Richard M. Freeland Delivers the Goods

The Board of Higher Ed staff has just put out a recommendation that the board approve the UMASS law school.

The document hardly qualifies as analysis, as its largely a cut and paste job of the original UMASS application.

Here’s my favorite passage:

staff finds that the proposed University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Juris Doctor meets review criteria and that the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth will be able to start and operate a law school that can achieve ABA accreditation in a reasonable timeframe. This is predicated on attainment of enrollment goals [Emphasis added]

Well, of course, and my getting rich is predicated on me making a lot of money. That doesn’t mean its going to happen. One would hope that a staff, a commissioner, and a board not focussed on delivering the political goods would have examined the current state of the law school’s student body, reviewed comparable situations (like the Globe’s Tracy Jan did), and determined how realistic the plan was. Did not happen.

My other favorite part was their examination of the management resources that will lead this ambitious endeavor. It starts with where their office will be located and ends with a discussion of the accounting software that will be used. At no point, is anyone with the key skillset (getting a law school accredited) identified.

So, we’ve got another late Friday afternoon newsdrop and a vote on Tuesday.

And the entire apparatus of state government has done less critical analysis of this plan than a single reporter at the Boston Globe.

Unbelievable.