WSU Professor Matt Cavanaugh
Well, the great thing about Western State is that there is a lot of available faculty. A lot of big schools, you know, you just sit in a really huge classroom – you being a student, just sit in a really huge classroom, and you know, your professor is like this tiny object at the horizon that you can barely see. But it’s not like that for us. We have, you know, our classes are relatively small. The largest class I’ve ever taught, I know, had not even 50 students in. And I think our faculty here is particularly accessible, for students. I always try to be. I encourage the students to come talk to me, if they are ever having any type of problem or issue. And I think that sort of accessibility and support of students, by faculty, is one of our best distinguishing characteristics.
I love working at Western State! Teaching, for me, is like a dream job. Sometimes I think at some point I died and went to Heaven, and I wasn’t quite sure where the break-off point was. But the administration and staff are extremely supportive of faculty. Ah, the students are very interesting, from a really diverse background. They’re really eager, and excited to have the opportunity to be at a law school. And I love working with them. Ah we have a great… the staff at our library I think is just like a dream for supporting faculty in their research and other endeavors.
I think that benefit my experience, my practice experience, my non-academic experience, provides our students is really significant. Because most, if not all of our students, of course want to get a job as a lawyer when they graduate. And in today’s challenging, competitive economy, I come from a background where I’ve had all sorts of real world, real life legal practice that I can tell my students about just to make sure they’re aware of all the practice options that await them. And if they’re interested in any particular type of practice, I’ve lived through most of them, so I can tell the students what it’s like, and the good points, and the bad points, and how to prepare for it, and so forth. And in todays challenging economy, as I guess I already said, I teach business law subjects. So teaching business law subjects to student, I think, is a huge benefit to them, regardless of whether they want to work in a law firm, or a for profit company. The fact is, as we see in the news today, this is America. Money is very important to everybody. Ah, if you work for a non-profit as a lawyer, or if you work for a government agency, or just about anybody, you’re still going to need business skills. And I think employers will appreciate that in our law students.
Well, we have a wonderful location. We’re, you know, located in Orange County, in the heart of southern California. Access to all types of resources and facilities. Not just legal and educational, but cultural, entertainment, and so forth. The school, as I’ve said, is relatively small. We have a relatively small student body, but the faculty is very experienced and very helpful.