Dickinson bill sent to House ; Open law school meetings sought

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Dickinson bill sent to House ; Open law school meetings sought
JAN MURPHY Of The Patriot-News
A bill requiring The Dickinson School of Law to open its board meetings to the public is a step closer to becoming state law. If approved, the bill would require the Carlisle-based law school to open its Aug. 15 board meeting to the public.

At that meeting, the law school board is expected to decide whether to operate campuses in Carlisle and State College.

The House State Government Committee yesterday moved a bill that would amend the state's Sunshine, or open-meetings, law to apply specifically to Dickinson.

The House may take up the bill for consideration this week, said House GOP spokesman Steve Miskin. The measure, sponsored by Sen. Harold Mowery, R-Cumberland, passed the Senate last week by a 50-0 vote.

Rep. Will Gabig, R-Carlisle, who will champion the bill on the House floor, said lawmakers are racing against the clock. The Legislature is expected to adjourn for the summer by week's end.

The law school is affiliated with Penn State University, but the Dickinson board has argued that it can meet in private because it is partly independent of Penn State.

"I don't know if it's the best thing for the school at this point and whether or not the spirit of Sunshine was intended for boards such as ours," said law school board member Jason Kutalakis. "However, the wisdom of the General Assembly has obviously spoken and ... I am prepared to abide by the four corners of the Sunshine Act if passed by the House and enacted by the governor into law."

Penn State to try dual law schools

U-Wire (c) 2004 U-Wire. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Pennsylvania State U.: Penn State to try dual law schools
U-WIRE-06/30/2004-Pennsylvania State U.: Penn State to try dual law schools (C) 2003 Daily Collegian Via U-WIRE By Jennette Hannah, Daily Collegian (Pennsylvania State U.)

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Students may have the opportunity to pursue a

law degree at University Park after university officials decided to study the possibility of creating a local law school facility while renovating Carlisle's Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University.

Penn State's Dickinson School of Law Board of Governors voted unanimously June 12 to adopt a resolution to consider building a $60 million facility at University Park, while maintaining and renovating the facility at the school's current location in Carlisle for $25 million.

Penn State would pay for the University Park facility in its entirety, though Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig said it is too soon to declare the specific origin of the prospective funds.

"Where specific dollars would be coming from is really premature at this point," he said.

Gov. Ed Rendell said he would donate $10 million to the Carlisle project, with an additional $5 million from governmental and philanthropic organizations and a $10 million pledge from the university, according to a Penn State press release.

About a week after the resolution was accepted, board chairman LeRoy Zimmerman appointed an eight-member panel consisting of Board of Governors' members to investigate the dual-campus proposal. The panel's findings will be presented to the rest of the board on Aug. 15 for final approval before the plan is presented to Penn State's Board of Trustees on Sept. 10.

According to a memo from Penn State President Graham Spanier to Zimmerman, the dual-campus proposal would enroll more students at University Park than at Carlisle for an overall increase in enrollment.

Carlisle's registration would include about 300 students, with about 100 in each incoming class. University Park's location would include about 450 students with about 150 new students each year.

Each proposed location would have an estimated faculty to student ratio of 15 to 1.

The plan would permit full-time students at University Park to study for a semester at Carlisle, and vice-versa. This would provide University Park students with internship opportunities in Harrisburg and would allow Carlisle students to earn a joint degree in a particular area of law, such as medicine.

The possibility of moving the campus in its entirety was leaked to the media in November and has since sparked a debate between Carlisle community members as well as board and university officials about the merits of moving the law school.

The dual-campus proposal was introduced to the board by Zimmerman for serious consideration the day before board members were expected to vote on the future of the law school's location.

"It was a Plan B that I think turns out to be the best plan," he said at a June 12 press conference announcing the plan.

Some board members said that although the last minute proposal was unexpected, it did not come as a shock.

"I wasn't expecting it, but I'm not surprised by it," board member H. Laddie Montague said. "I think the intent is that it will capture the advantages of both locations."

Carlisle Mayor Kirk Wilson said he was not pleased with the new proposal and did not favor moving the law school.

"In all honesty, I don't see a resolution," he said at the time of the decision. "It could've been put to rest today."

Wilson said the law school and local community have a reciprocal relationship, which could be negatively impacted should the law school's resources be split between two locations.

Chair of the Greater Carlisle Chamber of Commerce Russell Shunk said he would prefer to keep the law school within the community in its entirety, but further investigation regarding the nature of the proposal is needed.

"[Dickinson] is more than just bricks and mortar," he said.

Spanier said that because of the $60 million price tag for the prospective University Park location, other construction projects slated for the near future might be put on hold.

He added that the increase in University Park's student population would be made gradually over a five-year period, beginning in 2008 when the facility would open, and would not affect the enrollment cap of about 42,000 students currently in place.

Zimmerman said the dual-campus proposal might be beneficial to the success of legal education at Dickinson.

"It's important to look to yesterday's tradition and past, but you can't make the future irrelevant," he said. "You have to focus on the future, especially in legal education, and I think the dual-campus really provides the opportunity."

Our View Let sun shine on law school meetings

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Our View Let sun shine on law school meetings
The state House should follow the Senate's lead and pass the bill that would force The Penn State Dickinson School of Law's board of governors to meet in public. And Gov. Ed Rendell should sign it into law. Dickinson's board should have opened the meetings on its own, recognizing that its decision is of critical public interest.

A task force is studying the merits of having two campuses -- one in Carlisle and one in State College. The board is expected to vote on the proposal in September.

As we pointed out on June 20, whatever the board decides, a new or improved Dickinson School of Law will cost Pennsylvania taxpayers millions of dollars and will greatly impact the communities of Carlisle and State College.

All of us, including the state's elected leaders, should not have to find out what happens through leaked memos and closed-door meetings.

Court challenges have failed to require the Dickinson board to meet in public. To his credit, state Sen. Hal Mowery, R-Lemoyne, introduced and built support for Senate Bill 1039, which would amend the definition of the word "agency" in the state's Sunshine Act.

To their credit, Penn State and Sen. Jake Corman, R-Bellefonte, while not in favor of the bill, worked to amend its language so it is limited to Dickinson and is not unconstitutional.

As we reported Friday, the bill redefines "agency" to include the governing board of any nonprofit corporation that, by a mutually binding legal written agreement with a state-related institution of higher education, is granted supervisory or advisory powers over the school's degree programs.

Now, Mowery's bill has to become law.

Testimony from Dickinson board members, Penn State officials, legislators and key Dickinson alumni should be heard in public.

Rendell has pledged $10 million in state funding for improvements in Carlisle if at least a portion of the law school stays there.

Penn State has pledged $70 million -- $60 million to build a new law school on the University Park campus and another $10 million for improvements in Carlisle.

State representatives should not leave Harrisburg for their summer recess without approving this bill, and Rendell should sign it. It's the right thing to do.

Senate bill opens Dickinson meetings

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Friday, June 25, 2004

Senate bill opens Dickinson meetings
By Gwenn Miller gmiller3@centredaily.com
The state Senate unanimously passed a bill this week that would force the Penn State Dickinson School of Law's board of governors to open its meetings to the public. Senate Bill 1039 amends the definition of the word "agency" in the Sunshine Act, a law that requires public bodies to make certain meetings open to the public.

The board of governors has met several times in the past seven months to debate and decide the fate of the law school, but always behind closed doors. The state appellate court ruled 3-2 in April that the board could legally close its meetings.

It was at such a closed meeting that the governors voted earlier this month to study a plan that would split the law school into two campuses, with one in Carlisle and one in University Park.

The Senate bill was introduced by Sen. Hal Mowery, R-Lemoyne, a vocal opponent of any move of the law school from its original home in Carlisle, which is in his legislative district.

The bill would redefine "agency," subject to the Sunshine Act, to include the governing board of any nonprofit corporation which, by a mutually binding legal written agreement with a state-related institution of higher education, is granted supervisory or advisory powers over the school's degree programs.

The next stop for Senate Bill 1039 is the state House, but legislators are skeptical that they will vote on it before the current session ends. A spokesman for House Majority Leader Rep. Samuel Smith said the priority is passing the budget, and the House is not scheduled to take up Senate Bill 1039 this week.

Penn State lobbyist Rich DiEugenio worked with Sen. Jake Corman, R-Bellefonte, to amend the language in the bill. Although the university believes it successfully argued its case for keeping the meetings closed in court, DiEugenio said it was obvious that Mowery had rallied enough support to pass the bill.

Therefore, the bill is worded so that it is limited to Dickinson's board of governors, he said, but is not unconstitutional because it does not single out the board.

Corman said he was opposed to the legislation, but didn't want to get into an "intramural" fight in the Senate so he helped revise the language.

"This was litigated, so why is state government getting involved?" Corman said.

He said in the end, he wants the board of governors to make a decision about the law school's future that will be in the best interests of the students.

Proposal would open Dickinson board meetings

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Local/State
Proposal would open Dickinson board meetings
JAN MURPHY Of The Patriot-News
The Dickinson School of Law's board of governors would have to meet in public under a bill that passed the state Senate yesterday. The Senate voted 50-0 to approve the measure sponsored by Sen. Harold Mowery, R-Cumberland. It would open to the public meetings of nonprofit boards that are affiliated with public institutions of higher learning.

The change to the state's Sunshine Act now moves to the House for consideration.

Rep. Will Gabig, R-Carlisle, is backing the bill and said he hopes to get it through the House before the summer recess, expected to begin after next week.

Mowery's proposal was worded specifically to include the Penn State law school's board, which in recent months has deliberated in private on potential move from Carlisle to the university's main campus in State College.

Law school board Chairman LeRoy Zimmerman could not be reached yesterday for comment on the Senate's action.

At a closed meeting earlier this month, the law school's board decided to investigate the idea of operating dual campuses -- one in Carlisle and one in State College.

The board is expected to vote on that proposal by mid-August.

The board's decision to consider operating the law school at two sites "has not lessened the community's anxiety," Mowery said yesterday on Senate floor.

"The community is further troubled because too much crucial decision-making is taking place behind closed doors," he said.

The Patriot-News and The Sentinel of Carlisle challenged the board's closed-meeting policy in court. However, the Commonwealth Court ruled in April that the board operates separately from Penn State, which is subject to the Sunshine Act, and is under no obligation to open its meetings. That decision is on appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Mowery said he introduced his bill in case the high court upholds the Commonwealth Court decision.

"Sunshine is no guarantee against bad decisions being made," Mowery said. "But I think it's very important so the community has the opportunity to visibly not only see, but also hear what went into the decision-making process."

Moving Dickinson Law would be wrong

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Op-Ed
AS I SEE IT
Moving Dickinson Law would be wrong
HAL MOWERY
Since the proposed relocation of the Dickinson School of Law first surfaced, this issue has dominated my work. The more I read about the reasons, the more I look at the numbers, the more I talk to individuals inside and outside of the law school, the more convinced I become. The move is wrong for the Dickinson School of Law, it is wrong for Carlisle, and it is wrong for our commonwealth. Across Pennsylvania, communities have suffered the loss of jobs, the closing or transfer of traditional industries, and the loss of institutions that provided identity and stability and pride. Many times, these losses result from factors beyond our control.

However, it is a rarer circumstance where one Pennsylvania community proposes to relieve another of one of its most identifiable and prized assets. To add insult, since Penn State's budget includes a considerable annual state contribution, area taxpayers would in effect be subsidizing this transfer, and then paying the heavy price of the loss.

Pennsylvania has an array of successful economic development and incentive programs, but care is always taken to attract jobs from elsewhere. There are numerous restrictions to prevent moving jobs and plants from one part of the state to another. If it is bad public policy in economic development, it is equally poor policy in the educational arena. As least part of the motivation for this proposal is prestige. Prestige does not have tangible benefit. But it does impose costs to our community, and to the tradition of the law school. The dependence on rankings at the heart of the plan reinforces this notion.

Does Penn State need an on-campus law school? It seems that they have managed to build a reputation as a world-class university without one. Does the Dickinson School of Law need a new ZIP code to thrive, or merely survive? Only in the perspectives of those highly desirous of seeing this transfer occur.

Does Carlisle deserve to lose the law school? Of course not. If there had been any lassitude or take-it-for-granted attitude around, Penn State found the cure. The Carlisle community -- elected leaders, community, business, and professional leaders, concerned individuals -- has rallied in impressive fashion.

The current counterproposal seeks to satisfy every interest. Maybe if this controversy did not have the history it does, the matter could be solved just this easily. But before anyone is tempted to declare victory and head home happy, I must point out that when the move is made from theory to practical application, there are legitimate questions and substantial concerns about this last-minute pitch.

The good faith expressions and the commitments in the merger agreement from several years ago had an unfortunately short shelf- life. What sort of guarantees can be offered now that this does not merely achieve gradually what was first attempted in one gulp? The ?trust of Carlisle?? is going to require a lot more collateral before lending its confidence again. To a justifiably skeptical community, this looks more like a stay of execution than a commutation of sentence.

The roots of this debate were about ensuring the future quality of the Dickinson School of Law. It has always been about scratching together resources to the greatest effect. Suddenly, however, this proposal presents quantity as the answer. Two campuses. More students. More instructors. More capital costs. Is there really that kind of added market at the same standards? Are there analyses to prove it? If the resources are there to accomplish all these results, why have badly needed dollars not been deployed earlier?

DOES THIS dual site model work over the long run? Has the shotgun marriage of the traditional and the modern played out successfully over time somewhere else? Can the two campuses be truly equal in that they have unique appeal to sufficient numbers of qualified students? This is too consequential a course to determine casually.

At the heart of doubt is constant recollection that this is not an unavoidable dilemma we are confronting. It is a collision of community interests arbitrarily sparked. It is a decision that Penn State determined to force. However the board decides, we cannot forget that what is being addressed is a want, not a need. HAL MOWERY is a Republican state senator from Camp Hill.

Can separate law-school campuses still be equal?

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004


Viewing Harrisburg Can separate law-school campuses still be equal?

By Martha Raffaele
From state Rep. Will Gabig's perspective, a debate that raged for months over whether Penn State's law school should move from Carlisle to State College represented "a struggle for the soul of the law school." Gabig, a Cumberland County Republican whose district includes Penn State's Dickinson School of Law, is among a group of legislators and community leaders who have fought to keep the 170-year-old school in Carlisle, its original home.

On the other side are those who support law school Dean Philip J. McConnaughay's recommendation to move Dickinson to Penn State's main campus at University Park in State College. McConnaughay contends that a move to a new, state-of-the-art facility will improve its reputation.

In the end -- after Penn State President Graham Spanier presented a last-minute plan to divide the law school into two campuses -- Dickinson's board of governors decided to study the idea. The two campuses would complement each other under a single administrative umbrella.

But can one law school provide separate but equal programs? The prospect of a compromise hasn't completely appeased opponents of a move.

In Carlisle, Dickinson has built a reputation as a "people's law school," according to Gabig, graduating public servants ranging from district attorneys to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, a former governor. In State College, its orientation would likely be more academic than practical, he said.

Gabig said one campus will become dominant.

"I think this is just an attempt at the 11th hour to throw a monkey wrench into the decision of the board," he said.

Gov. Ed Rendell, who previously opposed moving the law school, now says he believes the school can function in two places, as long as Penn State spends equal amounts of money and maintains equal standards for the campuses, such as student-to-teacher ratios.

Rendell has pledged $10 million toward the $25 million cost of renovating Trickett Hall, which houses the current school. Penn State is matching that $10 million, and footing the entire $60 million bill for a University Park facility, which would open in 2008.

"I think a dual campus can work, particularly if the Carlisle campus begins to specialize in government law and public-service law" because of its proximity to Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., he said.

During a news conference to discuss the dual-campus proposal, Spanier insisted the university was "absolutely committed" to making sure both campuses could thrive.

"Penn State is probably the best university in the country that has models of operating at different sites simultaneously and trying to make them all be very successful," said Spanier, referring to the university's many smaller campuses across the state.

LeRoy S. Zimmerman, chairman of Dickinson's board, said it was important to find a proposal that reflects a consensus of the board. He had not formally polled members on the question of a campus move, but suspected that any vote would be close.

The board of governors is expected to consider an agreement to cement the dual-campus format by Aug. 15.

"When this vote is over, whether it's a joint or a dual campus or whatever, that's when the work begins, and in order to accomplish that work we do need consensus," he said.

More importantly, he hopes the skeptics can eventually accept that the board has truly abandoned the notion of moving.

"I know there are people that think this is some kind of Trojan horse, and I don't know what you can do with them," he said. "If you try to get over the emotional aspect and the trust issue, this is just a wonderful opportunity."

Committee named to study proposed PSU law school move

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Monday, June 21, 2004
Committee named to study proposed PSU law school move
CARLISLE The chairman of the board that runs Penn State's law school on Saturday appointed an eight-member committee to study the idea of creating a two-campus law school.

The independent governing board of Dickinson School of Law voted last weekend to study the option of creating a law school with campuses in both Carlisle and State College rather than moving the school entirely from its lifelong home in Carlisle.

"Our goal is a draft agreement that covers one law school with two co-equal campuses," LeRoy S. Zimmerman, chairman of the board of governors of The Dickinson School of Law, who will chair the committee, said in a statement Saturday. "That means one dean, one administration, one consolidated budget, and, perhaps most important, a single accreditation."

Supporters of a move say staying in Carlisle would require millions of dollars in maintenance and building renovations. They say moving to State College could bolster the school's reputation and allow students to take advantage of a wide variety of joint-degree programs.

Opponents maintain that the move would deliver an economic blow to Carlisle.

The other people appointed to the committee were William R. Caroselli, a former president of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association; Hubert X. Gilroy, a Carlisle lawyer; Lewis Katz, a New Jersey lawyer and principal owner of the New Jersey Nets; Leslie Anne Miller, general counsel of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania; H. Laddie Montague, a shareholder in a Philadelphia law firm; Arthur L. Piccone, a partner in a Wilkes-Barre law firm; and J. Rodman Steele Jr., a shareholder in a law firm in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The board is scheduled to consider the draft agreement on or before Aug. 15. If approved, the agreement then would be submitted to Penn State's Board of Trustees at its meeting Sept. 10.

Dickinson plan has only a few templates

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Monday, June 21, 2004

Dickinson plan has only a few templates
By Gwenn Miller gmiller3@centredaily.com
The dual-campus plan that the governing body of Penn State's law school is considering has been touted as groundbreaking, but there are a few models already in place. Several universities have two law school campuses, but

their structures and history vary drastically. Penn State has the opportunity to add anoth-

er model to this rare brand of law schools.

The board of governors of The Dickinson School of Law voted June 12 to study a plan that would split the school into two campuses, one at University Park and one at Carlisle, the school's home of 170 years. Both sites would offer "full-fledged" legal education and a 15-1 student/faculty ratio.

An eight-member committee, which was named Saturday, will study the two-campus approach and report to the board Aug. 15. If the plan is approved, Penn State's board of trustees would consider the issue at its Sept. 10 meeting.

University and law school officials said there are many details to be worked out, but the two-campus plan calls for one dean, one administration and one budget. LeRoy Zimmerman, chairman of the board of governors, said the law school also would have one American Bar Association accreditation.

"It is one law school, and it is anticipated to always be one law school with two campuses," Zimmerman said.

How accreditation is achieved for a new campus is not so simple.

If a school earns ABA accreditation, it has met certain educational standards and its graduates are eligible for admission to the bar, said Nancy Sloanim, deputy press secretary for the bar association. The ABA Accreditation Committee and Council determines whether a school is in compliance with the organization's standards, according to the ABA Web site.

"ABA Standard 105: Major Change in Program or Structure" states that before a law school makes a change in its program of legal education or organizational structure, it must "obtain the acquiescence of the Council for the change." One example of a major change is establishing a branch campus, or "a separate location at which the law school offers sufficient courses that a student could earn at the separate location all of the credit hours that the law school requires for the J.D. degree," according to the bar association.

Penn State President Graham Spanier said last week that officials don't know whether there would be separate admissions processes for each campus. Law school Dean Philip McConnaughay is consulting with the bar association, Dickinson faculty and others to consider a specific approach, Spanier said.

"Students would be admitted principally to one campus or the other," Spanier said, "but would be able to take courses at the other campus, take certain courses offered jointly on both campuses, or move to the other campus for a semester or year for specialized experiences and educational opportunities."

Widener University School of Law currently has a scenario similar to Penn State's plan. The law school went through such a change in the late 1980s and early 1990s when it established a campus in Harrisburg. It also has a campus in Wilmington, Del., and the two locations share one accreditation.
Widener law school Dean Douglas E. Ray said that each campus has its own identity, but that because of the combined size -- total enrollment is about 1,600 students -- the law school is able to provide additional programs and an extensive law library collection.

Though the model is successful for Widener, Ray said, he spends less time with students, faculty and donors than he would like.

"It means the dean is able to be less personally involved in each campus," Ray said.

Rutgers University also has two law school campuses -- one in Camden and one in Newark. However, each location has its own ABA accreditation and separate administrations.

Penn State's fellow Big Ten institution Indiana University has law school campuses, each with their own accreditation, in Bloomington and Indianapolis. Colleen Kristl Pauwells, associate professor of law and director of the law library, said the original law school was founded in 1842 in Bloomington. Another law school, the Indiana Law School in Indianapolis, began to struggle during World Wars I and II and merged with the University of Indiana in 1944. The Indianapolis campus originally offered only night courses, but began a daytime program in 1969, Pauwells said.

The University of Missouri also has two law school campuses -- one in Kansas City and one in Columbia, Mo.

Dickinson board members have been contemplating the fate of the law school since November, when a confidential memorandum from McConnaughay was leaked to the media. The memo outlined possible plans for the school's future, including moving the school to University Park.

CAN DUAL-CAMPUS LAW SCHOOL WORK?

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Monday, June 21, 2004

CAN DUAL-CAMPUS LAW SCHOOL WORK? PENN STATE DEBATES NEW PROPOSAL
MARTHA RAFFAELE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARRISBURG -- From state Rep. Will Gabig's perspective, a debate that raged for months over whether Penn State University's law school should move from Carlisle to State College represented "a struggle for the soul of the law school." Gabig, a Cumberland County Republican whose district includes Penn State's Dickinson School of Law, is among a group of legislators and community leaders who have fought to keep the 170- year-old school in Carlisle, its original home.

On the other side are those who support law school Dean Philip J. McConnaughay's recommendation to move Dickinson to Penn State's main campus at University Park in State College. McConnaughay contends that a move to a new, state-of-the-art facility will improve its reputation.

In the end -- after Penn State University President Graham Spanier presented a last-minute plan to divide the law school into two campuses -- Dickinson's board of governors decided to study the idea. The two campuses would complement each other under a single administrative umbrella.

But can one law school provide separate but equal programs? The prospect of a compromise hasn't completely appeased opponents of a move.

In Carlisle, Dickinson has built a reputation as a "people's law school," according to Gabig, graduating public servants ranging from district attorneys to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, a former governor. In State College, its orientation would likely be more academic than practical, he said.

Gabig said one campus will become dominant.

"I think this is just an attempt at the 11th hour to throw a monkey wrench into the decision of the board," he said.

Gov. Ed Rendell, who previously opposed moving the law school, now says he believes the school can function in two places, as long as Penn State spends equal amounts of money and maintains equal standards for the campuses, such as student-to-teacher ratios.

Rendell has pledged $10 million toward the $25 million cost of renovating Trickett Hall, which houses the current school. Penn State is matching that $10 million, and footing the entire $60 million bill for a University Park facility, which would open in 2008.

"I think a dual campus can work, particularly if the Carlisle campus begins to specialize in government law and public-service law" because of its proximity to Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., he said.

During a news conference to discuss the dual-campus proposal, Spanier insisted the university was "absolutely committed" to making sure both campuses could thrive.

"Penn State is probably the best university in the country that has models of operating at different sites simultaneously and trying to make them all be very successful," said Spanier, referring to the university's many smaller campuses across the state.
LeRoy S. Zimmerman, chairman of Dickinson's board, said it was important to find a proposal that reflects a consensus of the board. He had not formally polled members on the question of a campus move, but suspected that any vote would be close.

The board of governors is expected to consider an agreement to cement the dual-campus format by Aug. 15.

"When this vote is over, whether it's a joint or a dual campus or whatever, that's when the work begins, and in order to accomplish that work we do need consensus," he said.

More importantly, he hopes the skeptics can eventually accept that the board has truly abandoned the notion of moving.

"I know there are people that think this is some kind of Trojan horse, and I don't know what you can do with them," he said. "If you try to get over the emotional aspect and the trust issue, this is just a wonderful opportunity."

Committee named to study proposed PSU law school move

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, June 20, 2004

Committee named to study proposed PSU law school move
The Associated Press
CARLISLE The chairman of the board that runs Penn State's law school on Saturday appointed an eight-member committee to study the idea of creating a two-campus law school.

The independent governing board of Dickinson School of Law voted last weekend to study the option of creating a law school with campuses in both Carlisle and State College rather than moving the school entirely from its lifelong home in Carlisle.

"Our goal is a draft agreement that covers one law school with two co-equal campuses," LeRoy S. Zimmerman, chairman of the board of governors of The Dickinson School of Law, who will chair the committee, said in a statement Saturday. "That means one dean, one administration, one consolidated budget, and, perhaps most important, a single accreditation."

Supporters of a move say staying in Carlisle would require millions of dollars in maintenance and building renovations. They say moving to State College could bolster the school's reputation and allow students to take advantage of a wide variety of joint-degree programs.

Opponents maintain that the move would deliver an economic blow to Carlisle.

The other people appointed to the committee were William R. Caroselli, a former president of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association; Hubert X. Gilroy, a Carlisle lawyer; Lewis Katz, a New Jersey lawyer and principal owner of the New Jersey Nets; Leslie Anne Miller, general counsel of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania; H. Laddie Montague, a shareholder in a Philadelphia law firm; Arthur L. Piccone, a partner in a Wilkes-Barre law firm; and J. Rodman Steele Jr., a shareholder in a law firm in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The board is scheduled to consider the draft agreement on or before Aug. 15. If approved, the agreement then would be submitted to Penn State's Board of Trustees at its meeting Sept. 10.

2-campus law school option due study

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Sunday, June 20, 2004

2-campus law school option due study ; Dickinson leader appoints committee to review proposal
The Associated Press
The chairman of the board that runs Penn State University's law school yesterday appointed an eight-member committee to study the idea of creating a two-campus law school. The independent governing board of Dickinson School of Law voted last weekend to study the option of creating a law school with campuses in both Carlisle and State College rather than moving the school entirely from its lifelong home in Carlisle.

"Our goal is a draft agreement that covers one law school with two co-equal campuses," LeRoy S. Zimmerman, chairman of the Board of Governors of The Dickinson School of Law, who will chair the committee, said in a statement yesterday. "That means one dean, one administration, one consolidated budget, and, perhaps most important, a single accreditation."

Supporters of a move say staying in Carlisle would require millions of dollars in maintenance and building renovations. They say moving to State College could bolster the school's reputation and allow students to take advantage of a variety of joint-degree programs.

Opponents maintain that the move would deliver an economic blow to Carlisle.

The other people appointed to the committee were William R. Caroselli, a former president of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association; Hubert X. Gilroy, a Carlisle lawyer; Lewis Katz, a New Jersey lawyer and principal owner of the New Jersey Nets; Leslie Anne Miller, general counsel of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; H. Laddie Montague, a shareholder in a Philadelphia law firm; Arthur L. Piccone, a partner in a Wilkes-Barre law firm; and J. Rodman Steele Jr., a shareholder in a law firm in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The board is scheduled to consider the draft agreement on or before Aug. 15. If approved, the agreement would be submitted to Penn State's Board of Trustees at its meeting Sept. 10.

Committee named to study proposed Penn State law school move

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Saturday, June 19, 2004

Committee named to study proposed Penn State law school move
The Associated Press
CARLISLE The chairman of the board that runs Penn State's law school today appointed an eight-member committee to study the idea of creating a two-campus law school.

The independent governing board of The Dickinson School of Law voted last weekend to study the option of creating a law school with campuses in both Carlisle and State College rather than moving the school entirely from its lifelong home in Carlisle.

"Our goal is a draft agreement that covers one law school with two co-equal campuses," LeRoy S. Zimmerman, chairman of the board of governors of The Dickinson School of Law, who will chair the committee, said in a statement today. "That means one dean, one administration, one consolidated budget, and, perhaps most important, a single accreditation."

Supporters of a move say staying in Carlisle would require millions of dollars in maintenance and building renovations. They say moving to State College could bolster the school's reputation and allow students to take advantage of a wide variety of joint-degree programs.

Opponents maintain that the move would deliver an economic blow to Carlisle.

The other people appointed to the committee were William R. Caroselli, a former president of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association; Hubert X. Gilroy, a Carlisle lawyer; Lewis Katz, a New Jersey lawyer and principal owner of the New Jersey Nets; Leslie Anne Miller, general counsel of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; H. Laddie Montague, a shareholder in a Philadelphia law firm; Arthur L. Piccone, a partner in a Wilkes-Barre law firm; and J. Rodman Steele Jr., a shareholder in a law firm in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The board is scheduled to consider the draft agreement on or before Aug. 15. If approved, the agreement then would be submitted to Penn State's board of trustees at its meeting Sept. 10.

PLAN B ; 2-campus law school innovative, but Penn State must show details

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Editorial
PLAN B ; 2-campus law school innovative, but Penn State must show details
Of the Patriot-News
Does splitting the baby in two make for a workable institution? Or will the innovative proposal from Penn State to maintain a large Dickinson School of Law presence in both Carlisle and State College simply create a holding pattern until a full move to the latter becomes compelling? The law school's board of governors will need a lot more detail about how this bifurcated law school would work than so far has been made public. And they will surely want a guarantee that at some future date the university won't decide that a two- campus law school doesn't work and close the Carlisle campus.

"Plan B," as Penn State President Graham Spanier called it, was presented Friday night as the governors met to decide whether to move the law school to a promised new $60 million facility on the University Park campus, or remain at a far less well-funded facility in Carlisle. Had there not been a new proposal, it appears that the governors were prepared to reject the move. Instead, they voted to consider the new plan and make a decision by Aug. 15.

The good news is that Penn State has demonstrated a willingness to be flexible and to consider alternatives to the Big Ten law school model firmly rooted on the main campus. That remains the dominant element in the plan, but Carlisle gets more out of this proposal than the university earlier proposed -- a Carlisle "law center" -- in what was essentially a full-blown move to State College.

Yet, under Plan B, the main campus would receive the larger slice of the pie: a new building, more faculty, more students, more resources. Over time, one suspects, the center of gravity would tilt ever more emphatically toward University Park. In a decade or so, would the question arise: Why are we doing it this way, which involves costly duplication and the fading prestige of the vestige of the original institution left behind in Carlisle? Then, does it become time for the inevitable step of irrevocably severing the institution's Carlisle campus?

Promises will be made otherwise, of course. And while we don't doubt Spanier's word, the pledge should be in writing for the long haul. There is, after all, a great deal of skepticism surrounding Penn State's original intentions with the 1997 coming together of the two institutions. Did Penn State not then long to have a law school on campus? Was it not familiar with the law school model that defines upper-echelon rank?

One of the dangers in Plan B is that unless a conscious and continuous effort is made to treat both campuses as equals, one will come to be deemed superior to the other, one less than a full partner. And we know which campus that will be.

The desire to keep Dickinson School of Law firmly connected to its roots doesn't flow from misplaced nostalgia or a refusal to accept the need to keep abreast of the times.
Rather, it comes from the appreciation that the school in its current form is a fine institution that has long been, and remains, an important regional asset.

It can, and should, strive to become better still. The question is whether Plan B is the best way to get there, and retain a strong and lasting presence in the community of its founding.

At this point, there's too little detail even to guess.

Dickinson plan could cost PSU millions

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Monday, June 14, 2004

Dickinson plan could cost PSU millions
By Gwenn Miller gmiller3@centredaily.com
CARLISLE A proposed plan for one Penn State law school with campuses in Carlisle and State College could mean changes for faculty, students and the State College community.

The Penn State Dickinson School of Law's board of governors voted unanimously Saturday to further study the idea of having one law school with two campuses that would both offer full-scale legal education. Penn State President Graham Spanier has called the plan a "unique concept in American higher education."

LeRoy Zimmerman, the chairman of Dickinson's board, will appoint seven board members to serve on a committee to further study the issue. That committee is scheduled to present its findings to the entire board Aug. 15. If the plan is approved, Penn State's board of trustees would address the proposal at its Sept. 10 meeting.

"Yes, we have work to do, but, yes, we are making progress," Zimmerman said Saturday.

If the dual-campus plan is approved, Penn State would likely be posting some "help wanted" ads. Spanier said he expects to hire at least a dozen new faculty members in order to bring the student/faculty ratio down from 19-1 to 15-1. The new faculty would have expertise in areas such as patents, technology, agriculture and engineering, among others, he said.

Spanier also said he anticipates that existing Dickinson faculty will either stay in Carlisle or opt to move to State College. New hires would fill in the gaps.

Spanier said Penn State is prepared to invest $70 million in both campuses.

A new $60 million building at the University Park campus would be occupied in 2008 should the plan be approved, Spanier said. He said the first class there would have 150 students, and enrollment at that location would ramp up to 450. The Carlisle location would serve 300 students.

Dickinson students would enroll at one campus but would have the option to spend a semester taking classes at the other location or through videoconferencing. Each location would have an "appropriate complement of faculty, materials and support services," Spanier said.

Law students will have the same access to campus housing as other graduate students at University Park, Spanier said, adding that new housing was recently constructed on the West Campus.

But opponents of any move to University Park have their reservations.

"A move guarantees newness; it does not guarantee improvement," said state Sen. Hal Mowery, R-Lemoyne, who addressed the board Saturday. "The traditions, the connections, the loyalty -- all are found here."