Today, the candidates respond to the question: "As you know GW Law dipped in the U.S. News & World Report rankings last year to #28 on the list. How well do you think the school has responded to this? What role do you think the students, and by extension the SBA, have in supporting our ranking?"

Theresa Bowman - President

The School's Response

The school has responded with an appropriate blend of concern and realism.  We have everything to be concerned about; the drop in ranking could affect our school's reputation and students' prospects in an already difficult job market.  At the same time, the drop in ranking in no way affects the quality of education we are now receiving.  GW Law at #28 is the same school it was at #20 when many of us began our law school careers here - this is important for everyone to remember.  The administration has done a good job of recognizing students' cause for concern.  At the same time, they have appropriately communicated to the student body reasons why we can still have confidence in our school.

SBA's Role and Career Services

I believe the SBA has a great role to play in improving our ranking and I hope that you will give me the opportunity to spearhead that effort as SBA President.  Bottom line: the more students we get out into the job market, the more positive an impact that could have on future rankings.  The SBA conducted a survey last semester to gather student feedback on the CDO and their relationship with the student body.  We added a position to the executive board on the Chief of Staff's committee, the CDO Liaison.  Our Liaison has been tasked with analyzing the results of that survey and working with the rest of the SBA executive board to offer recommendations to the CDO.  As President, I would continue to work with the CDO Liaison on the Executive Board and perhaps even add another committee member to share in their growing duties.

My major goal would be to work with the CDO to set up more opportunities to put current students in touch with alumni.  Specifically, I would work with the CDO to try to establish an alumni database for GW students to use as a career networking tool.  I would also advocate for the development of programs involving alumni career mentorship of students.

In my capacity as VP of First Year Students, I have already begun to work to add helpful career development programs.  I created the Career Mentoring Program, wherein students mentor each other by conducting mock interviews with their mentees, offering career advice, and sharing contacts.  As SBA President, I would work to expand this program and create others like it.

Students' Role

Additionally, I think it's important to remember that in this digital age, reputation can be viral.  In blogs, on facebook and myspace, etc. the pride students express in their school can go a long way to supporting our reputation.  As SBA President, I will work to ensure that students have something to be proud of.  Continuing to improve the LRW program as well as funding and supporting our student groups, and by extension, a vibrant school community, will be my major objectives.

Giri Iyengar - President

I think Dean Lawrence's letter last Summer did a great job of stemming any worries students may have had. As he said, we have a terrific part-time program and need to continue to give that the importance it deserves. Does anyone really believe that a school can fall 8 places in a year? Quality, reputation and strength build very slowly, over many years. It's one thing for US News to shuffle schools around like a deck of cards, it is quite another for anyone, students or employers, to genuinely believe that the institutions themselves have changed that radically. What the students and the SBA can do is what they have always done. Focus on the strengths of GW and its DC location. We can place greater emphasis on alumni-student interactions and do more to emphasize our victories, like the recent ones at Harvard and Gujarat. US News will never get a handle on the intangibles that make GW such a terrific school.

Rushab Sanghvi - President

The school was faced with a serious challenge when our ranking dropped last year.  Though many of us feel that the rankings are a superficial indicator of the quality of our school, and do not offer a fair basis for comparisons, we all know of their importance in recruiting the best students to GW Law.  Additionally, many employers have traditionally used the rankings in recruiting students.  I believe the school's prompt response to the drop showed the administration's commitment to the student body.  Dean Lawrence's letter both restated the school's strengths and indicated that the school was taking the change seriously.  While I was disappointed at some of the actions I believe the school took in response, including the reduction in size of the part time program, I believe they were necessary first steps in combating the decline.  Because of US NEWS imperfect way of measuring quality, more important actions that are being taken will not be immediately factored into the rankings.  That being said, I do believe students, and by extension the SBA, have an important role in supporting our rankings.  Two of the most important factors in the rankings are based on surveys of the school's reputation.  Students, by participating in external academic competitions and by being generally effective employees, can enhance the reputation of the school in the eyes of those being surveyed, and thus eventually improve our rankings.  Students and the SBA can additionally improve our reputation by promoting the schools strengths to those outside of the GW community.  The SBA in particular has done this in the past by organizing fundraisers and community service events.

Dan Janow - Executive Vice President

Our ranking dropped because of our job placement rate.  Improving that rate is the solution.  To an extent it is out of the hands of the SBA.  However, this past year the SBA created the position of career services liaison.  After speaking with her I have been told that this year she organized a survey which was very helpful in identifying the concerns that the student body has had with the current CDO.  The results of this survey will be available two days after the deadline for this submission is due, and so I cannot comment on the results.   However, obviously the primary way to change our ranking is to examine the results and make the appropriate changes.  One idea in particular which would be helpful is to appoint a contact person in various SBA student clubs to the CDO.  Ensuring that this actually happens should be a key goal for the SBA.

Personally, I have never had an issue with the CDO but I think when we look at the results of that survey we can come up with some positive steps to take.  This will improve the CDO, which will improve job placement rates, which will improve our ranking.  I think further improving our alumni relations, particularly with the aim of getting great jobs for our students is important as well.  It has apparently been difficult to get the CDO to open up about alumni contacts, and while some concerns about overwhelming alumni are legitimate I would like to find out exactly what those concerns are and how we can get around them.

Our ranking is obviously of great concern not only to the student body but also to the administration.  It is in their interest to improve our ranking as well.  I think by the administration and the SBA working together we can take the steps necessary to improve our rank.

Deep Singh - Executive Vice President

According to US News, the rankings depend on four main factors:  reputation, admissions data, employment data, and resources.  Our school maintains an excellent reputation and the resources are the same.  Thus, the school can focus its attention on the admissions and employment side of the ranking.

The school focused on the admissions data because of the change in the rankings methodology to combine the full-time and part-time student data.  As a result, the administration lowered the size of the part-time program.  As an SBA and student body, we must be sure that there are enough class options for part-time students and that the existing number of classes are not cut because of their decision to reduce the size of the program.

Of most immediate concern to the student body is the employment data.   And with the concerns continually expressed by the students who have spoken with me, it seems like the school has not done enough to deal with the employment problem.  As an SBA, we can take steps to improve the efficacy of the CDO and the job search process.  For example, we can build upon the newly created CDO Liaison position to strengthen the relationship with the student body and the CDO.  We can also build on the newly created Career Mentoring Program where students help each other out.