Dickinson to remain in Carlisle

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Saturday, August 14, 2004

Dickinson to remain in Carlisle
By Anne Danahy adanahy@centredaily.com
CARLISLE The Penn State Dickinson School of Law will continue to have just one campus -- in Carlisle.

The law school's board of governors voted 22-12 Friday to shelve a proposal for two campuses -- one in Carlisle and one in State College -- and work with Penn State to revamp the current campus at an estimated cost of $50 million.

"I think the board of governors' decision was a good one. I think we trust (Penn State) President (Graham) Spanier to work with the board of governors, with the university, to develop and build and plan and finance a new law school in Carlisle," LeRoy Zimmerman, president of the board of governors, said after the meeting. "We must have a new facility here to remain competitive in the law market for education."

"The decision not to accept the two-campus proposal for the law school is disappointing, but we will do our best to move ahead constructively from here," Spanier said in a news release.

Rodney Erickson, executive vice president and provost of Penn State, said after the vote that while Spanier and other university administrators have made it clear they're supportive of the law school, any financial decisions -- including whether the university's offer of $10 million to support renovations on the Carlisle campus still stands -- are up to the board of trustees.

"Ultimately, the board of trustees of Penn State will have to take under consideration all of the plans that would involve a building of any kind at The Dickinson School of Law, including the $10 million," Erickson said.

Penn State and Dickinson, which was founded in 1834, became affiliated in 1997. Last year, the board of governors began considering a proposal to move the law school to University Park and keep a satellite campus in Carlisle, which university officials said would improve the law school's rankings, help it attract top faculty and students, and address a lack of space in Carlisle.

The idea met strong opposition from the Carlisle community and some faculty, and it was replaced with a two-campus plan. Penn State officials had asked for a decision on the two-campus proposal -- which included an offer by the university to build a $60 million facility at University Park and spend $10 million on the Carlisle campus -- by Sunday.

The proposal also would have given ultimate authority on keeping either the University Park site or the Carlisle campus operational to the Penn State board of trustees -- an idea that didn't seem to appeal to many on the board of governors.

On Monday, the law school committee that looked into that proposal recommended further study of the two-campus approach, but only if the school would stay in Carlisle "in perpetuity." The university wanted to reserve the right, after 10 years of a dual-campus operation, to close either campus or to hand the Carlisle campus back to the law school and end its affiliation with Penn State, if the law school opposed the closure.

But Friday the board of governors ended up voting on a proposal, offered by board member Lewis Katz via speakerphone from the Olympics in Athens, to focus on the Carlisle campus.

"I think this is an outstanding day for The Dickinson School of Law," said board member Jason Kutulakis, who amended the motion to include the timetable and estimated price tag of renovations at the campus. "This is a no-lose situation. This is a win-win. The Dickinson School of Law will have a new facility in Carlisle. And if the opportunity arises or if the need arises in the future to discuss some future relationship, being located at University Park, that door is completely open."

But Leslie Anne Miller, who voted no, said she was concerned that the board ended up considering a different motion than it had planned. She said the one approved by the board did not guarantee that the law school will stay in Carlisle.

"This battle is far from over, despite the glee that seems to pervade this room," Miller said.

One board member expressed concern about the law school's ability to raise the money, and another worried about the loss in guaranteed funding from Penn State.

Friday's meeting was the first to take place since Gov. Ed Rendell signed a bill requiring the board of governors to make its meetings public, Zimmerman noted.

Law school rejects State College campus

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Saturday, August 14, 2004

Law school rejects State College campus
ELIZABETH GIBSON Of The Patriot-News
Instead of opening a second campus at Penn State University, The Dickinson School of Law governors want to launch a $50 million renovation of the Carlisle site. The governors, in a 22-12 vote yesterday, shelved a proposal from Penn State administrators to build a second law campus at State College.

"This is an outstanding day for our school. I'm ecstatic," Dickinson board member Jason Kutulakis said.

"I think it's very good news for the community and very good news for the law school as well," Carlisle Mayor Kirk Wilson said.

"The governor thinks the Carlisle campus is the best option for the law school, for Carlisle and for the future of the institution and for Penn State, as well," said Ed Rendell's spokeswoman, Kate Philips.

After the vote, however, some board members warned casting aside Penn State's offer could hurt Dickinson's efforts to draw more top- notch applicants and boost the school's national rankings. Those had been Penn State's reasons for suggesting the dual campuses and an expanded curriculum this summer.

?The dual-campus idea is a 21st-century idea, and I think we've got to look past the horizon,?? said board member William Caroselli, who voted against deferring Penn State's proposal.

Board member Lewis Katz, phoning in his vote from Athens, Greece, where he is accompanying the U.S. basketball team to the Olympics, said he spent Wednesday and Thursday evening on the phone with Penn State President Graham Spanier and governors board Chairman LeRoy Zimmerman hashing out a new plan.

"Instead of an outright rejection [of the two-campus plan], we're not at this time prepared to do a second campus [or] consider anything other than a new law school in Carlisle. Let's build our one law school now in Carlisle," said Katz, who is the principal owner of the New Jersey Nets. "Give Carlisle what Carlisle deserves, the continued presence of a world-class law school."

Katz said Spanier "couldn't be more supportive about a new law school in Carlisle ... [and] helping to fund raise in any way we ask him."

After the meeting, Penn State released a statement from Spanier: "The decision not to accept the two-campus proposal is disappointing, but we will do our best to move ahead constructively from here. Penn State now needs to move forward and develop a new vision and strategic plan for our law school."

And Penn State left the door open on the possibility for a second law campus in State College someday.

"Can it be revisited in the future? Yeah," said Wendell Courtney, Penn State's lawyer.

Rodney Erickson, Penn State vice president and provost, said the university trustees will discuss spending $10 million on Carlisle renovations during next month's talk on the university's five-year capital plan.

Rendell has pledged a $25 million matching grant from the state capital budget fund.

"As soon as the $25 million in matching funds is raised, the governor will be delighted to release the state funds," Philips said.

In addition to Penn State's contribution, charitable grants and alumni donations are expected to provide $15 million.

Some Dickinson board members said they want more money from Penn State for the renovation project.

"I have a great concern that we're not getting more earnest money from Penn State," Joan Mahrer said.

Don Taylor said he thought alumni giving would fall short.

But Katz was optimistic. "I promise you I will lead the charge if I'm asked," he said.

Member Hubert X. Gilroy said that when the board last summer launched talks about a renovation of Trickett Hall, funding was a great concern.

Now, "we are $25 million to the better," he said. "I think this is a fabulous proposal."

Board member Jan Jurden, a Delaware Superior Court judge, said the board was failing in its duty to Dickinson by snubbing Penn State's original proposal to build a $60 million law campus in State College and help pay for $25 million in renovations at Carlisle.

Board member Leslie Anne Miller also voted "no," saying she was troubled by inadequate planning for Dickinson's future. "We do not have the necessary strategic plan to guide this decision," she said.

The board, meeting yesterday in Dickinson's Trickett Hall, was originally expected to take up a recommendation to study the two- campus plan. Penn State warned the board that if the dual campuses failed to work, the university could close the Carlisle campus. Most board members said they would never agree to that condition.

"It's very satisfying to see it end up the way it has," said state Sen. Hal Mowery, R-Cumberland.

Mowery fought for state money to renovate the Carlisle campus and sponsored an amendment to the state Sunshine Act that opened the law school's board meetings to the public.

ELIZABETH GIBSON: 249-2006 or egibson@patriot-news.com INFOBOX: THE PLAN

The Dickinson School of Law's board of governors hopes to launch a $50 million renovation project with funding from: *A $25 million matching grant from the state capital budget fund. *$15 million in funds from Dickinson alumni and charitable grants. *A $10 million contribution from Penn State University.

HOW THEY VOTED A ?yes?? vote was a vote to retain one campus and to defer action on Penn State's two-campus plan. LeRoy S. Zimmerman, Harrisburg -- Yes Helen S. Balick, Wilmington, Del. -- Yes Zygmunt R. Bialkowski Jr., Scranton -- No Ward A. Bower, Newtown Square -- Yes William R. Caroselli, Pittsburgh -- No J. Michael Eakin, Harrisburg, -- Absent Anthony C. Falvello, Sugarloaf -- Yes Kathleen P. Galop, Madison, N.J. -- Yes Hubert X. Gilroy, Carlisle -- Yes M. Fletcher Gornall, Erie -- Yes Joseph M. Harenza, Reading -- Yes Shaun D. Henry, Harrisburg -- Yes Jan R. Jurden, Wilmington, Del. -- No Lewis Katz, Cherry Hill, N.J. -- Yes Edwin L. Klett, Pittsburgh -- No Sidney D. Kline Jr., Reading -- No Jason P. Kutulakis, Carlisle -- Yes Joan Dawley Maher, Carlisle -- Yes James G. McLean, Pittsburgh -- No G. Thomas Miller, Harrisburg -- Yes Leslie Anne Miller, Harrisburg -- No H. Laddie Montague Jr., Philadelphia -- Yes Michelle Moore, Atlanta -- No Joseph Nadel, San Francisco -- Yes Christylee Peck, Harrisburg -- Yes Arthur L. Piccone, Wilkes-Barre -- Yes Sylvia H. Rambo, Harrisburg - - Yes Thomas J. Ridge, Washington, D.C. -- Yes Dale F. Shugart Jr., Carlisle -- Yes Donald C. Smaltz, Torrance, Calif. -- No J. Rodman Steele Jr., West Palm Beach, Fla. -- No Tracy L. Steele, Philadelphia -- No Donald C. Taylor, Wilmington, Del. -- No Nathan H. Waters Jr., Harrisburg -- Yes Sandor Yelen, Wilkes-Barre -- Yes
TABULAR OR GRAPHIC MATERIAL SET FORTH IN THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT DISPLAYABLE


PHOTO; DAN GLEITER; Caption: This is an artist's rendition of a renovated and expanded Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle.; Rodney Erickson, Penn State vice president and provost, said university trustees next month will discuss spending $10 million to renovate The Dickinson School of Law.

Law school board sets aside two-campus plan

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Friday, August 13, 2004
Law school board sets aside two-campus plan
By Anne Danahy adanahy@centredaily.com
CARLISLE The board overseeing Penn State's Dickinson School of Law today voted to set aside consideration of a plan to create a second campus at University Park, and urged Penn State trustees to help fund a $50 million upgrade of the school's Carlisle campus.

The law school's board of governors voted 22 to 12 that new investment be put into the Carlisle campus. It called upon the state to provide $25 million and Penn State to contribute $10 million to upgrading the campus. The remaining $15 million would come from private fundraising efforts.

The board's resolution calls for the upgrade to be done by August 2008.

A committee established by the board to examine a proposal for a dual-campus school, with campuses in Carlisle and University Park, on Monday recommended that the idea be studied further.

The dual-campus proposal came about after a controversial recommendation by Penn State officials and law school Dean Philip McConnaughay to relocate the law school to State College, while retaining Carlisle as a satellite campus. That idea was strongly opposed by the Carlisle community, which has been Dickinson's home for 170 years.

The two-campus proposal, seen by some as a compromise plan, apparently didn't appeal to many trustees.

"We're not prepared at this point to do a second campus," said Lewis Katz, a Cherry Hill, N.J., lawyer who serves on the board of governors.

Celebrating sunshine on Dickinson board session

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Friday, August 13, 2004

Our View Celebrating sunshine on Dickinson board session
Today's Penn State Dickinson School of Law board of governors meeting is open to the public, and that's worth recognizing. No matter what the board decides -- and we noted this week that we'd like it to make a hard decision on the future of the school and move on -- the fact that there will be proper sunshine on its deliberations is a step in the right direction.

Previous meetings were closed to the media, and it took a bill passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Ed Rendell in July to open the process. At the time, we applauded the work of state Sen. Hal Mowery, R-Lemoyne, and others who pushed the legislation.

Before the board today is a committee's recommendation that the full board spend more time studying the proposal for dual campuses in Carlisle and State College, rather than vote on the plan.

We'd like to see a vote.

We'd like to see a decision made in the best interest of future students and the long-term stability of the school. A lot is at stake for two communities.

But it's not lost on us that the open process will allow everyone to know what the board of governors talks about today and in the future.

And that is important.

Penn State University said it is done haggling

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Friday, August 13, 2004

PSU wants law school decision on plan now
ELIZABETH GIBSON Of Our Carlisle Bureau
Penn State University said it is done haggling with The Dickinson School of Law's board of governors over a proposal to build a second law campus at State College. In a letter Penn State Vice President and Provost Rodney Erickson sent to the board Wednesday, the message is clear and uncompromising: If the board backs the two-campus plan, it must agree to PSU's terms. A vote calling for more talk will be deemed a rejection of the plan.

The letter didn't say what Penn State would do if its proposal is rejected.

But Penn State trustee Dennis Wolff said yesterday that Penn State is not planning to cut ties with the law school. ?That's never been discussed,?? said Wolff, who is Pennsylvania's agriculture secretary.

A Dickinson board committee studying the proposal appeared to be leaning toward the two-campus concept. However, the committee had recommended that the full board, when it meets today, delay a decision and demand better terms from Penn State. It said it would insist that the campuses be equal and that Carlisle remain open forever.

No amount of discussion or time will reverse the university's stance, Erickson said in his letter.

A vote to wait or renegotiate would ?constitute a rejection of the proposal and the university would consider it as such,?? he said.

Erickson said Penn State's offer to build a $60 million law school at State College and contribute to a $25 million upgrade of Trickett Hall in Carlisle rivals any project the university has ever taken on.

For that kind of money, Penn State's trustees must have the power to close the Carlisle campus if it can't survive academically or financially, Erickson said.

Erickson's statement stunned board members.

Dickinson board Chairman LeRoy Zimmerman said he was ?surprised and disappointed that the university would interpret our actions ... as a rejection. It was certainly not intended to be that.??

Some wondered if Penn State was serious about pursuing the two- campus plan in the first place.

Member Jason Kutulakis said that when Penn State suggested last fall that the law school should be moved to State College, the university pushed that plan with ?intense dialogue and pressure to talk and negotiate.??

Penn State President Graham Spanier withdrew that proposal in June after vocal public dissent and presented the two-campus idea. He insisted the board give him a decision by Sunday.

?They pursued [the two-campus plan] for less than two months and then pulled the carpet out when the board said ?We want to study it,??? Kutulakis said.

Board members and members of the law school's alumni association began an analysis of the two-campus proposal. Some of their findings didn't mesh with Penn State's.

Penn State argued that operating the law school in State College could boost admissions and Dickinson's national rankings because law students and professors could develop specialties by interacting with other university departments.

The alumni association's report said law students already interact with academic departments at Penn State's Harrisburg campus. It said that American Bar Association rules limit the number of teleconference classes. Penn State cited teleconferencing as an advantage of the two-campus plan.

The alumni also dispute Penn State's contention that a move to University Park would boost rankings.

A university spokesman wouldn't elaborate on Erickson's statement and wouldn't say what Penn State's next step might be.

?I don't think we want to speculate on what will happen. We'll see where we go?? after the board meets today, said Bill Mahon, director of public information.

Erickson will attend the 10 a.m. meeting in Trickett Hall on the law school campus in Carlisle, Mahon said.

Dickinson Dean Philip McConnaughay's spokeswoman said he wouldn't comment until after the meeting.

Another delay in Dickinson decision

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004


Our View Another delay in Dickinson decision

It is disappointing that, after months of debate, we appear to be no closer to a decision concerning the future of Penn State's Dickinson School of Law. On Monday, a committee composed of members of Dickinson's board of governors recommended that the board spend more time investigating the proposal for two campuses -- one in Carlisle and one in State College -- rather than vote on the plan Friday.

We have to wonder what can be learned through further consideration that could not be learned in the past two months.

In a split decision, four committee members voted to recommend the plan be studied further, one voted against that recommendation, and one committee member abstained. At least board member Leslie Anne Miller, who opposed the recommendation, took a stand on something.

The law school's future has been in turmoil since it was learned early this year that Penn State was considering moving the operation to the University Park campus.

In a meeting with the Centre Daily Times, Dickinson Dean Philip McConnaughay and Penn State President Graham Spanier said their intent was to maintain a presence in Carlisle -- a site for legal professionals to gather for seminars and workshops -- but to move the primary law-school operation to State College. Those officials pointed to the benefits of "co-location" with Penn State's other colleges and disciplines, creating the opportunity for shared research and education.

In Carlisle, business and political leaders have reacted strongly, opposing the prospect of losing such an established local industry and community icon.

That polarization led to a compromise proposal, announced just as the board of governors was set to formally address the situation in June. The new "dual-campus" plan would have Penn State spending $60 million to build a new law school at University Park and contributing $10 million more toward improvements to the Carlisle campus, where there would also be an active law school. The governor pledged $10 million in state taxpayer money for the Carlisle school, where improvements would cost $25 million.

Since then, we've been awaiting word on the perceived viability of that plan. Instead, when the Dickinson board meets Friday, it is unlikely a decision will be made.

If the board can't come to a consensus about the future of the law school, it must at a minimum set a rigid timetable for resolution.

Step one: Vote on the dual-campus concept. If that plan is rejected, decide which campus best suits the needs of the law school; if the dual-campus plan is approved, get busy making it happen.

As we've maintained, the decision must be made in the best interest of future students and the long-term stability of the law school.

Either the best option is to keep the law school in Carlisle, and spend enough money to adequately update and improve the facilities there to attract the top students and faculty, or to move the law school to the University Park campus, again in an effort to attract the top students and faculty, and scale down or discard the Carlisle site.

To us, the dual-campus plan appears to be an overly costly attempt at allowing all parties to get what they want -- which is not the way to resolve this issue.

Still, in June, we urged the Dickinson committee to return with specific pros and cons about a dual-campus setup and make a concrete recommendation for the board of governors: Move forward with the proposal or reject it. One or the other.

That didn't happen.

Now, the full board must make the hard decision its committee could not.

And it must do so in a timely fashion.

More study for Dickinson

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
MIDDAY REPORT: More study for Dickinson
The Dickinson School of Law committee studying the future of the school has spoken. Its suggestion for the board of governors: Keep studying the issue of a dual-campus plan.

The board meets Friday and is now not expected to make a decision on the school's future. See our story today and watch for future coverage.

Seems something expected to take shape over the summer is delayed, and we wonder what that means for Penn State and the law school.

Stay tuned.

Penn State law school panel lacks consensus on two-campus proposal

Centre Daily Times (KRTBN) Copyright (C) 2004 KRTBN Knight Ridder Tribune Business News
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Penn State law school panel lacks consensus on two-campus proposal
By Anne Danahy, Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Aug. 10--HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A decision on whether Penn State's Dickinson School of Law should be expanded to two locations might not be made this week after all. Concerned about the possibility of losing control of the Dickinson School of Law's Carlisle campus in the future, a committee charged with looking into a two-campus plan voted Monday to recommend that the school's board of governors continue studying the idea.

That board is scheduled to meet Friday to vote on a proposal to make Dickinson a dual-campus school by adding a campus at University Park to the existing campus in Carlisle.

Committee members, who are all members of the board of governors, said that while some could see benefits in the idea of a two-campus school, there is a lack of consensus with Penn State on parts of the agreement.

A key concern is language that would allow Penn State to "hand back" the Carlisle campus if, at some point after 10 years of operation, the location was found to have irresolvable problems. A "hand back" would essentially end the Penn State and Dickinson relationship. It would occur if the university wanted to close the Carlisle campus and the board of governors did not.

University representatives said that they do not think that would happen and that it would only be a last resort if other steps to resolve any problems were unsuccessful.

Leslie Anne Miller, who cast the only "no" vote, said the resolution presupposes agreement on the concept of a dual campus. She is also concerned that the resolution the committee voted on states that the two campuses would be "comparable," which she noted, is different than being equal.

Funding is also a source of disagreement. Jack Stover, the board of governor's attorney, said the law school committee wants to ensure construction of comparable facilities at the campuses, with construction at University Park not starting until the funding for Carlisle has been secured.

University representatives said there is no expectation of closing a campus in the future.

The board of governors was originally considering a plan to move the law school to University Park, leaving a satellite campus in Carlisle. The Carlisle campus is in need of upgrades and expansion, and Penn State officials argued that a move to University Park would improve the law school's rankings and help attract top-drawer students and faculty.

That move, however, was fiercely opposed by the Carlisle community that has been home to the law school for 170 years, and it was shelved in June when the dual-campus concept was proposed.

"We're hopeful that in the end you'll say, 'yes,"' Wendell Courtney, the university's attorney, told the committee members.

He said if there were problems, such as faculty or student recruitment, the university would work with the law school to fix them. But, he said, given the investment the university would be making, "the board of trustees must have the flexibility to operate the law school as it does with every other college."

William Caroselli, committee member, and others at the meeting said despite disagreements, the negotiations have been friendly.

Regardless of Friday's decision, he hopes there will be continuing discussions, he said.

He and others also pointed to the short amount of time the two sides have had in which to reach agreement.

"There's tremendous potential benefits to be derived" from the plan, said LeRoy Zimmerman, chairman of the board. But, he said, the language concerns did not arise until June.

The committee also heard from representatives of the law school's General Alumni Association, who spoke against the proposal.

"It's putting the cart before the horse to negotiate terms before you have every questioned answered," said Luci Jankowski McClure, president of the association, during a break in the meeting. She said that includes questions such as whether there is a demand for another law school location.

The association surveyed its members and came out against the proposal. McClure said after the committee's vote that she was "somewhat comforted" by the proposal for further study of two campuses, but she thinks the first question should be whether another campus is needed.

Board committee votes 4-1 to defer PSU law school plan

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, August 10, 2004

DICKINSON DEBATE
Postpone 2-campus decision, panel says ; Board committee votes 4-1 to defer PSU law school plan
ELIZABETH GIBSON Of Our Carlisle Bureau
With only three days before The Dickinson School of Law board of governors meets to vote on a Penn State proposal to build a second law-school campus in State College, some board members still have doubts about the plan. Yesterday, a board committee voted 4-1 to recommend that the governors take more time to study the plan.

Several board members said Penn State hasn't made the case for a two-campus school and a vote to approve the proposal would be hasty.

Penn State, however, wants a decision by Sunday so that its trustees can take up the matter next month.

Law school board members said some of Penn State's terms are nearly impossible to accept: In return for renovating Dickinson's Carlisle campus and building a law school in State College, Penn State would get the right to close the Carlisle campus if, after 10 years, the two-campus plan fails. Or Dickinson could regain its independence from Penn State.

"What are we going to get back? A law school that is considered inferior and is going to be faced with a new, stronger competitor?" said board member H. Laddie Montague Jr.

Penn State administrators insist the terms are fair: They plan to spend $10 million to upgrade the Carlisle campus and $60 million on a new facility in State College.

"We must have long-term operating flexibility," said Rodney Erickson, vice president and provost.

Penn State has operated the law school since it merged with Dickinson in 2000. Its mark on the law school's identity is apparent from admission brochures and bumper stickers to the renaming of the Dickinson Law Review to the Penn State Law Review.

The board of governors has the sole authority to close the Carlisle campus.

Board member Hubert X. Gilroy asked what Penn State would do if the board rejected the proposal.

"If it's not approved, it's still our law school and we're still going to support the law school in the best way we can," said Wendell Courtney, Penn State's lawyer.

Penn State pitched the two-campus plan in June after it appeared that its first proposal, to move the entire law school to State College, was unlikely to win Dickinson board approval.

The two-campus plan would still give Dickinson a University Park presence, which officials say would enhance academics and improve Dickinson's third-tier spot in college rankings. Internships in midstate courts and law offices would still be available.

Penn State said staff and resources at the campuses would be equal. Students at one site could take classes from professors at the other via computer.

"I've always looked at Dickinson as being bigger than Carlisle. I don't think that Carlisle can compete with the opportunities that are out there" in a university setting, said governors board member J. Rodman Steele Jr.

Board Chairman LeRoy Zimmerman said Dickinson professors widely support the proposal.

The Dickinson general alumni association, like some board members, thinks a decision Friday would be premature.

"There's not been a credible, educationally based justification for this proposal," said Luci Jankowski McClure, president of the association.

She told the board committee that American Bar Association rules would limit teleconference classes between campuses. Students may earn only 12 of the required 88 law credits in such classes, McClure said.

And Penn State could adjust tuition rates to better attract applicants. Dickinson is the only Penn State graduate school that does not give state residents a tuition break, McClure said.

Board members said they will take that and other factors into account before voting at their meeting on Friday in Carlisle.

ELIZABETH GIBSON: 249-2006 or egibson@patriot-news.com INFOBOX: WHAT'S AT STAKE

The board of governors of The Dickinson School of Law has limited control over the school, which became the Penn State law school in 2000. But the board can veto any plan to move the school's primary location from Carlisle.

If the board accepts Penn State's proposal to improve the Carlisle campus and build a second, equal Dickinson law facility in State College, it must agree to give up its power over the school's location. Penn State is demanding that change because it wants the right to shut down the Carlisle campus if, after 10 years, the two- campus plan falters.

The board will vote at a public meeting at 10 a.m. Friday at Dickinson's Trickett Hall, 150 S. College St., Carlisle.

Dickinson Law should dump PSU

Patriot-News Copyright (c) 2004 Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.
Monday, August 9, 2004
Letters
Dickinson Law should dump PSU
It's time for the board of governors at the Dickinson School of Law to admit that the merger with Penn State was wrong and to begin planning to revoke the agreement and once again become a private institution. Penn State President Graham Spanier apparently never was interested in the law school remaining in Carlisle. He was seeking a quick fix to get an accredited school on Penn State's main campus. Otherwise, he would have honored the original language on the school staying in Carlisle. Nor would he have proposed a two-campus program with the provision to close the Carlisle school if it fell below expectations. I believe it is obvious that the Carlisle school would not last 10 years under that scenario.

There can be no other conclusion regarding this situation. It was a bad deal and now's the time to break it. Penn State broke the agreement with Geisinger Medical Center, and now is the time for Dickinson Law to break away and go once again on its own. It is the right thing for the students, alumni and the Carlisle community.

 WAYNE POWELL
Carlisle

Law school's board prepares for Friday vote

Centre Daily Times (c) Copyright 2004, Centre Daily Times. All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, August 8, 2004

Dual-campus debate on tap at Dickinson; Law school's board prepares for Friday vote
By Anne Danahy adanahy@centredaily.com
A committee that has been examining a plan to transform Dickinson School of Law into a two-campus school will meet Monday in Harrisburg to make its recommendation to the school's board of governors. LeRoy Zimmerman, chairman of the board and a member of the committee, said the board of governors will then meet Friday to vote on the plan to create a campus in University Park in addition to the current campus in Carlisle.

He said the hope is the dual-campus approach can move forward. "Obviously it depends on the details and what the two sides are able to agree upon," he said.

Under the proposal, the two campuses would share one dean, one administration and one budget. Trickett Hall at the Carlisle campus would undergo a $25 million renovation. Penn State would pay for $10 million of that, and Gov. Ed Rendell has pledged $10 million for the project. At University Park, a $60 million building would be constructed.

The buildings would be outfitted with equipment, such as videoconferencing technology, to allow for students to take classes at both campuses.

The two campuses would operate as one law school with a targeted 15-1 ratio of students to faculty. The goal would be for 450 students to attend school at the University Park campus and 300 students to study at the Carlisle campus.

"The two-campus proposal does not pit the Carlisle campus against the University Park campus in a competition for students; it delivers the advantages of both locations to all of our students," Philip McConnaughay, dean of the law school, said in a statement posted on the school's Web site.

The board was originally considering a plan to move the bulk of the law school to the University Park campus, leaving only a satellite campus in Carlisle. McConnaughay and Penn State officials said such a a move would provide more opportunities to interact with faculty and students from the university's other colleges, help improve the law school's ranking and attract top students and faculty.

That plan was strongly opposed by Carlisle officials, and several state lawmakers and law school alumni, who said moving the school to University Park would harm the economy of Carlisle, the school's home for 170 years.

The board was scheduled to vote on relocation June 12, but instead was presented with the two-campus proposal and opted instead to consider that plan.

If the board approves the dual-campus proposal Friday, Penn State's board of trustees will vote on the plan Sept. 10.

"It certainly gives Dickinson Law School the opportunity to enjoy the strengths and benefits of its long traditions in Carlisle and the new opportunities for education at University Park," Zimmerman said. In addition, he said one of the issues that has been under discussion is whether the agreement would require that the law school always stay in Carlisle.

When Penn State and Dickinson merged, the agreement said the school would stay in Carlisle in perpetuity, Zimmerman said. He said the university wants the board to give that up, but the board is "not inclined" to do that.