[lawmajordonors] FW: Approaching Fall '23

[Leonard, J. Rich]

Friends,
I wanted you to see this confidential report of where we are approaching the new year.
Dean Leonard

From: Leonard, J. Rich
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2022 4:58 PM
To: Law School - Faculty & Staff <LawSchool-All at campbell.edu>; Law School - All Adjunct Faculty <LawSchool-AdjunctFaculty at campbell.edu>
Cc: Hammond, Mark <hammond at campbell.edu>
Subject: Approaching Fall '23

Friends,
With our entering class due to arrive in less than three weeks, let me give you a progress report on where we are at this point.
HIRING
I have spent an inordinate amount of my time this spring and summer interviewing and hiring.  I am near the end with filling every fulltime position (at least until the next person comes tearfully into my office, shuts the door, and tells me they are accepting an offer elsewhere that I cannot match).  As I have told you earlier, we have four fine faculty visitors joining us this fall.  We will also have any number of new staff members joining us.  All of this should be finalized in the next couple of weeks, and I will provide you with a complete explanation of staffing for next year the first week of August, introducing our new staff and explaining some changes in rank and duties of others.
ADMISSIONS
Our school has never been more popular, and this shows up in our numbers.  Admissions is not a science, and no year is particularly predictive of the next.  At this point we are substantially overenrolled for the fall.  Facing a 10% drop in the applicant pool nationally, we admitted about the same number as last year to ensure that we met our target of 170 fulltime and 15 Flex students.  Last year, we captured 42% of our admitted students, an amazing number given that the average capture rate for private law schools is 24%.  This year, at this point we have captured 46% of the admitted students.  Additionally, we have in the last four years lost between 29 and 41 students between our high deposit number and the start of school.  This year, we have lost only 16.  This is after I offered an increased scholarship to any admitted student who would defer to 2023, but had few takers.
It is a very credentialed class.  The LSAT medians are 158/154/152, a point higher in the bottom quartile than last year.  And the GPAs are higher in every quartile, the highest in Campbell Law's history.  Twenty-eight students have LSATs of 160 or higher, including a 171.  Sixteen percent of the class is diverse.  At this point, we have an incoming class of 215 fulltime students and 12 Flex students.
Even with these numbers we are leaving 111 applicants on the wait list, including some very talented prospective students.  Nine years ago, I would have salivated to admit them.  After discussions with the Admissions Committee, I am in the process now of admitting everyone on the wait list for the fall of 2023 whose LSAT and GPA would put them in the top half of this class in the hopes of capturing as many as possible.
I know the increased workload this creates for many of you.  I hope you will undertake it with good humor.  I hope you also know that I will be diligent in supporting your efforts to teach this class.  The remarkable demand to attend law school here is largely attributable to the excellence of the education you provide.
I am leaving for England and Scotland tomorrow to visit and teach in our summer programs in Cambridge and St. Andrews.  I will be back on August 2, in time to greet our new class on August 5.
Dean Leonard


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://list.campbell.edu/pipermail/lawmajordonors/attachments/20220718/4f6c1089/attachment.htm>