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Reuniting Penn State’s Two Law Schools: Updates from the Panel
Reuniting Penn State’s Two Law Schools: Updates from the Panel

Panel Charge

The panel’s charge is to:

Identify, evaluate, and recommend option[s] for reuniting the two separately accredited law schools into one single accredited law school, adhering to the following parameters in delivering a program of legal education:

  • that promotes excellence in teaching, scholarship, service, and community;
  • that is fiscally and academically sustainable;
  • that is faithful to the University’s land grant missions of access and affordability as well as the values articulated in the University’s strategic plan;
  • that recognizes Penn State Dickinson Law in Carlisle as the primary location for a single accredited law school to be led by Dean Danielle M. Conway; and
  • that the School of International Affairs (SIA) will remain largely unchanged and is not part of the purview of the panel’s recommendations.

The panel will examine the programming, physical infrastructure, and staffing at both Penn State Law and Penn State Dickinson Law and make recommendations to address, in no particular order, important aspects such as:

  • The critical functions of both law schools in the context of reunification, with special attention to clinical legal education and the benefits of the provision of supervised legal services that accrue to the University Park and Commonwealth campuses as well as to residents and institutions within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
  • The navigation of ABA processes to ensure continued accreditation for all law students enrolled at Penn State Law
  • The navigation of shared governance processes in the context of reunification
  • The significant human resource impacts for many faculty and staff colleagues and how best to address those
  • The appropriate staffing levels, structures, and locations in the context of reunification
  • The best ways to minimize any disruption to student success
  • The appropriate mix of in person, hybrid, and/or remote legal education at Penn State locations across the Commonwealth
  • The navigation of USNWR and other rankings systems in the context of reunification
  • Identifying significant issues for the long-term success of Penn State Dickinson Law as a robust community of teachers, scholars, advocates, and service providers