UMass committee OK’s plan to acquire struggling law school

The board’s panel on academic and student affairs voted, 11 to 5, to accept the plan after a vigorous debate, during which several opponents raised concerns about its fiscal feasibility and impact on the UMass brand.

The majority of trustees, though, endorsed the plan, saying a public law school would give working-class students access to an education they would not otherwise be able to afford. They praised the school’s intent to turn out more public interest lawyers by cutting its $23,500 tuition in half for those who commit to serving in the public sector for four years following graduation.

The acquisition, several trustees said, is a wise entrepreneurial venture that could also help position UMass as a leading university system. Massachusetts is one of six states without a public law school.

“I can’t make a rational case for not offering the citizens of the Commonwealth an affordable public law option,’’ said Henry Thomas III, the committee’s chairman. “Big, strong, viable companies buy companies that are struggling every day. It’s a business strategy, oftentimes one that works out well.’’

Southern New England, a 235-student school that lacks national accreditation, is donating its campus and assets to the state, and its officials hope UMass will be able to take the school to a higher level of achievement.

With UMass backing, the law school would accept students starting in fall 2010. It would be able to increase its enrollment to 559 by 2017; generate more revenue to invest in its students, faculty, and library; and raise graduates’ low passing rates on the state bar exam - issues it needs to address to receive American Bar Association accreditation, UMass-Dartmouth’s chancellor, Jean MacCormack, said.

MacCormack told the board the acquisition would not cost taxpayers any money, a concern raised by opponents. Investments made in the school would come from tuition and fees, she said. According to financial projections, UMass-Dartmouth would also remit $1.3 million in tuition to the state by 2017 and build a $10.2 million cash reserve for the campus by then.

“Here’s an institution that for argument’s sake doesn’t meet all of the standards of our university,’’ trustee Victor Woolridge said. “This is an opportunity. You buy low and grow.’’

A similar plan was shot down four years ago by the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education after UMass trustees approved it. One difference in the current effort is that the public law school would return a portion of tuition revenue to the state.

Stephen Tocco, a UMass trustee who had voted against the plan in 2005 when he chaired the Board of Higher Education, said he is more open to it now that changes have been made. Still, he voted against the plan at yesterday’s committee meeting.

“I don’t believe for a minute that this is not going to cost the university money,’’ Tocco said.

Trustee Jennifer Braceras has spoken out against the acquisition since the proposal was made public last month.

“I am afraid we are about to make a horribly expensive mistake,’’ said Braceras, a graduate of UMass-Amherst and Harvard Law School. “I simply cannot endorse a JD program that threatens to be a financial drain or an academic embarrassment to my alma mater.’’

Until recently, Braceras was an adjunct law professor at Suffolk University, one of three private law schools whose officials oppose a public law school.

The UMass board’s committee on administration and finance will take up the issue Dec. 2. The entire board will vote Dec. 10, before the issue goes to the Board of Higher Education.

Tracy Jan can be reached at tjan@globe.com.