will be a liability you'll need to overcome in securing your first job.
ReplyDeleteOn a national level, at real law firms, Boyd is an also-ran. EVERY ABA-accredited law school in California carries more weight nationally than does Boyd.
From what I've heard a lot of it has nothing to do with the dean. Samahon's wife was looking to go back east and he was not crazy about raising a family in las vegas. Aldana's departure has to do with her significant other (not sure if it is her husband) being offered a pretty attractive job in california. I believe higdon was leaving because he was not offered tenure here but is on track for tenure at tennesse. But this was all law school gossip so i could be off.
ReplyDeleteAnd for those bashing dean white, sorry but his priority is not to get close to the students right now, he's out fighting so boyd doesn't get killed with the budget cuts. He is constantly flying to and back from carson city. Ill admit he's not the legend dean morgan but he was more than qualified to be dean of this school.
I remember Dean Morgan telling us the law school tuition needed to be raised so we were a self-sufficient program and didn't have to rely on state spending. That totally makes sense and I didn't mind the tuition increase until I saw Dean White's salary which is $50,000 more than any other employee including the vice president and provost of UNLV.
ReplyDeleteI like UNLV Law, I can't believe that Dean White was the best we could find to replace the legendary Dean Morgan. I hope he steps up and takes a pay cut cause we're all sacrificing here except him.
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ReplyDeleteQuote:
ReplyDelete"Anyone who bases the quality and prestige of a law school on the survey-based USN&WR renkings is going to be sorely disappointed.
...
EVERY ABA-accredited law school in California carries more weight nationally than does Boyd."
First, I am a licensed attorney here in Nevada, not a pre-law student. I did not go to Boyd.
The U.S. News rankings, with all of their flaws, are still illustrative of general trends. I was merely pointing out the fallacy of stating that three other schools in the 50-100 range are somehow more prestigious or have better academic reputations than Boyd. They are all about the same.
I seriously doubt that any of the leaving Boyd professors did so for "prestige." They probably were denied tenure and left for more money or new opportunities.
And after seeing Villanova's Dean publicly humiliated on ATL this morning, I seriously doubt that he is any better than UNLV's. :)
As for your second comment about California law schools, neither UNLV nor any bottom tier law school in California has national weight. But you're going to be hard pressed to convince me that a person is better off graduating from Thomas Jefferson or Golden Gate than from UNLV.
Higdon is a contract legal writing professor which is not a tenure track position. The position at Tenn. is tenure track. Aldana had tenure and announced her move more than a year ago before the budget crunch hit.
ReplyDeleteTo comment on 4/21 @ 12:24:
ReplyDeleteI had Samahon when he first came to Boyd - he was in love with Georgetown and the east coast. He constantly said things that were slights to Boyd Law and that Georgetown was soooo much better (I know that, but I don't take my money then bitch about working here - you can always leave... or can you?)
He's a great professor, I enjoyed having him for Civ Pro, but it was clear he was merely using his time here to excel at Boyd with the planned intent to jump back to the east coast when given the chance.
Samahon backed the wrong Dean candiate and got relegated to night classes. The man was smart enough to see he was being shown the door and started interviewing for positions at other schools over a year ago once he saw the writing on the wall. Yet another great Boyd prof who was forced out for political reasons.
ReplyDeleteThe sole advantage one might have at Boyd, when compared to schools like Thomas Jefferson and Golden Gate, is that Boyd's tuition is lower and, therefore, the amount borrowed might be less.
ReplyDeleteBut if a person wants a job at a decent law firm anywhere other than Vegas (like Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver), that person would be better served by having a degree at one of the other schools. Outside of Vegas, people still consider UNLV to be "Tumbleweed Tech".
So to summarize -
ReplyDeleteSome believe the professors left for more secure tenure track jobs; thereby not implicating Boyd or Las Vegas.
Some believe the profesors left because Las Vegas isn't a suitable place for a law professor to live and raise a family.
Some believe the professors left Boyd because Boyd is less prestigious than other law schools.
None express any defense of Las Vegas as a place to live.
Few express any defense of Boyd as a quality law school.
Oh, and no one wants to defend our Dean.
ReplyDeleteLaw school applicants and maybe a few law school employees pay attention to USN&WR. Hiring partners at prestigious law firms have either heard of your school or they haven't.
ReplyDeleteLaw school applicants and maybe a few law school employees pay attention to USN&WR. Hiring partners at prestigious law firms have either heard of your school or they haven't.
ReplyDeleteWhoo hoo! Let's hear it for Las Vegas! It's a fine city...a damn fine city. Golden Gate and Thomas Jefferson are for squares.
ReplyDeleteThomas Jefferson is pretty well represented in this town.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to practice in Vegas, Boyd is a great choice. If you want to practice out of state, go somewhere else.
Good firms in major markets do not regularly hire out of Thomas Jefferson or Golden Gate. I worked in SF and routinely heard lawyers scoff at Golden Gate. No one ever mentioned Thomas Jefferson because no one knew it existed.
ReplyDeleteAldana is a flaming liberal incapable of objectivity and uses class time to shove her opinion down the throats of her students. Good riddance! This is a positive result of the budget cuts.
ReplyDeleteAs a student at Boyd, I'm sad to see any of them go. However, I really don't think it had to do with White. Truth be told, White is no Dean Morgan, but he is trying.
ReplyDeleteAnd actually our candidates for Dean were all "disappointing." But one little known tid bit is because Dean Morgan stayed on a little longer. By the time they had an official "leave date" from Morgan, these were the best picks.
Samahon will be missed.
Paying double tuition does nothing to help the law school. Nevada is so screwed up that the extra money goes into the general coffers of the state to be redistributed to all schools in the state. It's sad that it is now cheaper to go to Med school in Nevada than Law School. I should have listened to my Mom and gone to Med school.
ReplyDelete