Okay, so not that kind of class conflict...It has come to our attention that there are some timing issues that have arisen with the publication of the F09 schedule. So far the big ones we've been hearing about are:
1) Civ Pro II and the one (1!) section of non-1L-gunner-filled con law.
2) Admin and Fed Cts. Nothing witty to say about either of these courses, this is funny though.
What else? We're going to be talking to the administration in the next week, so be sure to utilize the comments section to let us know what else to bring to their attention.
--P
UPDATE: From Goodwin Liu
Dear Students:
Also, I want to flag a change in the course schedule since Dean Berring's e-mail to you. Because of a necessary staffing change, Civ Pro II will be offered in two sections in Fall 2009. We are trying to add a third section in Spring 2010 but cannot guarantee it at this point, so if you absolutely want to take the course, the safest thing is to enroll this fall.
Enjoy the rest of the semester and good luck on your exams!
The EBCLC clinic also conflicts with both Civ Pro II (non-Yoo) and con law by about 10-20 minutes. Sadness!
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ReplyDeleteJust want to reiterate (as I am everywhere, surely to everyone's annoyance) that the Admin/Fed Courts thing really does screw over the class of 2010.
ReplyDeleteThe Con Law/Civ Pro II thing stinks too. One solution could be to offer CP2 in the spring, one last time, instead of having everyone rush to take it in the fall.
The Dean's response to a student's concerns about the Civ Pro II/Yoo issue was pretty inappropriate. BHSA should be firm that there are real moral and ethical concerns created by essentially forcing students to take a class from a professor who 1) may have committed serious ethical breaches, 2) is the potential object of investigations, and 3) is the defendant in ongoing litigation. It's not inappropriate for us to expect more than platitudes about Prof. Yoo's popularity as a professor.
ReplyDeleteEvery semester I'm annoyed by the overlap between 3:20-4:25/4:35 classes and classes that start at 4:20. Starting the later classes at 4:40 seems like an simple solution, but I bet it would take years of bureaucratic procedures to make this kind of change to the master Boalt calendar. sigh.
ReplyDeletenot a huge deal but the tech writing workshop conflicts with the yoo civ pro II class. Also, in the 2 year schedule there is no animal law. It's supposed to be offered at least every two years.
ReplyDeleteI dislike how Bankruptcy and Admin law conflict and how neither of them is being next in the spring. These are foundational classes that should be taught every semester.
ReplyDeleteAlso why is the enrollment in Bankruptcy so low and it is not being offered next year. Considering the economy, I imagine Bankruptcy will be a popular choice among nervous students.
On course offerings- anyone know what happened to Regulating Public Integrity, and Lucas Guttentag's course? I was looking forward to both of those, but they aren't on the 2-year schedule.
ReplyDeleteOn process: it'd be nice if Boalt had on its website, somewhere, profiles of the instructors who AREN'T listed under faculty profiles (they're lecturers/instructors, they haven't started yet, etc.) To illustrate, try to figure out who Leib (Legislation) and Antin (Tax) are, using only the Boalt website. Can Boalt create a "Profiles of Lecturers & Instructors" page, so we can find the people who are teaching an increasing percentage of our courses?
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ReplyDeletePeter - 2nd the Bankruptcy concern, especially since it is one practice area that is thriving right now. Also, I'm glad to see someone found my cat.
ReplyDeleteAmaha - 2nd on Public Integrity and Process. It would also be nice (though maybe unrealistic) to have links to teacher evaluations from other schools for visiting profs
Also, The EBCLC - Non Yoo Civ Pro II conflict could be of concern, as the EBCLC folks are probably those most opposed to taking the Civ Pro Yoo (pun). BHSA should press for a Civ Pro II Spring 2010.
Boalt has two major critical race scholars (Ian Haney-Lopez and Angela Harris), but both will be on sabbatical next year. There are no CRT-specific classes offered until SPRING of 2011!! This leaves a lot of folks interested in CRT scholarship scrambling to find faculty advisers for our writing requirements. FML.
ReplyDeleteI am disappointed that Boalt is only offering one semester of admin law. Offering it both semesters would take some of the sting out of the fact that it conflicts with fed courts.
ReplyDeleteIs there anything being done about the Admin/Fed Cts conflict? It seems like it isn't such a big overlap that it can't be worked out some how? Or is that just wishful thinking?
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the Admin/Fed Cts makes 3Ls choose between two important courses. For rising 3Ls who want to clerk in DC, it stinks.
ReplyDeleteAll, here is a link to the faculty profile for Gowri Ramachandran who will be teaching the Con Law class in the fall: http://www.swlaw.edu/faculty/faculty_listing/facultybio/340529
ReplyDeleteFactoid for the transgender WOA folks: looks like she wrote an article about Jespersen
Not sure if this is a shout or a murmur, but for all those who have commented about not wanting to take a course with John Yoo, here's the link to the New Yorker blurb about Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon's initiation of criminal investigations against Yoo and five other Bush Administration officials:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newyorker.com/talk/2009/04/13/090413ta_talk_mayer
I 2nd the annoying inability of EBCLC and death penalty clinic students as well as those taking seminar externship classes to take a non-Yoo Civ Pro II and constitutional law. Non-Yoo Civ Pro II only overlaps by 15 minutes with theses clinics and Constitutional law is only a 5 MINUTE overlap, what's the point of bringing in visiting professors if we can't even take their classes? Given her domestic social justice background its frustrating for students in the only two clinics focused on this area of law, to not be able to take her Con-law class!
ReplyDeleteBiggest issue for me: if people want to take Civ Pro II their second year, it obviously conflicts with the one Con Law Class. Fine! We'll take one of the four sections second semester, right? We could even take it with legendary Goodwin Liu, or Jesse Choper!
ReplyDeleteNo. The curriculum change that encourages 1Ls to take Con Law by giving them preference means that the most "desirable" professors will clearly fill up first, leave 2 and 3Ls to take what's left over with less experienced teachers and at less convenient times. The curriculum committee could easily remedy this situation by doing what it does in every other class -- saving some spots for upperclassman. If each class was 150, saving 50 spots for 2 and 3Ls and 100 for 1Ls in each means that there would be more than enough spots for 1Ls (400 for their class of 270). Beyond benefiting the 1Ls who will get to meet and open a dialogue with older more experienced students (but still be graded on a separate curve), it means that the classes of 2011 and 2010 who have already had a tough time of curriculum changes, construction, and the economy don't get left out in the cold.
The sensible decision that Con Law should be prioritized for future 1Ls is ironically forcing many current 1Ls to not take it until the spring of our second year. Whether it's class conflicts, holding out for a specific professor, or some other reason, many of us are pushing Con Law back. This isn't just inconvenient, it hurts us academically. Con Law is a necessary background for many or most of the electives that are available, and that's why the administration wants students taking it earlier. Unfortunately, that means that some of us have to take it later.
ReplyDeleteI and a few other students I know are disappointed in the overlap between Bankruptcy and Accounting for lawyers. These are two essential courses for corporate law. As the schedule now stands 3L's will have to pick one or the other. Since the only conflict between the two is that they both have a class meet on Thursday morning until 9:50 an easy solution would be to just switch one of the classes to Friday morning. Doesn't appear that would create a conflict with another class.
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