Summary: The law school at Washington and Lee has announced and implemented changes that will help keep the school operational.
A new approach has been adopted by the Washington and Lee School of Law to deal with the changes in the legal profession, according to a press release on the school’s website.
The plan, which is being implemented now, was presented to the Board of Trustees this month.
The plan was created by the senior administration at the University, a task force of trustees and a group of faculty and administrators.
The law school will work to protects the core values it has, which includes an emphasis on educating students for integrity within their profession with an innovative curriculum.
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Some of the plan highlights include the following:
First-year classes featuring 100 students will be enrolled at the school starting with the 2015-2016 school year, which will create a full-time student body of 300 or more students. Tuition will increase two percent each year.
The Board of Trustees approved an increase in payout from the endowment income of the law school to 7.5 percent through 2017-2018. This adds $3 million to the budget of the law school in 2015-2016.
The Law School Annual Fund, which provides operating funds, has increased to $1.5 million for the current school year.
The student-faculty ratio of 9:1 will stay the same, but faculty compensation will drop by 20 percent due to attrition over the next four years. Some senior faculty salaries will see a one-time salary reduction of two percent.
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Over the next five years, six administrative and staff jobs will be reduced.
The library budget will increase by 2 percent, but all other operating budgets will drop by 10 percent in 2015-2016.
The law school expects its budget to return to balance by the 2018-2019 school year, despite deficits showing for 2014-2015 through 2017-2018.
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Image credit: lawschoolinteractive.com
Source: Washington and Lee