Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Following 52% Tuition Cut, Seton Hall Reduces Faculty Pay by 10% and Informs Junior Faculty They May be Terminated
Following up on my previous post, Seton Hall Law School Offers 52% Tuition Discount to Fill Incoming 1L Class: Seton Hall has announced that it has cut faculty salaries by 10% and informed all seven junior faculty that they may be terminated following the 2013-14 academic year:
- Above the Law, A Law School’s Possible Purge of its Junior Faculty Ranks
- Paul Campos (Colorado), Seton Hall Law School Cuts Faculty Compensation by 10%; Gives Notice to All Untenured Faculty of Possible Termination
- Law and More, Seton Hall Law School's Junior Faculty: All Could be Axed For 2014-2015 Academic Year
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2013/07/following-52-.html
Comments
HTA,
I think these junior faculty are headed for some "JD Advantaged" jobs. I've noticed that many new faculty are hired because they specialize in some esoteric niche area, like Law and Health Care/International Law/Sports Law/Social Justice, which seems to be so trendy right now. They really are not prepared to enter any general corporate or litigation practice, as they neither have 1) practical experience, or 2) clients. In fact, they don't even have relevant doctrinal expertise in most private practice fields. I'm not celebrating this-although I'm sure some disgruntled recent law school grads might-I'm just stating a fact.
Posted by: JM | Jul 2, 2013 12:25:08 PM
So, both tenured faculty and administration can agree that the first off the ship are the junior faculty. That's the easy part. The 10% cut to salary shouldn't be too hard to swallow at this point, given that most faculty make North of 200,000/year.
The next fracture will be much harder though. There will be a choice between a much larger across the board salary cut (e.g. 33%), or finding a way to terminate contracts for tenured faculty or administrators. A 33% salary cut would be quite difficult, since many faculty will be putting kids through college, paying down a large mortgage or saving for retirement. This will cause signficant pain. Then again, the process of terminating tenured faculty would be extremely contentious, and inevitably lead to litigation.
Posted by: JM | Jul 2, 2013 7:22:11 AM
As long as the Baby Boomers are safe.
Posted by: rolo | Jul 2, 2013 2:38:58 PM