PSU, Dickinson may sever ties

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Saturday, September 18, 2004

PSU, Dickinson may sever ties
By Anne Danahy adanahy@centredaily.com
UNIVERSITY PARK Penn State and The Dickinson School of Law might end their relationship, following an unsuccessful attempt to expand the law school to include a University Park campus.

Penn State issued a statement Friday saying the two institutions are looking into severing their seven-year-old affiliation and creating a partnership between the law school and Dickinson College, the law school's neighbor in Carlisle.

The announcement came as the Penn State board of trustees met to, among other things, approve a university budget request to the state for $344.8 million, including $10 million specifically for the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

An affiliation between Dickinson College and the law school would address Carlisle residents' concerns about keeping the school in town and would provide the law school with the benefits of a larger institution, Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said.

"It's a mutual decision, really," he said. "We think it makes some sense for Carlisle. Clearly, many of the board of governors felt it's important to have one location and have that location in Carlisle. We have seen the trend in higher legal education, clearly, overwhelmingly, is to have law schools affiliated with larger institutions so that students and faculty can get involved in interdisciplinary studies and research."

If, after examination, the affiliation is deemed sound, Dickinson College would begin negotiations with Penn State, she said.

Penn State and The Dickinson School of Law began the process of affiliation with Penn State in 1997 and became fully affiliated three years later. Though Dickinson College and the law school are located next to each other and have had close ties, they have operated as separate entities for at least the past 90 years.

The law school's board of governors would have to give its approval for the change to occur. Board Chairman LeRoy S. Zimmerman said he learned of the discussions only recently and wanted more details before weighing in.

"Certainly Dickinson College has an outstanding reputation as a liberal arts college. And there is a lot of history as well as proximity that would be a positive. But there are plenty of issues to discuss before anyone wants to enter into a second marriage," Zimmerman said.

The move comes about a month after the law school's board of governors voted to table a Penn State proposal to open a second law school campus at University Park and renovate the Carlisle campus. Instead, the law school's board of governors voted to work with the university to improve the Carlisle campus at an estimated cost of $50 million.
Penn State had offered to pay $60 million to build a law school facility at University Park. The dual-campus proposal was put forth after an administrative proposal to move the law school to University Park and keep a satellite campus in Carlisle met with strong opposition.

University officials had argued that having a law school at University Park would improve Dickinson's rankings, help it attract top faculty and students, and address a lack of space in Carlisle.

Speaking to the board of trustees Friday, Penn State President Graham Spanier said the university viewed the board of governors' decision to table the dual-campus proposal as a rejection.

Penn State, as part of the proposal, wanted to reserve the right to close the Carlisle campus or turn it back over to the law school if, at some point after 10 years, the two-campus setup wasn't working. The board of governors opposed that plan.

Spanier also made a presentation of the university's request for state appropriations for the upcoming fiscal year to the board of trustees. The university is asking the state to restore its funding level to the $334.8 million it received in 2001-02 and add $10 million for the medical school.

Spanier said that if the state comes through with the requested $344.8 million, students who are residents of Pennsylvania would see a 5.8 percent tuition increase in 2005-06.

"Our overriding philosophy has been to be as frugal as we can but to maintain quality," Spanier said.

If the appropriation is lower than the requested amount, the tuition increase could be greater.

"State support is crucial for curbing tuition raises at Penn State," said Galen Foulke, president of the Undergraduate Student Government.

Anne Danahy can be reached at 231-4648. CDT reporter Chris Rosenblum and The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Law school, Dickinson discuss merger

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Saturday, September 18, 2004

Law school, Dickinson discuss merger
JAN MURPHY Of The Patriot-News
One month after its plans for The Dickinson School of Law collapsed, Penn State University may end its affiliation with the school and hand it over to Dickinson College. The university and Dickinson College announced yesterday they are discussing the idea of a merger between the Carlisle institutions. No timeline is established for making a decision.

Although they bear the same name and have adjacent campuses in Carlisle, the law school and Dickinson College have not been affiliated for 90 years.

The proximity of the campus and its history and commitment to the Carlisle community, however, prompted Dickinson College to consider the merger, said spokeswoman Christine Dugan.

College President William Durden referred a call to his office to Dugan. Dugan said, "It's still so preliminary that there's not really a lot of specifics that we can discuss."

Last month, the law school board of governors rejected an offer from Penn State to build a second campus in State College.

A merger would be a radical change for Dickinson College, Dugan said.

"The law school would alter our identity significantly," Dugan said. "So we have to carefully consider our mission and how this opportunity fits into our mission."

LeRoy Zimmerman, chairman of the law school's board of governors, said he has not participated in any discussion to dissolve the merger with Penn State. He said he learned about it through a telephone call yesterday morning from law school dean Philip McConnaughay.

"It sounds very interesting," Zimmerman said. "But there are still a lot of issues that need to be discussed."

Among them is Penn State's nearly $8.5 million investment in the law school since the two merged in 1997. There is also the $4 million loan, which the law school promised to pay back.

An agreement between Penn State and Dickinson College would also require the support of the law school's board. But Zimmerman said the move would likely require court approval, as was the case when the law school merged with Penn State.

During a briefing to university trustees yesterday about the law school's decision to spurn Penn State's offer to build a second campus in State College, Penn State President Graham Spanier made no mention of a possible Penn State-Dickinson Law School dissolution.

Instead, he spoke of the vision that the university had for a dual-campus law school. Penn State wanted to create an alternative to Dickinson's general law and government law emphasis by establishing a campus in State College for law students looking for interdisciplinary course offerings, joint degrees and access to resources of a research university.
The second campus was intended to raise the law school's national rankings and enhance its appeal to top-notch students. The university offered to spend $60 million to build the second campus.

After the law school turned down that offer, the law school board passed a resolution to plan for a $50 million law school to be built in Carlisle by 2008. Penn State promised to kick in up to $10 million and Gov. Ed Rendell committed $25 million, leaving the law school with $15 million to raise.

That $10 million pledge from the university was repeated during the trustees' meeting, along with a mention of coming back later with more definitive construction plans for the law school upgrade.

"We now must move forward and consider a future for the law school that will best serve future law students," Spanier told trustees.

He went on to say some law school faculty and staff were thinking about leaving their positions as a result of the law school board's decision to keep the school in its entirety in Carlisle. "I would urge them to allow us the time to chart the future course of the law school and other companion programs at Penn State," he told trustees.

Spanier could not be reached for comment after the announcement about the discussions with Dickinson College. Bill Mahon, university spokesman, said it's too early to discuss whether Penn State might start a law school at State College.

"This would not preclude it," he said. "We've had that option for 150 years, but we don't have any plans at the time being."

Zimmerman said that since the law school's merger with Penn State, issues have arisen as to "whether or not either institution was totally happy with the whole arrangement. But this opportunity [with Dickinson College] could provide a win-win situation."

He added: "At first blush, the issue of the name and location immediately go away. There are positives right there. ... But there are always issues that have to be discussed carefully before a second marriage."

Zimmerman spread the word to law school board members yesterday afternoon. But not all of them had checked their e-mail by the time the announcement was made public.

Law school board member Jason Kutulakis was caught by surprise. "It's quite a shock, actually," he said.

Kutulakis said he was intrigued by the idea, saying the college and the law school share the same historical philosophy and longstanding ties to the community.

"It's an exciting possibility," he said. "It's refreshing to see someone else that wants to make Dickinson School of Law the best it can be."

Carlisle officials also welcomed the opportunity.

"It could be very good in the long run," said state Sen. Hal Mowery, R-Cumberland. "I don't really think Penn State really wanted it that bad, after finding out there was a big push in the community to want to keep it here."

Moreover, Dickinson "ranks very high among independent colleges, not just in Pennsylvania, but nationally," said Mowery, a Dickinson College graduate. He said that could help boost the law school's ranking.

Carlisle Mayor Kirk Wilson said a college-law school merger was possibly the best possible outcome.

"It is an excellent opportunity," Wilson said. "The type of commitment Bill Durden has made will cross over to the law school. I honestly feel that with Durden it can become a much better institution and be more highly recognized than under the tutelage of Penn State."

"From a community standpoint, I don't think we could have a better situation," said Carlisle Borough Council President Frank Rankin. "Dickinson College has proven over the years to be a substantial and a very important part of the community and a key partner in the community. The fact they are willing to entertain acquiring the law school just gives me positive feelings."

This would not be the first time a Penn State expansion hasn't gone according to plan.

In 1997, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center merged with Danville-based Geisinger Medical Center to become Penn State Geisinger Health System, a system that covered much of central Pennsylvania.

But within two years, officials were negotiating the division of the two entities. They finally split in the summer of 2000 in a court settlement that cost Penn State $116.5 million. Staff writers Dan Miller and Joe Elias and The Associated Press contributed to this article. JAN MURPHY: 232-0668 or jmurphy@patriot- news.com INFOBOX: PENN STATE DICKINSON SCHOOL OF LAW

* Founded: In 1834, the oldest law school in Pennsylvania and the fifth oldest in the nation.

* Enrollment: 627

* Campus: Centered around one main building, Trickett Hall, in Carlisle.

* Graduates include: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and Sylvia H. Rambo, the first woman to serve as chief judge of U.S. Middle District Court. DICKINSON COLLEGE

* Chartered: In 1783, the first college chartered in the newly recognized United States of America.

* Enrollment: 2,224 full-time students.

* Campus: 115 acres in Carlisle.

* Budget: $91 million. The value of the endowment was $154 million. TIMELINE

* The Dickinson School of Law became fully independent from Dickinson College in 1914. It be came affiliated with Penn State University in 1997 and merged with Penn State three years later.

* Penn State last year proposed the establishment of a second campus of the law school on the State College campus of Penn State in an effort to give students more curriculum opportunities and boost Dickinson's admissions and national ranking.

* Dickinson's board of governors last month voted to defer Penn State's proposal to build the State College campus. The 170-year- old school was instead to embark on a $50 million campus upgrade centered around Trickett Hall.
* Yesterday, Penn State and Dickinson College officials announced they are exploring whether to turn the law school over to Dickinson College.

Dickinson College may absorb Dickinson School of Law

The Philadelphia Inquirer (c) Copyright 2004, The Philadelphia Inquirer. All Rights Reserved.
Saturday, September 18, 2004
PHILADELPHIA
Dickinson College may absorb Dickinson School of Law
HARRISBURG Pennsylvania State University and Dickinson College said yesterday that they have begun negotiating a possible transfer of affiliation for Dickinson School of Law from the university to the college.

Despite having the same name and a location beside each other in Carlisle, Dickinson College and Dickinson School of Law have been separate entities for at least 90 years. The 600-student law school began the process of affiliation with Penn State in 1997 and became fully affiliated three years later.

Any deal would require the approval of the law school's governing board, which retained control over the name and location of the law school after the merger with Penn State.

TRANSFER OF LAW SCHOOL DISCUSSED

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Saturday, September 18, 2004

TRANSFER OF LAW SCHOOL DISCUSSED
MARK SCOLFORO, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARRISBURG Penn State University said yesterday that it has begun negotiating with Dickinson College about a possible transfer of Dickinson School of Law from the university in State College to the Carlisle college.

Dickinson College and Dickinson School of Law were affiliated before the law school became independent in 1914. The law school became affiliated with Penn State in 1997, a process completed in 2000.

Earlier this year, the law school's governing board began to consider a move to State College or the prospect of operating a split campus.

Dickinson College spokeswoman Christine Dugan said discussions were in preliminary stages but the transfer offered some obvious advantages, namely "the historic affinity between the law school and the college, our proximity and our commitment to the Carlisle community."

Dugan said the college will have to determine whether operating the law school will adversely affect its function as a college, and consider the cost and funding for renovations to law school buildings.

"I know it's up in the tens of millions (of dollars)," she said. "I don't know exactly. That will obviously be part of the exercise."

Penn State released a statement saying that Dickinson College could help the law school establish cross-disciplinary classes and that a transfer would keep the law school in Carlisle.

Any deal would require approval by the law school's governing board. Gov. Ed Rendell has committed up to $25 million in state matching funds to renovate the law school if it stays in Carlisle, according to Penn State.

Penn State in talks on transfering Dickinson Law School to Dickinson College

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Friday, September 17, 2004

Penn State in talks on transferring Dickinson Law School to Dickinson College
The Associated Press
HARRISBURG Penn State said today that it has begun negotiating with Dickinson College about a possible transfer of The Dickinson School of Law.

Dickinson College and The Dickinson School of Law were affiliated before the law school became independent in 1914. The law school became affiliated with Penn State in 1997, a process completed in 2000.

Earlier this year, the law school's governing board began to consider a move to State College or the prospect of operating a split campus.

Dickinson College spokeswoman Christine Dugan said discussions were in preliminary stages but the transfer offered some obvious advantages, namely "the historic affinity between the law school and the college, our proximity and our commitment to the Carlisle community."

Dugan said the college will have to determine whether operating the law school will adversely affect its function as a college, and consider the cost and funding for renovations to law school buildings.

"I know it's up in the tens of millions (of dollars)," she said. "I don't know exactly -- that will obviously be part of the exercise."

Penn State released a statement saying that Dickinson College could help the law school establish cross-disciplinary classes and that a transfer would keep the law school in Carlisle.

Any deal would require approval by the law school's governing board, which retained control over the name and location of the law school after the merger with Penn State. Gov. Ed Rendell has committed up to $25 million in state matching funds to renovate the law school if it stays in Carlisle, according to Penn State.

Penn State's Dickinson School of Law will remain as one campus

U-Wire (c) 2004 U-Wire. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Pennsylvania State U.: Penn State's Dickinson School of Law will remain as one campus
U-WIRE-08/31/2004-Pennsylvania State U.: Penn State's Dickinson School of Law will remain as one campus (C) 2003 Daily Collegian Via U-WIRE By Ed Rowe, Daily Collegian (Pennsylvania State U.)

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- University Park will remain without a law school facility, now that the university's Dickinson School of Law has voted to stay at its sole campus in Carlisle.

Dickinson's Board of Governors rejected a university proposal on Aug. 13 to give the law school a second campus at University Park.

The rejected proposal included a university-funded $60 million law school facility at University Park.  It also included $10 million to renovate the Carlisle campus.

In the week leading up to the Aug. 13 Board of Governors meeting, the Dickinson committee, charged with investigating Penn State's dual-campus proposal, had asked for more time to analyze the deal.

The board adopted a resolution by member Lewis Katz to delay the decision for a second campus.

"We're not prepared at this point to do a second campus," he said, speaking to the board by telephone from Athens, Greece.

"Let's build our one law school now in Carlisle."

Katz said his proposal did "not give up any right whatsoever about ... what we feel down the line."

But university officials told the board that voting to delay the decision took the current offer off the table.

Because Dickinson did not meet the Aug. 15 deadline to accept the proposal, Executive Vice President and Provost Rodney Erickson said the university saw the board's decision as a rejection.

"At this point, we have no alternative than to accept this as turning down that proposal," he said after the meeting.

Jason Kutulakis was a Dickinson governor who voted in favor of Katz's resolution to delay a final decision.

He said he thought the board turned down Penn State's offer because of the issue of "perpetuity."

A clause in the university's proposal would have allowed Penn State, after a period of 10 years, to close down the Carlisle campus if it determined the two-campus system was not working.

"Our board is not willing to give up that authority," Kutulakis said.

"I was prepared to make a similar proposal."

Others had also expressed fear over the possibility that the Carlisle campus could eventually be shut down.

Don Grell, a Carlisle Borough Council member, said he had doubts about what he called "a very short time frame" of a guaranteed Carlisle campus.

"There was concern here that was a staged withdrawal," Grell said.

"They didn't seem to want to commit longer than ten years," he added.

Erickson said there was no underlying plan to eliminate the Carlisle campus.

But Dickinson board member Joan Maher expressed skepticism over Penn State's intentions because the university originally proposed the law school be moved entirely to University Park.

She also found fault with the proposed two campuses after there was an uproar of dissent over the initial proposal.

"They got through the back door what they couldn't get through the front door," she said in reference to the 10-year clause.

Erickson said the university viewed the rejection as a disappointment.

"We put a lot of time and energy into the dual-campus plan," he said.

Penn State attorney Wendell Courtney told the board the university would still support its law school regardless of the board's decision.

"The Board of Governors had the power to say no, and they said no," he said after the meeting.

"Now we try to do what's best for the law school," he said.

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said the dual-campus plan would have allowed law students to pursue multiple academic majors and to specialize their degrees.

Under the proposal, students could have done an exchange program with the other campus to gain the benefits each provided geographically.

"You'll find that most of the higher-ranked law schools tend to be ones that are located in close proximity to a large university campus." he said. "It provides a lot more options."

He said there are no more negotiations for a dual-campus law school scheduled, but the university still plans to give $10 million toward renovations at the Carlisle campus.

"It's our law school," Mahon said. "We want it to be as successful as possible within whatever parameters we need to work in."

Mahon said Penn State's Board of Trustees would ultimately decide on the funding to renovate the Carlisle campus. Penn State's Board of Trustees will next meet on Sept. 16 at University Park.

Dickinson students weigh in on 2nd campus ---- and they're called Juniors, not first years or freshmen.

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Dickinson students weigh in on 2nd campus
ELIZABETH GIBSON Of Our Carlisle Bureau
The "first-years" were unmistakable yesterday as classes started at The Dickinson School of Law. Clustered outside classrooms well before bells rang, the nervous scholars shared scuttlebutt they had picked up on courses and professors since arriving in Carlisle last week.

However, the freshmen turned confident in discussing a controversial -- and ultimately failed -- plan to move Dickinson to Penn State's main campus in University Park.

Adam Solander spent six years at sprawling West Virginia University earning bachelor's and master's degrees. He wanted to study law in a small-town setting.

"That was mainly what drew me to this school," he said.

News that Penn State had offered to build Dickinson a $60 million campus in State College also reached Aaron Kahn, of Washington, D.C., when he applied last spring.

He weighed the pros and cons of a stand-alone school and decided that studying will be easier in Carlisle, without the distractions he'd find in State College. But Kahn said he also knows that, in Carlisle, he won't get to rub elbows with University Park's science and engineering professors.

"The truth is, our reputation would be helped by going on main campus," said upperclassman Raymond Shank.

But Shank, a 1995 Cumberland Valley High School graduate, said he wouldn't have applied to Dickinson at State College because of his ties to the area and because Carlisle and Harrisburg offer internships that could lead to a good job.

Opponents of a move said internships in midstate courts and law offices couldn't be replicated in State College.

Penn State officials, when they proposed a move last fall, said State College could deliver equally valuable apprentice experiences.

They said moving Dickinson to the main campus would allow students to develop marketable law specialties by interacting with teachers in other fields. And a move could draw more top-notch students and boost Dickinson's rankings.

Then, in June, Penn State offered a compromise: Leave the school in Carlisle and build a second law campus at State College by 2008.

Dickinson's board of governors, which has say only over where Dickinson's primary campus is located, rejected the two-campus plan. The board voted instead to urge Penn State to back a $50 million renovation of the Carlisle campus.

Penn State trustees next month will vote on spending $10 million on that plan. The rest of the money would come from $15 million in alumni and local donations and a $25 million state grant.

Solander and others said a move to State College or a second campus there wouldn't have occurred until after they graduate.

But they admitted they are concerned over job prospects because of Dickinson's third-tier spot in U.S. News & World Report rankings.

?If the marketability of my degree goes up, by all means move it,?? said Luke Young, in his second year at Dickinson.

?But I'm conflicted from the moral standpoint,?? he said.

Young noted that local residents who rely on the school's free legal clinics would be abandoned in a move.

"They're indigent people. That whole resource would just be gone," Young said.

INFOBOX: LAW SCHOOL STATISTICS

* The 170-year-old school merged with Penn State University in 2000.

* Graduates include Tom Ridge, U.S. homeland security secretary; U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum; and Sylvia H. Rambo, the first woman to serve as chief judge of U.S. Middle District Court.

* Dickinson received 2,563 applications for the class of 2007.

* Enrollment in the three-year juris doctor program is 627, with 179 first-year, 211 second-year and 237 third-year students. Target class size is 180.

* Of the first-year class, 54 percent are male, 46 percent female; 45 percent are permanent Pennsylvania residents; average age is 24; minorities constitute 25 percent of the class, compared with 21 percent in 2003-04.

* Thirteen foreign-trained lawyers, from countries including Australia, Bulgaria, Italy and Thailand, enrolled in Dickinson's master's of law program.

Trustees to mull law school's future

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, August 22, 2004

Trustees to mull law school's future
By Anne Danahy adanahy@centredaily.com
A report on where things stand with Penn State's Dickinson School of Law will be given to the university's board of trustees at its Sept. 9 meeting, according to university administration. The law school board of governors voted 22-12 on Aug. 13 to table a proposal to open a second campus at University Park and instead focus on renovating the Carlisle location at an estimated cost of $50 million.

Penn State President Graham Spanier said in a news release that the decision to not move forward with two campuses was "disappointing" but that the university will "do our best to move ahead constructively from here."

Any renovation project at the Carlisle campus would have to be approved by the Penn State trustees.

Rodney Erickson, Penn State's executive vice president and provost, said in an e-mail that the $10 million the university has pledged for the Carlisle campus is included in the five-year capital budget. That budget will be reviewed during the September meeting, but any project would need approval from the trustees.

"The trustees will thoroughly review and evaluate proposed law school renovation plans in the same manner they handle the authorization for all other capital projects," Erickson said.

Along with that $10 million, the law school board of governors is hoping $15 million can be raised and $25 million the state has committed in matching money will come through.

The resolution approved by the board of governors called for working with Penn State and the board of trustees on Carlisle campus upgrades with a targeted completion date of August 2008. LeRoy Zimmerman, chairman of the board of governors, said the board is waiting to see what the trustees' plans are.

"We're letting the dust settle so that we can see a clear horizon for the future of the Dickinson law school, Penn State," Zimmerman said.

Under the two-campus proposal that was tabled, Penn State would have built a $60 million facility at University Park and spent $10 million on the Carlisle campus, along with other efforts to recruit faculty and improve the school.

The proposal included language that would have allowed the university board of trustees to close either campus after 10 years if it did not seem viable. Or, if the university wanted to close the Carlisle campus and agreement could not be reached with the board of governors, the proposal would have allowed the university to hand that campus back to the law school and end its affiliation with Penn State.

That proposal followed an earlier one to make University Park the law school's primary location.

University officials have said a University Park campus would help the school attract faculty, boost the school's stature and deal with a lack of building space in Carlisle.

The Carlisle community, however, fiercely opposed the idea of losing the law school that was established there 170 years ago.

Governors vote to join university in quest to rejuvenate law school

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Editorial
NEW CHALLENGE ; Governors vote to join university in quest to rejuvenate law school
Of the Patriot-News
Last week's shelving of Penn State's plan to split its Dickinson School of Law into two campuses was likely based less on its merits than on its stipulations. Members of the law school's Board of Governors knew that if they approved the two-campus plan, Penn State could close Trickett Hall in Carlisle after 10 years without their approval and move the school fully to State College.

In return for a short-term commitment in Carlisle, where the law school was founded in 1834, they were being asked to cede the control they retained when Penn State and Dickinson merged in 2000.

Surely the board's 22-12 vote Friday to put the plan on ice did not reflect members' concerns for the school's future. It was clear from the statements of several to staff writer Elizabeth Gibson that they understood the magnitude of raising $15 million in private contributions that will assure a $50 million renovation of the school's existing campus in Carlisle.

However, when Dean Philip McConnaughay sent the board a confidential memo last fall proposing to move the school entirely to State College, at least some members, like nearly everyone else in the region, saw it as a solution in search of a problem. Few realized that the always highly regarded school had slipped to the third tier in national reputation and that its graduates no longer were getting offers from the nation's biggest and best firms.

It was the failure to educate the board and the community about the need for significant change before proposing the move to State College that cost Penn State early support. And it was the university's insistence on an Aug. 15 deadline for a decision on the two-campus plan, with its stipulation for unilateral action if the Carlisle campus failed financially, that further stoked suspicions and community opposition to the move.

With its reputation for innovation, especially in so-called distance learning, the university surely has resources to bridge some of the gaps it sees between the law school and its other academic disciplines. The desire of many firms to hire young lawyers with a secondary specialty or even a graduate degree is the key reason Penn State wanted to bring the law school to its main campus. The university now must address this issue in some other way.

But in voting to keep the school in Carlisle and not open a second campus, the Board of Governors has assumed a responsibility of its own in this area. The governors need to determine why Dickinson Law graduates are not getting the best job offers, even from fellow Dickinsonians, at the best firms. The school needs not just dollars from these highly successful alumni, but help in rebuilding credibility and standing, as well.

In January 1997, when the merger was announced, university President Graham Spanier wrote in a commentary for this newspaper about the value to the commonwealth of Dickinson School of Law, which, he said, "has a tradition of outreach and service that fits perfectly with the land grant service mission of Penn State."

He added: "The law school joins an institution that is not geographically bound, but rather provides many of its important services in diverse communities throughout the state. ... I am particularly pleased that this merger provides Penn State yet another opportunity to serve state government and the people of the greater Harrisburg area."

There is no reason Dickinson Law cannot fulfill these expectations and, at the same time, open doors for its graduates wherever they desire to practice law. Seeing that it happens remains the greatest challenge for both the law school and its parent university, regardless of Friday's vote.

Penn State's plans for law school foiled

The Philadelphia Inquirer (c) Copyright 2004, The Philadelphia Inquirer. All Rights Reserved.
Monday, August 16, 2004
PHILADELPHIA
Penn State's plans for law school foiled
By Martha Raffaele Associated Press
HARRISBURG The governing board of Pennsylvania State University's law school has limited power, but it has flexed that minuscule muscle to the fullest to try to keep the Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle.

In an effort to end months of debate over how to improve the law school, the board voted by roughly a two-thirds majority Friday to recommend that Penn State concentrate on renovating and expanding the Carlisle campus. Penn State's board of trustees could consider the recommendation as early as next month.

The vote effectively scuttled a proposal from university president Graham Spanier to divide Dickinson's campus between Carlisle and the main campus in State College.

Established in 1834, Dickinson has been largely under Penn State's control since a merger between the two schools in 2000. At the time, Penn State was one of only two Big Ten universities without a law school, and Dickinson - the state's oldest law school - was seeking a way to survive in an increasingly competitive higher education market.

Penn State and its board of trustees oversee Dickinson's day-to-day operations, from hiring faculty to approving new courses. Dickinson's board of governors was given an advisory role but it retained authority over the law school's name and location, which was to be in Carlisle "in perpetuity."

LeRoy S. Zimmerman, chairman of Dickinson's board, said that even though Penn State never suggested at the time of the merger that it would contemplate moving the campus, Dickinson still wanted to retain a measure of veto power over the possibility.

When the idea of moving the campus to State College surfaced, sweetened by the prospect of Penn State's footing the estimated $60 million cost of a new campus, "that immediately created a suspicion and a skepticism that it's a good thing that we put this language in, because otherwise, we'd be up in Happy Valley," Zimmerman said. Though the dual-campus agreement was touted as a potential compromise, it became apparent in July during negotiations between Dickinson and Penn State that the university wasn't giving up on its efforts to acquire more leverage over the law school.

As a condition of that proposal, Penn State insisted upon having the power to transfer control of the Carlisle campus back to Dickinson's board or close it if it couldn't be sustained after at least 10 years.

Although both sides characterized the talks as collegial and without rancor, Rodney Erickson, a Penn State executive vice president and provost acknowledged that a power struggle was simmering.
"A fundamental issue... is that we were asking them to relinquish that power," Erickson said. "Higher education is changing so rapidly, including legal education, that we need to be able to respond in ways that make 'in perpetuity' difficult. Change is the order of the day."

But now, assuming Penn State's trustees concur, change will be focused on what promises to be a massive face-lift and expansion of the Carlisle campus, an estimated $50 million project to be completed by August 2008.