Golden Gate Law School Sends Discontinuation Notices To Tenured Faculty, Paving Way For Possible Termination In FY25

Following up on Friday's post, Golden Gate Law School Won’t Close, But Faculty Layoffs May Be Coming:  Law.com, Golden Gate University Law School Says It Plans to Stay Open for at Least the Next Academic Year:

In an email sent to the GGU Law School community, provided to Law.com from the school, David J. Fike, GGU president, and Mark Yates, who became dean of GGU Law on July 1, said, “We also want to let you know, in the clearest possible terms—no matter what course is chosen for our Law School—that GGU Law will continue to operate during the academic year 2023-24 and beyond as necessary to ensure at a minimum that all currently enrolled and entering students will continue to receive their scholarships and be able to receive an ABA-accredited degree.”

Faculty positions may be in jeopardy in the future, though.

Notices of discontinuation of tenured and multi-year appointments have already been issued because faculty members are entitled to have at least one year’s notice if their appointment will not be renewed, Fike and Yates wrote, explaining the notices were sent to ensure the university’s ability to reduce the number of law school faculty beginning in FY25, based on the law school faculty proposal, which calls for a reduction in the number of faculty to be phased in over the next two years.

“Except for some who may elect to participate in a voluntary buyout program, all of GGU’s tenured and tenure-track law faculty will have their appointments continue through next year,” Fike and Yates wrote. “This is true as well for contract faculty that have at least one additional year on their multi-year agreements or who are otherwise eligible for an additional year of appointment.”

Although there may also be increases to the faculty.

In a separate email to the GGU community, David J. Fike, GGU president and Bruce Magid, provost and dean of the Ageno School of Business, stated that the university “continues to move forward with strategic initiatives on several fronts. These include international and online partnerships to build enrollments and focused increases in faculty and staff to strengthen partnerships with local innovative and entrepreneurial organizations,” according to the email also provided to Law.com from the school.

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• Struggling San Francisco Law School Slashes Class Size, Cancels Tuition (Sept. 30, 2022)
• ABA Gives Golden Gate Law School 3-Year Extension To Meet 75% Bar Passage Accreditation Standard (Mar. 30, 2023)
• Golden Gate University Law School Faces Bankruptcy, Closure (June 21, 2023)
• 122-Year Old Golden Gate Law School Will Keep Its Doors Open A Little Longer Despite Continued Financial Woes (June 26, 2023)
• Golden Gate Law School Won’t Close, But Faculty Layoffs May Be Coming (July 14, 2023)