UA graduate schools praised

The U.S. News and World Report's 2009 edition of its annual "Best Graduate Schools" publication ranked the UA School of Law and School of Social Work at their highest rankings ever.

The law school is ranked 11th among public law schools and 32nd among all law schools in the nation, and the School of Social Work is ranked 28th among social work programs at public universities and 42nd when including both public and private institutions.

The law school has been among the top 50 law schools for 10 consecutive years in rankings.

"The national law school rankings involve reputation assessments by lawyers and judges, as well as by law school deans and faculty throughout the United States. The rankings also include statistics in the areas of admissions, bar passage and career services," said spokesman for the law school Aaron Latham.

Latham said the UA School of Law's number of applicants has increased despite the decrease in general law school applicants in the country.

"Recent statistics show that applications to law schools have dropped by two percent nationally and one percent in the southeast. Comparatively, UA Law School has seen an 18 percent increase in applications," Latham said.

Latham said the law school holds a consistent focus on pooling together the nation's premier law faculty members, students, staff and resources under the direction of Dean Ken Randall.

"In the last two years, 11 new faculty members have been added, in conjunction with a 90,000 square feet expansion of the Law School's facilities. Moreover, UA Law has hosted lectures from eight U.S. Supreme Court Justices, including five in the last five years," Latham said.

James Adams, dean of the School of Social Work, said they are pleased with the rankings.

"This is the highest ranking that we've had and we are highly, highly pleased with that," Adams said.

Adams said the rankings are based on an assessment of the schools including a survey sent to deans, directors and faculty.

This information gives the U.S. News and World Report a perception of the school environment, Adams said.

"Many of our faculty and administrative team participate and become leaders nationally; we participate with the national association of social workers," Adams said.

The School of Social Work brings in scholars that interact with students and faculty members, Adams said.

"Not only are we participating, we take lead roles," Adams said.

Adams said there are many ways in which the School of Social Work focuses on excellence.

"Our presence and leadership tend to help people see us as key leaders as social work players," Adams said. "We think we are deserving of that particular ranking and probably higher."