Texas A&M just announced a buyout of Texas Wesleyan! Forum

[jas1503]

Because if Rice had a law school that wasn't in the top 25, it would hurt the prestige of the institution (same with MIT, Princeton, GA Tech, CMU, Brown, Cal Tech, Dartmouth, etc.)

Why is GA Tech in this group... I don't know anything about schools

[Nova]

June of '13, but what about fall of '12 application cycle? You think that completely rules out this years applicants Applying to A&M instead of TW?

Yes, they won't have merged before then. Unless the agreement provides otherwise (which I doubt) it will still be TW.

What difference does it make? It will still be the same school.

Sorry, I'm not from Texas and I'm not familiar with either of these schools. I don't see what the big deal is. This sounds like a bad plan to me.

A&M is a powerhouse here, and often thought of as second only to UT. Tex Wes is unheard of, even in Dallas.

A&M is almost cult like if thats what you mean by powerhouse....and if we are talking about undergrad and not law school....then Rice is most certainly ahead of both UT and A&M

I agree that Rice is better academically than the two public schools. It also has around 46,5000 less undergrads than A&M. Just trying to say A&M will get TW a lot more looks from students in state. It could easily jump STCL and St. Mary's to fight it out with Tech for for 5th best law school in the state. I dont see it competing with SHB soon though.

[Aberzombie1892]

Because if Rice had a law school that wasn't in the top 25, it would hurt the prestige of the institution (same with MIT, Princeton, GA Tech, CMU, Brown, Cal Tech, Dartmouth, etc.)

Why is GA Tech in this group... I don't know anything about schools

GA Tech is a very well regarded school - to the point where it essentially belongs in any grouping of prestigious schools. It's among the universally recognized public schools which are geographically located in the south (Texas-Austin, GA Tech, Virginia, Florida, and UNC). As a side note, all of the universally recognized private schools in the South already have law schools except for Rice (Duke, Emory, Vanderbilt, and Tulane).

[jas1503]

Didn't know GATech has that much swag

[shifty_eyed]

Rice has wanted a law and/or med school for years.

[thederangedwang]

Rice has wanted a law and/or med school for years.

shoulda merged with baylor med

[shifty_eyed]

Rice has wanted a law and/or med school for years.

shoulda merged with baylor med

they tried real hard

[Aberzombie1892]

Rice has wanted a law and/or med school for years.

shoulda merged with baylor med

they tried real hard

Baylor University trustees stopped it. They have special authority in an agreement with the Baylor College of Medicine.

[thederangedwang]

Rice has wanted a law and/or med school for years.

shoulda merged with baylor med

they tried real hard

Baylor University trustees stopped it. They have special authority in an agreement with the Baylor College of Medicine.

really? marriage made it heaven in my opinion..baylor doesnt go bankrupt..rice gets med school and potential top 10 usnwr...then again if they merged, rice mighta gone banrupt

[Aberzombie1892]

My understanding was that Baylor allowed Rice to position itself (research and strategy) to take over BCM, but then Baylor stepped in and (1) rejected Rice's efforts and (2) attempted to capitalize on the situation by trying to reacquire BCM.

Rice and BCM would be amazing.

Also, Rice's endowment is over $4 B - it could handle BCM's debt.

[BVest]

My understanding was that Baylor allowed Rice to position itself (research and strategy) to take over BCM, but then Baylor stepped in and (1) rejected Rice's efforts and (2) attempted to capitalize on the situation by trying to reacquire BCM.

Rice and BCM would be amazing.

Also, Rice's endowment is over $4 B - it could handle BCM's debt.

Baylor's (or was) in the middle of building a hospital that has become a quagmire... Rice was trying to get ejection of that project worked in as part of the deal so that it didn't bankrupt them.

But yeah, it was apparently pretty late in the deal that Baylor U veto power came to light. Whoever at Rice missed that (or whoever at BCM hid it) screwed the pooch on that one.

[swmswm2011]

People who do not think A&M is an academic presence are naive and under informed on facts.

A&M is currently ranked the Nation's 17th best public institution. UT is 13th. Don't base the academic rankings in your head on stupid jokes your community college relatives told you. A&M has finally completely modernized and they're using their $7 billion wisely.

Wesleyan could earn a 90-100 ranking by 2025 easily. Never underestimate what money can do. A&M has plenty of money.

[Mce252]

If we're going to be honest, no one has any idea what will happen to the rankings. A&M bought a law school. It may get better. It may not. If you're already at Texas Weslayan, it's not going to help you.

[thederangedwang]

People who do not think A&M is an academic presence are naive and under informed on facts.

A&M is currently ranked the Nation's 17th best public institution. UT is 13th. Don't base the academic rankings in your head on stupid jokes your community college relatives told you. A&M has finally completely modernized and they're using their $7 billion wisely.

Wesleyan could earn a 90-100 ranking by 2025 easily. Never underestimate what money can do. A&M has plenty of money.

it is a presence...just like FSU is relative to UF. We are simply saying its not an academic powerhouse comparable to elite universities.

[Mce252]

People who do not think A&M is an academic presence are naive and under informed on facts.

A&M is currently ranked the Nation's 17th best public institution. UT is 13th. Don't base the academic rankings in your head on stupid jokes your community college relatives told you. A&M has finally completely modernized and they're using their $7 billion wisely.

Wesleyan could earn a 90-100 ranking by 2025 easily. Never underestimate what money can do. A&M has plenty of money.

it is a presence...just like FSU is relative to UF. We are simply saying its not an academic powerhouse comparable to elite universities.

This is not quite true at the graduate level.

For example, in research:

"Texas A&M and its affiliated agencies conduct research valued at more than $630 million annually, placing it among the top 20 universities in the country for the second consecutive year and third among universities without medical schools, after University of California at Berkeley and M.I.T. — only Texas university included in top 20."

[HarlandBassett]

interesting how Texas A&M wants a law school and Binghamton doesn't anymore....

Plans for law school tabled by BU officials
http://www.bupipedream.com/news/8785/pl ... officials/



Plans to open a law school at Binghamton University in 2017 appear to be shelved indefinitely, though administrators have emphasized that plans have not been entirely canceled.

At a Hinman College Council meeting held last Tuesday, Vice President for Academic Affairs Brian Rose told attendees that opening a law school is not a viable option for the University at this time.

“There are law schools right now who are not filling up their seats, there are graduates from law schools who aren’t getting jobs, and so the environment right now to found a new law school isn’t a particularly favorable one,” Rose said.

In order to create an accredited law school, the University took steps to gain approval from the New York State Division of the Budget, the SUNY Board of Trustees, the Board of Regents and the governor, as well as the American Bar Association. The University secured $3 million in state funding for the initial design and planning stages of the law school.

Rose indicated that even if all the proper approvals were acquired it would be unlikely that the University would move forward.

“So, whether we get approval or not from the process, that will only begin to move again now to create a law school, or not, and we don’t know the answer to that yet. It’s sort of out of our control,” Rose said at the meeting. “The reality of it is even if we got that approval, we wouldn’t act on it in the predictable future because the environment to found a law school is just not a favorable one.”

Rose said a law school would not currently be a sound investment for the University.

“There’s no timetable for it, but there’s also no urgency for it because if they said ‘yes’ tomorrow, both from a financial point of view and the investment we have to make and the reality of the demand for law school seats, we wouldn’t do anything,” Rose said.

Following the retirement of former President Lois DeFleur and the appointment of Interim President Peter Magrath, the review of proposed plans “just sat,” according to Rose.

In an email to Pipe Dream, University spokeswoman Gail Glover said that the law school plans are not “finished,” however.

Rose, when emailed for comment after the meeting, emphasized that his remarks referred only to the University’s current situation.

“For the sake of reiterating my own comments at the Hinman meeting, I think what I explained was that the environment to create a law school was not currently favorable and that if we secured approval to establish a law school ‘tomorrow,’ we would be unlikely to act on that right now,” Rose wrote in the email.

President Harvey Stenger said in a prepared statement that he will take time to consider whether to move forward with the creation of a law school.

“In my two months as president, I have learned much from our faculty, staff, students, alumni and community leaders about many aspects of our great University, but not enough to make decisions at the scale of a Juris Doctor degree,” Stenger said. “I believe it will take me several more months of collaborative discussions before I have enough information to endorse the creation of programs that will have the transformational impact equivalent to a J.D. program.”

The “Our Plans for a Law School” page on the University’s website is currently down, but the website still includes several posts about the possibility of a law school, including one from Feb. 7, 2008.

“Binghamton University is moving forward with its proposal to establish a law school as the next logical step for the University as it expands educational opportunities for students,” the post began.

[kalvano]

Wesleyan can't possibly get worse.

[kapachino]

This is a terrible idea.

It's also strange because it's SUPER FAR away from A&M.

Not really. It and UT have regional campuses in and around Dallas.

[Aberzombie1892]

People who do not think A&M is an academic presence are naive and under informed on facts.

A&M is currently ranked the Nation's 17th best public institution. UT is 13th. Don't base the academic rankings in your head on stupid jokes your community college relatives told you. A&M has finally completely modernized and they're using their $7 billion wisely.

Wesleyan could earn a 90-100 ranking by 2025 easily. Never underestimate what money can do. A&M has plenty of money.

it is a presence...just like FSU is relative to UF. We are simply saying its not an academic powerhouse comparable to elite universities.

This is not quite true at the graduate level.

For example, in research:

"Texas A&M and its affiliated agencies conduct research valued at more than $630 million annually, placing it among the top 20 universities in the country for the second consecutive year and third among universities without medical schools, after University of California at Berkeley and M.I.T. — only Texas university included in top 20."

As everyone already knows, these rankings mean nothing. Texas A&M suffers from the same problem that UGA suffers from - there are just too many schools nearby that are generally considered to be better.

Also, research expenditures are not an indicator of academic strength or prestige.

Example 1 - U of Alabama at Birmingham has super high research expenditures. No one thinks it's an academic powerhouse or that it's more prestigious than the Ivy League.

Example 2 - Mississippi State University's research expenditures blow Rice out of the water. No one thinks MSU is academically superior and more prestigious than Rice.

Example 3 - Wisconsin-Madison's research expenditures are second only to Johns Hopkins. No one thinks UW is superior to a ton of public and private schools that only spend 1/10 of what UW spends on research.

[Mce252]

People who do not think A&M is an academic presence are naive and under informed on facts.

A&M is currently ranked the Nation's 17th best public institution. UT is 13th. Don't base the academic rankings in your head on stupid jokes your community college relatives told you. A&M has finally completely modernized and they're using their $7 billion wisely.

Wesleyan could earn a 90-100 ranking by 2025 easily. Never underestimate what money can do. A&M has plenty of money.

it is a presence...just like FSU is relative to UF. We are simply saying its not an academic powerhouse comparable to elite universities.

This is not quite true at the graduate level.

For example, in research:

"Texas A&M and its affiliated agencies conduct research valued at more than $630 million annually, placing it among the top 20 universities in the country for the second consecutive year and third among universities without medical schools, after University of California at Berkeley and M.I.T. — only Texas university included in top 20."

As everyone already knows, these rankings mean nothing. Texas A&M suffers from the same problem that UGA suffers from - there are just too many schools nearby that are generally considered to be better.

Also, research expenditures are not an indicator of academic strength or prestige.

Example 1 - U of Alabama at Birmingham has super high research expenditures. No one thinks it's an academic powerhouse or that it's more prestigious than the Ivy League.

Example 2 - Mississippi State University's research expenditures blow Rice out of the water. No one thinks MSU is academically superior and more prestigious than Rice.

Example 3 - Wisconsin-Madison's research expenditures are second only to Johns Hopkins. No one thinks UW is superior to a ton of public and private schools that only spend 1/10 of what UW spends on research.

I don't see how any of that refutes my point. I said that it's not quite true that Texas A&M is not an academic powerhouse at the graduate level. Sure, there are plenty of schools that are more "prestigious." My point was that many people would consider A&M an academic powerhouse at the graduate level.

And anyone that knows anything about graduate education would not agree that access to research dollars "means nothing."

Regardless, my quotation was posted as an example. For many others, feel free to click on some of the categories listed on this site:

http://marcomm.tamu.edu/communications/ ... tml#usnews

[Nova]

A&M is a big deal here, whether it is nationally prestigious or not. Texans flock to it.

[Aberzombie1892]

I understood your post to mean that the school is an academic powerhouse because it speends a lot on research because that's exactly how it reads.

[Mce252]

I understood your post to mean that the school is an academic powerhouse because it speends a lot on research because that's exactly how it reads.

I guess you missed the words "for example."

[Aberzombie1892]

I understood your post to mean that the school is an academic powerhouse because it speends a lot on research because that's exactly how it reads.

I guess you missed the words "for example."

My point was that wasn't a good example.

[thederangedwang]

A&M is a big deal here, whether it is nationally prestigious or not. Texans flock to it.

yeah but that just changes the scope of the argument..everybody was talking about A&M on a national level...esp evident by how all the evidence cited was national in scope.

I dont think anybody would argue a&m is not a big deal in texas...but thats just an argument thats pointless to make anyway since every state school is a big deal in the respective state.

UF,FSU are big deals in FL,...same with Rugters in NJ.