Guest Blogger: Michael Simkovic
-
Universities slash spending on education, science, healthcare, and physical facilities; increase spending on bureaucracy, social services and entertainment (Michael Simkovic)
Real pay has declined steeply for law professors over the last 10 years, down by around 24 percent, while employment of law professors has stagnated.* This cannot be not explained away by changes in professor age or seniority or by a shift toward clinical or other support staff. Pay cuts vary by school, and appear…
-
Students sue NYU alleging administrators and professors tolerated or encouraged anti-Semitic harassment (Michael Simkovic)
The Reuters story is here. The Bloomberg story is here. The lawsuit appears to be directed at the college and the university, not at individuals affiliated with the law school. More universities will likely face similar lawsuits and negative press coverage in the coming weeks and months. Attorneys for plaintiffs at the law firm of…
-
Ohio Court finds College legally liable for supporting libelous statements made by student protestors (Michael Simkovic)
During her long and varied career, Professor Hirshman was a labor lawyer, a law professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, a philosophy professor at Brandeis, and a wide-ranging feminist theorist and activist. There is an evocative memorial from Katha Pollitt in The Nation. In Gibson Bros. v. Oberlin Coll., 2022-Ohio-1079, ¶ 24, 187 N.E.3d 629,…
-
The case for athletics in law school (Michael Simkovic)
University leaders have gotten into the habit of commenting on world affairs on behalf of their universities. This is often an attempt to reassure students who may be stressed or distressed by world affairs. Mass media and political activists can grab people’s attention by exposing them to distressing stimuli. But official university positions can create…
-
Professors’ pay is down across fields, but law professors have taken bigger cuts than most (Michael Simkovic)
My previous posts have documented a very large 24 percent decline in real pay for law professors over the last decade, from 2013 to 2022 (see also here and here). Some readers have asked whether professors in other fields are also seeing their pay decline. The answer, unfortunately, is yes. However, the decline in pay…
-
Elite law firms pledge not to hire law students who demonstrate poor judgment and behave unprofessionally (Michael Simkovic)
The New York Post and Reuters have the story. The stories report that law firms and corporations are blaming universities for not properly educating their students regarding appropriate conduct. For a discussion of how law schools can help prepare students to behave in a way that will help them succeed in the corporate world, see here.…
-
Is pay at your law school keeping up with the cost of living? (Michael Simkovic)
On average, real pay for law professors has plummeted in the last 10 years by 24 percent.* A large decline in real terms is also apparent in data from the Society of American Law Teachers. However, pay has gone down by more at some law schools than others. A few law schools, especially the most…
-
Double-digit drop in real law professor pay confirmed by second data source (Michael Simkovic)
My previous post presented data showing that law professor pay has declined 24 percent in real terms from 2013 to 2022 using figures from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Report.* Restoring law professor pay to 2013 levels would require at least a 31 percent increase in…
-
Law professor pay plummeted over 20 percent this decade amid declining enrollments (Michael Simkovic) (UPDATED)
Nationally, pay for law professors has plummeted by more than 20 percent in real terms since 2013 according to data from the Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Average (mean) compensation fell from a peak of $179,000 in 2013 to $136,000 by 2022*—a drop of 24 percent. The decline is both economically and statistically…
-
The forgotten virtue of emotional self-control (Michael Simkovic)
Abraham Lincoln managed his feelings of anger by writing “hot letters”, which he would then set aside until his emotions cooled. With a clear head, he usually decided that it was inadvisable to send or publish the letters. They would remain safely locked in a desk drawer until they were discovered by historians. It is…
-
A Lightly Comedic Primer on Personal Finance for Law Professors (Michael Simkovic)
Many graduates of elite law schools work in large corporate law firms either initially or after a clerkship. This requires law graduates to work closely with businesspeople, accountants, bankers, and other financial professionals. Those who have expertise in finance or accounting are at an advantage. Those who do not, but wish to succeed, quickly get…
-
Is Politicization Endangering Higher Education? (Michael Simkovic)
In August I warned that a perennial anti-higher-education narrative that was resurfacing in the conservative press could soon go mainstream, as it did in the 2010s. According to this narrative, too many colleges (and law schools) are focusing on left-wing political indoctrination while charging students too much money and providing too little value in terms…
-
Law school deans become target of conservative media ire (Michael Simkovic)
In my previous discussion of the Supreme Court's affirmative action ban, I noted that: With a wink and a nod, the Supreme Court told universities they could continue racial preferences in admissions–as long as they are willing to thread the needle of its 230+ page decision and face lawsuits for inevitable missteps.* Racial preferences lose elections for Democrats. Race wins elections…
-
To circumvent Supreme Court affirmative action ban, Harvard will shift to diversity statements (Michael Simkovic)
The Supreme Court's recent ruling that Harvard and UNC's affirmative action programs violate the equal protection clause has been described by many as a blow to affirmative action. Brian Leiter has a summary here. Additional coverage is available here. Harvard almost immediately issue a written statement and a video message to the effect that it intends…
-
Grade point averages and law school rankings (Michael Simkovic)
One area of disagreement among law schools and between U.S. News and some of the law schools boycotting its rankings turns on whether incoming students’ undergraduate grade point averages (GPAs) should be included in the rankings, and the extent to which they should be weighed. The case for including grades initially seems similar to the…
To be worth using, a detector needs not only (A) not get very many false positives, but also (B) get…