Rachel Van Cleave Stepping Down as Golden Gate Law Dean

Dean Rachel Van Cleave has announced that, at the end of this school year, she will step down from the deanship at Golden Gate University Law.  Van Cleave has served as Dean since 2012, having previously held the position on an interim basis. 

Comments

[anon]

From 2016 509
Bar Pass Rates
2015
California Bar State Average 63.70 Golden Gate -24.81
2014
California Bar State Average 66.05 Golden Gate -20.91
2013
California Bar State average 71.09 Golden Gate -15.42

Employment

From 2015 Employment Summary
Total Graduates: 158
Full time, long term, JD required: 58

or, 36%

From 2016 509

Attrition (from prior academic year)

First year: 39.3% (24 out of 46 students "academic")
Second year: 5.3%

Apologies for any errors; please correct these if you notice any.

[Pete Torrance]

for the 2016 bar pass rate it looks like 31%.

Still crappy, but moving in the right direction at least.

[Pete Torrance]

Sorry -I see now that you listed the points below the state average.

In that case - moving in the wrong direction for 2016 with a -28.9

[anon]

Pete

Correct. Getting worse. Unacceptably worse.

And, regarding the recent debate in these pages about the role that the Dean and faculty play in this metric, see, recent news about Syracuse Law and others who demonstrate that there are means and methods to effective teaching of the law, especially first year and bar required courses. GGU Law is a poster child for what, exactly?

How are students served by this law school, if one considers attrition, bar pass and employment possibilities? Is this the kind of "opportunity" we would advocate for would-be attorneys or does this operation actually provide "opportunity" to another group of self-described "public interest minded" individuals?

If we purport to care about others how can we fail to notice what happens to so many so directly and negatively affected? (To answer, "but see, there are a few who benefit" - if by far the majority pay an unacceptable price - would be a very deplorable approach, would it not?)

What makes GGU Law so special? Its track record, of course! Look into this law school's recent past, its "record," shall we say.* Study the efforts that were made to set this law school on an acceptable course, the seeming finding that it possessed the ability to improve, and measure that improvement against the subsequent record set forth in part above, all in so short a period!

And then ask yourself this:

what is the ABA is pretending to do and pretending to be?

GGU Law is not the only law school that merits "attention." But, if the ABA fails to provide that "attention," particularly if a law school is performing in an unacceptable manner notwithstanding a record of recent such "attention," then the ABA must cede its role and leave the field of accreditation to others.

*See, David Segal, Law Students Lose the Grant Game as Schools Win (New York Times, April 30, 2011) (“GOLDEN GATE LAW was founded in 1901 . . . six years ago, the school attracted some unflattering attention when the A.B.A., which accredits law schools, put it on two-year probation. One reason was that the percentage of graduates who passed the bar on their first attempt, at just over 30 percent, was too low.”)

[Captain Hruska Carswell, Continuance King]

Maybe Dean Wormer^^^^ is going to hang a shingle and start competing with Chicagoland Billboard Traffic Ticket Lawyers for $49.00! Don't Pay that Ticket!