Albany Law

[Michigan_Dane]

More rumblings at Albany Law in the TU today. Financial problems. I really wish Cuomo would step in and push for a UA / Albany Law merger.

 

New York gets its much needed 2nd SUNY law school with affordable tuition and Albany Law gets stability and access to state finances. Win-win!

[UAFAN]

Email received today.........

 

To the UAlbany Community:

 

We are writing to let you know about some preliminary discussions between Albany Law School and the University at Albany to explore the possibility of building on our shared mission and values to forge a deeper institutional alliance.

 

Currently, we have several joint degree programs between our institutions. These represent a strong foundation for the development of additional programs to meet the needs of our students and graduates in the years to come. They point to future education trends and offer a template for further cross-disciplinary education and scholarship. In addition to forward-thinking academic programs our institutions can share, we believe that there are potential operational synergies to consider.

 

At this stage, the conversations are informal and best described as “open-ended.” Nonetheless, they have featured many outstanding ideas about how the University at Albany and Albany Law could benefit from a strategic affiliation that would leverage our respective strengths.

 

As discussions progress, we expect that key stakeholders of both institutions, including faculty and staff, will be engaged through the process. Ultimately our goal is to examine the feasibility of building on the reputations for excellence and innovation that our respective institutions enjoy.

 

We will share updates and developments with you as the exploratory process unfolds.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Penelope Andrews Robert J. Jones

President President

Albany Law School University at Albany

[Clickclack]

Bravo!!!

[Jammaster]

this is huge!! great news!

[Jammaster]

Now get Albany Med in the mix and we'll be saying Nano who?

[Underpar]

I doubt Albany Law alums are going to permit this to happen.

[danefan]

I doubt Albany Law alums are going to permit this to happen.

 

Why? I'm an Albany Law alumni and have actively lobbied for this combination for a few years. Most people in the legal industry outside of the capital region already think the schools are the same.

 

Despite the fact that most lawyers are terrible businessmen, there is no denying the synergies and cost savings in this combination.

 

There is no good argument against it from Albany Law's perspective.

[Dane96]

Too bad the "like" feature does not work; Many "likes" to Danefan's post.

[uofalbany]

Your few sentences summed it up nicely df.

[Underpar]

What would either institution gain? The campuses are 10 miles apart. Funding from the state is problematic. And, Albany Law would be burdened with layers and layers of UA red tape.

[danefan]

What would either institution gain? The campuses are 10 miles apart. Funding from the state is problematic. And, Albany Law would be burdened with layers and layers of UA red tape.

 

Albany Law gets:

1. Inclusion in a research university umbrella (a factor in US News rankings that hurts Albany Law now)

2. Some state funding is better than $0 they get now.

3. Access to education/research resources not available.

4. Access to student amenities available to SUNY students.

5. Economy of scale

 

UAlbany gets:

1. A professional school that we so badly need

2. Access to alumni that on average have higher lifetime earnings

3. Ties into some of the most influential leaders in NY (a lot of them are Albany Law grads - Cuomo for one....)

 

That's just off the top of my head.

 

The two keys: Albany Law needs to get under a Research University and UAlbany needs a professional school.

Edited July 28, 2014 by danefan

[McFan]

What would either institution gain? The campuses are 10 miles apart. Funding from the state is problematic. And, Albany Law would be burdened with layers and layers of UA red tape.

 

Uptown and Law are 4 miles apart, not that that was the important point.

[Michigan_Dane]

What structure if any do we eventually see? Below are the possible options as I see them.

 

1) Outright acquisition of Albany Law. This would model the planned Stony Brook acquisition of Touro Law, which never materialized. I prefer this model but I see it as the least likely (my opinion)

2) The Cornell school within a school model. Private Cornell has several SUNY colleges. Reverse it where SUNY (UA) has a private law school. Novel approach.

3a) The outsource approach - SUNY through UA purchases a set number of seats through Albany Law. Joint school degrees. UA leverages Albany Law's ABA. Students get charged SUNY tuition and the state makes up the difference to Albany Law

3b) A hybrid between 2 and 3a. SUNY like Cornell has separate programs within the other institution. Cornell has SUNY Industrial and Labor Relations. Likewise SUNY sets up distinct legal programs through Albany Law like environmental law.

 

New York has something like 30 law schools but ony1 SUNY law school. This means affordability is awful in state with a surplus of law schools.

Edited July 28, 2014 by SoCal_Dane

[Michigan_Dane]

4) Nothing happens.

 

This is the most likely and least desirable outcome in my opinion.

[danefan]

We already have joint degree programs.

 

This should be a complete acquisition.

Keep the Dean of Albany Law as the Dean of the William B McKinley school of law at the University at Albany.

 

review and retain law school professors which are (1) competent and (2) not redundant.

 

UA has a number of professors in our Crim Justice school that may be better qualified to teach criminal law subjects under a law school. Albany Law has some professors that could teach Poly Sci/Public Policy/Govt Affairs undergrad and grad courses at Rockellor. Etc etc.