Rising quality attracts attention in Camden
Archived article from Nov 5, 1999
By Michael Sepanic
It was the impressive strength of the faculty -- which he calls "world-class scholars making noteworthy contributions to their disciplines" -- that first attracted Rayman Solomon to the School of Law-Camden deanship.
But, as he learned upon arriving at the Camden campus, the school also has other noteworthy attributes -- a hardworking student body, dedicated alumni, excellent opportunities for public service and an aggressive strategy for career placement.
Now Solomon intends to unite those qualities in an effort to establish one of the nation's top public law schools.
Elements of that strategy already have begun to surface. Since his appointment as law dean in July 1998, Solomon has immersed himself in both the Camden law school and the legal profession in New Jersey and the metro Philadelphia region. As the senior law dean in New Jersey -- Seton Hall and Rutgers-Newark embarked upon dean searches shortly after his arrival -- he already has made his mark upon legal education in the state.
This fall, the Camden law school caught the attention of the profession when, while exceeding its enrollment targets, it raised the quality of its entering class by an unprecedented margin.
"Through a tremendous effort by our admissions staff and an increase in financial aid, we were able to do in one year what most people thought would take three or four," he said. The 20 percent rise in applications plus the significant increases in yield -- including record numbers of out-of-state matriculants -- are clear evidence that the school is attracting national attention.
Solomon contends that this interest is justified by the combination of faculty and curriculum. While an associate dean at the Northwestern University School of Law, he was aware of the research and service provided across the globe by Camden professors.
"The strength of any school primarily is gauged by the teaching and research abilities of its professors," he observed. "By all measures of teaching excellence and scholarly productivity, our faculty is highly rated. They are the foundation upon which we build our national reputation."
The school is drawing on the interdisciplinary orientation of its faculty for an increasing number of programs and courses. In addition to joint-degree programs with medicine, business and public policy, the law school is developing new initiatives with other units within the university.
"Providing students the opportunity to gain the theoretical insights of excellent interdisciplinary work and to develop skills in other professions is a tremendous advantage in today's world," said Solomon, a lawyer and historian by training.
Solomon also intends to increase the emphasis on Camden's highly regarded
professional skills training. "Rutgers-Camden already has a well-developed lawyering program in place," he noted. "Through clinics, externships, simu-lation courses and seminars taught by excellent adjunct practitioners, we are preparing our students to confront the realities of practice and test the legal theories that they have learned in their basic courses. At the same time, our students are providing much-needed legal services to the residents of South Jersey who cannot otherwise afford them.
"The school is doing its best to graduate law students who can hit the ground running, which is vital for their success in a fiercely competitive job market," he remarked.
The strength of this strategy can be seen in the school's high placement rate for graduates. Only Yale places a higher percentage of graduates into coveted judicial law clerkships.
Solomon is convinced that these graduates can play an important role in shaping the school's future. "Our alumni share our ambitions to have the school recognized as one of the handful of premier public law schools in the nation. In the past year, I've traveled the country meeting our graduates at regional gatherings. The enthusiastic support that they've expressed is truly encouraging," he said.
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