Univ. of Baltimore Law School seeks equitable state funding

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Apr 6, 2002 by Joe Surkiewicz

While the University of Maryland School of Law proudly points to its top-tier ranking in U.S. News & World Report's annual survey of law schools nationwide, its sister school is relegated to a low spot in the lowest of the four tiers.

Why the disparity? University of Baltimore Law School officials blame it on a low level of state funding per student - a major factor in the survey, and a problem the school is working hard to rectify.

Currently, UB Law receives between $5,000 and $6,000 less in annual state funding per full-time equivalent (FTE) student than UM Law, said UB Law Dean Gilbert A. Holmes.

In a 2000 ABA report, UB Law was ranked 173rd out of 184 U.S. law schools on expenditures per FTE, Holmes said. In the same year, UM Law was 52nd. - The disparity is too great, he added.

Eric C. Schneider, who served as interim dean before Holmes took over UB Law last summer, noted that puts UB Law School in the lowest 5 percent of all ABA-accredited law schools.

In fact, Schneider wrote in an e-mail from Greece, he spent his year as interim dean arguing that the Board of Regents' funding guidelines for UB did not allow it to afford a law school.

Karen H. Rothenberg, the UM Law dean, noted that only about 17 percent of her $15 million operating budget comes from state funds - and the percentage is similar at UB Law, which has a total budget of $10.9 million.

I can't depend on the state, she said. We don't get enough. We're being supported by tuition and private money. We're state supported, not state funded, so we have to raise private money.

But the difference in private funding is a just a fraction of the disparity. We're at about $600,000 in endowment and other private giving per year. That compares to about $2 million for UM Law, Holmes said.

My concern is that the state has not funded UB to have a law school that penetrates the upper rankings, which could help our graduates and attract better students, Holmes said. There are differences between the schools - we're more regional. But we could be competitive in the region. The graduates below the top of their class are hurt the most.

It's a reality that rankles faculty as well as administrators.

Both are state schools, and you'd assume we'd get funded the same. But old loyalties die hard, says UB Law professor Byron L. Warnken. UB has always been the orphan child in the University System of Maryland. Only now are we getting some recognition of the need to change that.

Meanwhile, UB's full-time law professors are paid less than their counterparts at UM, where the median salary for full professors is $128,042. That compares to $115,580 at UB Law. For tenure-track assistant professors, the difference is greater: $98,217 at UM Law vs. $77,671 at UB Law, about 20 percent less.

The professors roll up their sleeves in spite of the salary disparity they've known about for years, said UB Law professor Kenneth Lasson.

We compete well in terms of faculty because these jobs are so hard to come by, said Lasson. We are a proud and productive faculty who make no apologies for our quality or productivity. Now we're very comparable to UM.

Laurence M. Katz, a UB law professor who served as dean from 1978 to 1993, said it's not unusual for a flagship law school to get better state funding. The current difference is due, in part, to a conscious effort to strengthen the UM College Park campus and the science and professional schools - which is mostly medical, and law school benefits, he said.

But after serving on the search committee for the new UB president [Robert L. Bogomolny, who takes the reins from H. Mebane Turner this August], I know the University System of Maryland Board of Regents has realized the disparity is out of hand, Katz said.

The Board of Regents funds universities in the system, which in turn allocate resources within. And it won't hurt UB Law that Bogomolny is a former law school dean, Katz said.

Katz, who served as an associate dean at UM Law before he took the helm at UB Law in 1978, doesn't begrudge UM Law the funds it receives.

It's a fine law school, he said. But UB Law isn't getting its fair share. What needs to happen is for the Board of Regents to support UB in a manner that's equitable and fair. They're aware of it now.

Holmes confirmed the Board of Regents is aware of the problem and is looking at this.

Our presentation has been made, and I believe there will be some changes, Holmes said.

And indications are good that it's not just wishful thinking on his part.

Yes, UB has a case, and they made it well, said Joseph Vivona, the Board of Regents' vice chancellor for administration and finance. There's general agreement they should get more funding. We're close to making recommendations to both sides that will clear up the debate.

(At press time, no formal recommendation to change UB's funding had been made.)

Vivona, who takes over as interim chancellor April 30 after Chancellor Donald N. Langenberg retires, said next year's budget proposal should resolve the problem: Then it's up to the governor and the legislature.