Foreign
Programs
One
way mid and lower level law schools compete with each other is by offering
foreign opportunities. In some cases the students can spend a semester studying
at a law school in France or Italy or Germany. They get a semester worth of
credit for traveling and drinking for 3 months. These are programs for the well
to do, of course because there are airfares, apartments to rent, etc. Nevertheless, they can be rewarding and informative.
On the other hand, summer abroad programs are a bit of a scam. These are essentially law schools acting as
travel agencies. The idea is that a couple of professors travel to Paris,
London, Rome or where ever and take 15 or twenty students with them. Then the
students hang out with each other, drink, travel, and spend a modest amount of
time in the classroom. They, of course,
pay extra for this and that extra is what covers the housing and expenses of
their teachers. In short, the students subsidize the summer vacation of the
profs and they, in turn, get academic credit. Their actual emersion in local
culture is kept to a minimum as they search out the closest McDonalds.
Now
that you know the background, you should know that one of the committees I am
chair of is the “Programs Committee”. A
summer program has to be OKed by the programs committee and then voted on by
the faculty. Very often it is a fait accompli. For example, one year at a mid summer faculty meeting 17 members
of the 60 person faculty voted by 9 to 8 to have a summer program in France.
Unusually only 2 faculty can go at a time but most deans also feel it is their duty to stop by, at the school’s expense, for a few days. And sometimes,
someone from the Programs Committee is also “obligated to go.” In the case of
the France program all 9 yes voters went at some point over the next three
years although at times the enrollment dwindled to 12 which was not enough to
cover their expenses.
Here
is the proposal the Programs Committee considered last October for
implementation next summer. I’ve inserted some information in brackets to help
you understand:
Re: Summer Program in Italy
Date: February 12, 2007
Supreme Senior Vice President of
Foreign Programs, Hugo Valencia and I [Chadsworth Feldman] are happy to propose
a new study abroad opportunity for our students. The details are as follows:
A. Location:
Three weeks in Rome, three weeks in
Florence.
B. Expected enrollment and student
costs.
For the first year, expected
enrollment is 30 but the actual enrollment can exceed this. The program has no
upper limit on enrollment. The initial tuition is $3,000 per student. This
includes all housing and transportation, to the extent those are necessary.
C. Need and
Opportunities
This program will complement our
other excellent foreign study opportunities. Many of our students have
expressed a desire to study in Italy and to learn Italian law. Many of our
colleagues have connections with scholars in Italy and would gain a great deal
with respect to their work in comparative law. It is critical that we have a
presence in Italy.
Several members of our faculty will
be invited to travel to Rome or Florence to serve as guest lecturers and to
attend graduation ceremonies at the end of the term.
D. Staffing.
Professor Feldman is the Director of
the Program and will go each year. In addition to the director, one other full
time professor will travel to the site. Two assistants will accompany the
professors. These will be the spouses of the professors as long as they accept
no salary. Of course, all their expenses will be paid. After the initial year, it is anticipated
that the position of professor will be circulated among the faculty.
E. Students Activities
Students will earn six credit hours.
In addition, they will be taken on several tours of important Italian sites.
F. Budget:
Airfare for Professors and
assistants: $10,000
Housing: $80,000
G. Impact
This program will put us in the first
tier of foreign program offering schools. The net cost to the School, other
than trips of guest lecturers, is zero. The two professors involved will be
paid the usual stipend for summer teaching.
Nothing seemed unusual about the program although
everyone knew it was the usual faculty boondoggle. The Committee approved it
and then then faculty. Then things started to unravel. By December several
students had put down their deposits. Over the next few months some issues came
to light. Two stood out. One was that Hugo and Chad, with spouses, had already,
with the Dean’s permission and on the law school’s dime, spend 10 days in Italy
scouting out, as they put it, suitable restaurants, clubs, spas, and coastal
areas for the program. Ok, it’s like what we call in the trade convercationing.
That is you are paid for a business trip but you are really taking a vacation
while checking off the boxes to make it seem like business.
The
second matter had to do with the budget. Usually there is a host institution
that provides a low fee some classroom
space. My curiosity piqued, I asked Chad
about this. He seemed a little sheepish but something you never do as a law
professor is show weakness or admit wrongdoing. His answer. “That is the beauty
of the Program. It will all be conducted by Zoom with the students staying at
home. Hugo and I will Zoom not just classroom activities but dining out,
clubbing, sight seeing, the works. It will be exactly like they are there.” He
went on. “I am sure it will be appealing to the students since they can stay in
the comfort of their homes and not worry about finding housing, eating in
strange places where no one understands a word they are saying.” Finally, “If
there are technological problems we will send them postcards.”
I
was reeling from this revelation when I got back to my office. None of this was
revealed when the programs committee met or at the faculty meeting. Everyone
was too busy, I suppose, booking passage to Italy for some year in the future.
When I got back to my office, there was a phone message to call Linda James. I
knew I had a student in my class named Tom James but I did not make the
connection. I called and she told me that she had tried to reach Professor
Feldman but he was not in. The secretary had directed her to me since I was
chair of the programs committee and she had a question about the program since
her son James was going. She started by saying how excited James was and how she
and her husband planned to meet James for the portion of the course in Rome.
Her
question was what types of things should James bring – clothing, dressy or not,
extra notebooks, computer, and so on. I lied, I told her that I did not know. I
did chair the committee that had approved the program but that she needed to
talk to Professor Feldman. I assumed she did eventually because I the next day
I received the following email from Chad:
Today Tom James’ mother called and asked what sort of
things he should bring from his summer in Italy. I told her that the students
were not actually going to Italy. She asked what the $3000 is for and I said
“expenses.” Then she pressed me and asked about the $80,000 for
faculty. I told her that was the going rate for appropriate housing for the
Professors and any guest lecturers who might join us. She seemed miffed about
no students going. Isn’t that just perfect!!! You try to do something for the
students and you get in hot water for it.
Later the same day:
So far two more sets of parents have contacted me. It seems to
have come as a surprise to them that the Summer Program in Italy does not
involve their dear children actually traveling to Italy. Hugo and I designed
the whole program on the theory that he and I and our spouses would go to Italy
and show the lectures and sights by Zoom (or postcard). We would do the heavy
lifting and the students would have time to study. Do they not get it.
In any case the
“program” ran for one summer only. The
revenue did not begin to cover the expenses which the law school ended up
eating. I suppose it was a success because I received the following email from
Chad:
Here is the great news. I am writing from Rome. Yes,
the summer program is in tact and Hugo, Marvel, Caroline and I are here working
hard for the students. It is true we are down to 5 students and it is true that
those five did not actually make the trip to Italy but we are working hard.
As you know, some of the students were upset that the
Summer in Italy program did not actually mean they were going to Italy — only
the professors. Some parents were quite rude and the initial enrollment dwindled
to 5. Good riddance I say. Those students obviously were not cut out for
foreign travel. The Law School decided we had to operate the program anyway
because the American Association of Law Schools had already purchased 30
tickets for a team to come and inspect the program.
We are doing our best for the five students. Each week
we send a postcard with some interesting fact about Italian law. In the
interest of giving the students what they want, we have decided not to
administer a final exam.
As for me, being a dedicated teacher of young people
is its own reward.
