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Seton Hall Law: a
student-centered culture
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by Dean Ronald
Riccio
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The culture of a law school is as significant a factor when
measuring a school's overall excellence as are other factors typically
used—facilities, quality and diversity of faculty, quality and
diversity of students, curriculum, financial resources, bar passage rate,
employment of graduates, successful alumni and overall reputation.
Culture, however, is completely ignored in the law school ranking
methodology currently used by the self-proclaimed ranking maven U.S.
News and World Report that, because of its circulation, gets more
attention than it deserves.
Some other ranking methodologies, such as that utilized by the
National Jurist—a magazine primarily for law
students—give weight to a law school's culture and, unlike U.S. News,
factor student opinions of their school into their ranking system. This
certainly makes sense; students are a law school's primary constituents
and they should know as much or more about their school as anyone.
One National Jurist law school ranking published a few years ago
placed Seton Hall Law and Fordham Law as tied for 37th place in the
nation. Our school has climbed the rankings, thanks, at least in part, to
Seton Hall's consistent Top 10 national ranking for student satisfaction.
What is it about a law school with an urban campus in Newark, New
Jersey that has received one of the highest scores in the nation for
student satisfaction? In my view, it is our student-centered
culture.
Seton Hall Law's student-centered culture is rooted in the fact
that our administration, faculty, and staff have made the interests of our
students a top priority. At a recent faculty retreat, all of the deans, as
well as the faculty, acknowledged the importance of working in a
student-centered school. It is important to stimulate discussion about
this topic because I believe that it is institutionally healthy for
students to understand each teacher's philosophy—to know what we do,
how we do it, and why.
My fundamental precept is that any lawyer who is given the
privilege to teach future lawyers has been offered a precious gift. This
gift is an opportunity to influence aspiring youth to become not just
superb lawyers, but even better human beings. To be worthy of this gift,
the lawyer/teacher must agree to accept an enormous obligation to
rigorously challenge the student while at the same time demonstrating
sensitivity, compassion, respect, and understanding.
I have no magic formula for how to best blend rigor and
sensitivity in my class, but I do follow a few basic tenets. First of all,
I emphasize the importance of ethics and professional responsibility. I
stress to students that both clients as well as the public demand from a
lawyer not only what is in your mind, but also the goodness that is in
your heart. Secondly, I stress that anyone expecting to be a successful
lawyer needs to realize that being at a specific place at a certain time
is part of each lawyer's professional responsibility.
In addition, I randomly call on students in class so that they are
required to stand up and engage in a detailed dialogue with me regarding
one or more points of law (and conclude the course with a comprehensive
essay exam) in order to train students for what they will experience when
they represent a client.
I always do my best to be prepared, be on time, be current on the
law, and be careful. I also try to be sensitive to students while making
sure to not take myself too seriously—self-depreciating humor is a
good check on one's ego. In my experience, people are never quite as
brilliant as they may think themselves to be or as inept as others may
think.
I make my contact information known and I ensure my accessibility
for students during the semester. I also make a point of initiating
conversations with students outside of class and convey to them that
learning the law happens inside as well as outside of the classroom. At
the conclusion of the semester, I get my exam grades in on time and
thoroughly review blue books with students so they are able to learn from
their mistakes.
Law school professors cannot expect law students to figure out
everything on their own. One cannot guide well without the knowledge,
skill, patience, and communication talents to point students in the right
direction. Conversely, the professor must guard against the temptation to
"spoon feed." This practice exalts black-letter law over the legal
analytical process and is not good training for a future lawyer.
To this end, I combine the lecture format with the Socratic
method. In this way, I try to provide students with the basic information
at the beginning of class so that they then are able to develop their own
analytical skills to work through a case.
The best lawyers are those who are passionate, honest, and
imaginative professionals, not one-dimensional walking Gilbert
Outlines. I wish that I had a penny for every student who, after
blowing an exam, has said to me in exasperation, "I knew the answer!"
Unfortunately, knowing the answer is not completing a legal analysis.
A law school's student-centered culture does not happen by fiat.
It is a developmental process of creation, acceptance, and careful
nurturing over time by the entire community. The process of development
succeeds only when the entire law school family—including the
students—is committed to it. Because the law school community changes
significantly each year, the challenge to retain our student-centered
culture is a daunting task.
Being student-centered is not easy. It is far easier to have a
culture, as some law schools do, in which law students are mere objects,
nameless faces, profit centers, annoying distractions, or worse. That is
not Seton Hall Law. We have all of the attributes of a top law school,
and, unlike some of the others, our defining characteristic has been and
continues to be a student-centered culture. This is our niche. We may not
always get it exactly right, but it is who we want to be, who we are, and
I am confident, who we will remain.
Good luck and best wishes to the editorial staff of our new school
newspaper.
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Last modified February 7, 2003. |
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