Page 11 - NYLS Magazine • 2014 • Vol. 33, No. 2

STraTEgIC PLaN
JuLy 2013
STraTEgIC PLaN ProgrESS aND oUTComES
WE ARE NEW YORK’S LAW SCHOOL
SINCE 1891
WE ARE NEW YORK’S LAW SCHOOL
SiNCe 1891
one Year out: Considerable Progress, with More to come
In September, the Law School issued Strategic Plan Progress and Outcomes for 2014, the first annual report on the Strategic Plan.
It includes a Strategic Priorities Scorecard, used to measure the progress made in completing each of the 32 priority action items set out in the Strategic Plan. (See page 11.) The Scorecard, and indeed, the entire report, sets a new standard for transparency and accountability in a law school setting by measuring not only where NYLS has achieved substantial progress, but also where the Law School has more work in front of it to do.
The Progress and Outcomes report details the progress made toward achieving seven strategic outcomes. In most cases, that progress is tracked in a quantitative manner reflecting measurable results. For example, as a result of enhancements to academic advising and career planning, employment outcomes have improved in both traditional and nontraditional placements. And participation in clinics in 2013-14 increased by 44 percent over the prior academic year. Additionally, nearly 30,000 hours of experiential training were offered in the form of externships across an array of professional options.
When introducing the report, Dean Crowell said, “We are aligning our curriculum to meet the demands of the changing legal marketplace; graduating students with the legal skills, knowledge, and values needed to achieve success; and doing it all with a sharp eye on the bottom line, while continuing to maintain the highest quality services to all our constituents—students, faculty, staff, alumni, trustees and the broader NYLS community.”
The Law School’s willingness to confront its challenges head-on and make public every step of its implementation of the Strategic Plan is one of the attributes that makes NYLS unique. NYLS also is singularly situated to adapt to the new reality of the job market and the profession owing to its location in the heart of
New York City’s legal, government, financial, and technology centers; its enduring partnerships with the City’s most powerful institutions; its extraordinary community of trustees, faculty, staff, students, and alumni; and its embodiment of the qualities that make New York City the indisputable capital of the world: diversity, talent, energy, and independence of spirit. Channeling these unparalleled qualities, the Law School is experiencing a major resurgence.
Below are some of the major areas of accomplishment documented in the Progress and Outcomes report.
The Law School’s many initiatives have paid off in terms of recognition by legal journals and ratings publications. The Law School made a notable improvement in its ranking by U.S. News & World Report this year and was ranked highly by the magazine for its part-time evening division, clinical training programs, and diversity. National Jurist ranked NYLS as one of the top schools in the nation for practical training, and Hispanic Outlook magazine recognized the School for high enrollment and graduation of Hispanic students. Most recently, NYLS received high marks
for diversity and best law school facilities in the November 2014 issue of National Jurist. The magazine also listed both of the Law School’s graduate programs in its LL.M. guide for foreign attorneys.
A primary focus of the last year was to improve student engagement and the law school experience for each and every
one of NYLS’s students. The Law School’s success in this regard can be measured, to a large extent, by student satisfaction ratings provided by the Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE). In 2013-14, student satisfaction rose significantly in several key categories where rates of satisfaction were once lagging significantly. They are now in line with the national averages.
In the specific categories of job search help, career counseling, and academic advising, the rates of satisfaction now surpass the national average.
NotabLe recogNitioN
StudeNt eNgageMeNt aNd SatiSfactioN
studeNts resPONdiNg “satisfied” Or “Very satisfied”
74%
67%
68%
64%
63%
56%
60%
49%
Career Job Search academic Counseling Help advising
75%
2012
(NYLS)
2014
(NYLS)
2014
(National average)
fEATURES 9