UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State received more than 700 nominations from students, staff, faculty and alumni to serve on the panel charged by President Neeli Bendapudi with developing recommendations on how to reunite Penn State’s two, separately accredited law schools, Penn State Dickinson Law and Penn State Law. Penn State and its two law schools are in a unique position to take this next step, given their history of innovation with remote education, interdisciplinary partnerships, and democratically focused programs and initiatives that promote equality, equal protection, fairness, and justice for all.
In November, Bendapudi announced that she is recommending that the University reunite its two law schools into one accredited law school and is convening a panel to assess options to reunite the two law schools as Penn State Dickinson Law. The two law schools, which were granted separate accreditation by the American Bar Association in 2014, previously operated as a single, two-campus law school from 2006 to 2014 and as a single, one-campus law school prior to 2006.
The panel will be chaired by Penn State Dickinson Law Dean Danielle Conway, who will serve as dean of the reunited school, and Penn State Law Interim Dean Victor Romero will serve as vice chair. Conway and Romero are in the process of reviewing the nominations and will select the panel members in the coming weeks, with a public announcement expected in mid-January.
The two will collaborate in the panel selection to ensure fair representation from both current campuses and select participants based upon their expertise with law school operations, capacity to engage in the discussion of collective and shared interests, understanding of the unique strengths of each law school, and the ability and willingness to promote collaboration in furtherance of the panel’s charge.
The panel membership will be broadly representative of all stakeholders, including students, staff, alumni, and tenure-line and non-tenure-line faculty from each law school. To obtain the widest possible input, the panel will use tools such as surveys and feedback sessions and the potential formation of subcommittees to gather input from stakeholders not serving on the panel.
“Penn State has two excellent law schools and Dean Romero and I are approaching this process as an opportunity to leverage the strengths of both schools by drawing on the energy and curiosity of students, the administrative experience and problem-solving skills of staff, the expertise and productivity of faculty, the leadership and vision of administrators, and the loyalty and commitment of alumni,” said Conway. “I view this reunifying effort as a continuation of the evolution of legal education over its history.”
“We understand that reuniting Penn State Dickinson Law and Penn State Law will not be a simple task, but it presents tremendous prospects for strengthening legal education and Penn State,” Conway added. “A reunited law school will expand opportunities for stakeholders to engage deeply with critical pedagogies and contemporary teaching and learning through innovative approaches to knowledge acquisition and the creation and deployment of predictive design for the development and retention of skills- and practice-building. These efforts can then be applied for the benefit of society and the public good. The work to reunite the two law schools has the potential to lead legal education in the next wave of transformation, which will include greater and more meaningful collaborations that respond to the needs of contemporary life and connect the power and the promise of law to serve communities and constituents across the commonwealth and the country, consistent with Penn State University’s land-grant mission.”
In the process of reuniting the two law schools, Conway and Romero have two overarching priorities: forging a path forward for a reunited law school that is in the best interest of the institution and providing as much stability as possible for current students, staff and faculty at both law schools.
“This is going to be a thoughtful, reflective process that will include the input, concerns and values of the students, staff and faculty at both schools,” said Romero. “We will be working together to form a single law school in a process that overcomes challenges in a positive, forward-looking manner and brings our two communities together. Dean Conway’s and my working relationship will not end with the panel’s recommendations. We expect that reuniting the law schools will be a deliberate and careful endeavor so that students separately admitted to Penn State Dickinson Law and Penn State Law, including those matriculating in the fall of 2023, continue to receive the high-quality legal education each school has promised. We want to reassure everyone that any transition to the new reunified school will not adversely affect students admitted to either of Penn State’s currently separately accredited law schools.”
“This process presents a tremendous opportunity to forge a leadership path within Penn State, specifically, but in legal education, generally, to base our teaching and learning on a commitment to coalition and collectivism to strengthen our research, programs and initiatives,” said Conway. “By working together to leverage the strengths of our students, staff, faculty and administrators, a reunified law school will be an active participant at the forefront of innovation and change in legal education.”
The panel is expected to deliver its draft recommendations to Bendapudi by April 30, at which time she will consult with Penn State leadership, the University Faculty Senate, and other experts for review and comment. She will share that input with the panel, seeking its final recommendations by May 31. After considering the panel’s recommendations, Bendapudi will select the structure of the reunited law school and present it to the Penn State Board of Trustees for approval.