Just a quick update:
Many might shake their heads in utter amazement at the news that Indiana Tech Law School has appointed Charles P. Cercone as its new dean. Charles was at the helm of none other than Cooley Law during its most shameful exploitation of students, 2003 until the present time, overseeing not just its disgraceful expansion but also its inability to adapt, leading to the closure of its Ann Arbor campus.
I'm a firm believer in the idea that the appointment of a dean truly gives insight into the future direction and values of any particular institution. With their heads still buried deep in the sand, Indiana Tech has made another extraordinary blunder, showing once again that their enterprise lacks any real nexus to its lofty (and clearly false) facade of educating the next generation of lawyers, and is little more than a front for scamming students out of their student loan money with little regard for employment outcomes. In that sense, Indiana Tech has picked the perfect dean - if rapid, uncontrolled expansion and maximum profit at the expense of students is what Indiana Tech is seeking (and it is, because its model is unsustainable in any other form), then they've picked the right guy.
Unless (fingers crossed) Charles has been brought in as one of the few deans with real world expertise in how to shut down a failing law school. In that sense, he'd be the right guy too.
More soon.
My take is that he got fired by Cooley for letting revenue fall too far and has latched onto Indiana Tech out of desperation.
ReplyDeleteIndiana Tech is in a rough place. There are plenty of accredited schools willing to accept bottom of the barrel applicants, so there is literally no reason to attend unaccredited Indiana Tech. Their 2014 509 report indicates they received a jaw droppingly low 68 applications (57 acceptances, 27 matriculants). Let that sink in. A law school associated with a reputable private university that received a total of sixty-eight applications.
ReplyDeleteThe Cooley guy was almost certainly brought in for the express purpose of increasing class sizes to sustainable levels, as Dougie Fresh Pond Cummings was evidently unable to do it.
As the great Prof. Campos correctly observed, ITLS' primaryl market is residents of the Fort Wayne area who, due to life circumstances, cannot relocate to attend law school. The first year quickly absorbed most of that market.
DeleteCynthia Fountaine (SIU) and Susan Brody (John Marshall) were two of the lawprofs on the ABA site evaluation team that visited Indiana Tech in September and that will make a recommendation on accreditation. These two lawprofs won't have a problem with lousy law schools obviously or with scholarcrap.
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