A panel consisting of stakeholders from both of Penn State’s law schools will help develop plans for a unified law school, the university announced on Tuesday.
The panel’s creation comes following the Nov. 29 recommendation by President Neeli Bendapudi that the university’s two accredited law schools, Penn State Law at University Park and Penn State Dickinson Law, should reunite as a single entity with a primary location in Carlisle. Penn State Law had previously operated as a one-school, dual-campus law school from 2006 to 2014 before splitting in 2015.
The panel will work to create recommendations based on incorporating both schools’ separate strengths into one accredited law school, according to the university.
Penn State Dickinson Law Dean Danielle Conway, who will serve as the united school’s dean, and Penn State Law interim director Victor Romero will serve as chair and vice chair of the panel, respectively. Conway and Romero are currently reviewing nominations and selecting panel members. They are expected to make a formal announcement in mid-January.
The panel will consist of students, alumni and faculty from both campuses. Members will have been selected based on their ability to collaborate and engage in panel discussions and goals, as well as expertise in law school operations and an understanding of both schools’ strengths.
The panel will also aim to receive input from stakeholders who are not a part of the panel through surveys, feedback panels and potentially creating subcommittees.
“Penn State has two excellent law schools and Dean Romero and I are approaching this process as an opportunity to leverage the strengths of both schools by drawing on the energy and curiosity of students, the administrative experience and problem-solving skills of staff, the expertise and productivity of faculty, the leadership and vision of administrators, and the loyalty and commitment of alumni,” Conway said in a release. “I view this reunifying effort as a continuation of the evolution of legal education over its history.”
Conway added that reuniting both schools will help create opportunities to strengthen legal education and Penn State as a whole.
“This is going to be a thoughtful, reflective process that will include the input, concerns, and values of the students, staff, and faculty at both schools,” Romero said. “We will be working together to form a single law school in a process that overcomes challenges in a positive, forward-looking manner and brings our two communities together.”
“We expect that reuniting the law schools will be a deliberate and careful endeavor so that students separately admitted to Penn State Dickinson Law and Penn State Law, including those matriculating in the fall of 2023, continue to receive the high-quality legal education each school has promised,” Romero continued. “We want to reassure everyone that any transition to the new reunified school will not adversely affect students admitted to either of Penn State’s currently separately accredited law schools.”
First announced in late November, Penn State’s push to reunite its law schools came as the university was searching for a new Penn State Law dean — a search that was canceled with the announcement of the proposal. Final recommendations are expected by the end of the spring semester before plans are brought in front of university trustees and the American Bar Association for potential approval.
Current students and those enrolling in fall 2023 will continue to receive full legal education at their campus of enrollment, including bar preparation and job placement services, the university said.
Following Penn State’s proposed merger of the two law schools, more than 40 Penn State Law faculty members signed a letter urging that the university maintain a “significant” law school presence at University Park
