Two Form Memos for Law School Deans in Response to U.S. News Rankings

Gregory M. Stein (Tennessee) has published a very telling op-ed in today's Chicago Tribune:  Note From the Dean: Send After U.S. News Rankings are Published, which contains two alternative letters to be sent by a law school dean, depending on whether his or her school has risen or fallen in the latest U.S. News rankings:

Dean’s Memo (If School Rises in Rankings)	Dean’s Memo (If School Falls in Rankings)
We are very happy to announce that we have moved up one place in this year's U.S. News & World Report's "Ultimate Guide to Law Schools." While we all understand that rankings such as these are based on a somewhat arbitrary formula, the rankings nonetheless recognize that the foundation of this law school—its faculty, its alumni, its staff, its physical plant, and, above all, its fine students—keeps getting stronger. Our efforts have been paying off, and we thank you.	We have much to celebrate this year in the law school. Our fine faculty continues to publish in highly ranked journals and to speak at prestigious conferences. Our wonderful alumni are leaders of the bar, both within this state and beyond its borders. We admitted one of the most competitive classes of first-year students in the history of the institution, a group of new students to fill the large shoes of the outstanding group that graduated last spring and entered the legal profession. And our bar passage rate—always high—has held nearly steady.
A law school is more than just its rankings, of course. But the U.S. News formula highlights several areas in which we have particularly improved. The number of our graduates employed nine months after graduation increased by 0.4 percent, and we owe thanks to our fine office of career services. Our in-state bar passage rate moved up by 0.2 percent, which reflects well on our outstanding faculty and our hard-working students. Our acceptance rate for 2007 increased by 0.8 percent, making us even more selective than we have always been. And our reputation among our peers continues to increase.	As you surely have read, our rankings in the most recent issue of U.S. News have dipped slightly. I know you understand that the U.S. News formula, though it focuses on many of the important attributes of a fine law school, combines and weighs them in a manner that most lawyers and law deans find to be arbitrary. For example, did you know that the number of our law graduates employed nine months after their graduation this year was only two less than the similar number employed at the same time last year, a phenomenal accomplishment for our career services office during the beginnings of an economic slump? Did you know that the number of graduates to pass this state's bar in July fell by only three during a time of tightening standards? And did you know that this faculty's reputation among its peers decreased by only one place during a time when higher education funding for travel and public relations has been harder and harder to come by? We have much to be proud of! And applicants to the law school recognize this: Even with the economy slipping into a recession, the number of applicants to the coming year's class fell by only six.
It has been a fine year at the law school, and we have much to celebrate. I owe you my congratulations, and my thanks.	A law school is more than just an arbitrary number generated by a computer programmed by a magazine that is in the business of selling copies. A law school is its people, and you will find no finer group of people than the citizens of this community. While I recognize the concern that some of you may feel about this ranking, I assure you that the law school is stronger than it has ever been. I look forward to continuing to improve in the coming year.

For the record, Greg's school -- Tennessee -- rose one spot (to #52) in the latest U.S News rankings.