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PENN STATE DICKINSON LAW FACULTY ADDRESSES CRITICAL GOVERNANCE AND STUDENT MATTERS

April 2025 — Throughout the 2024-25 academic year, the faculty at Penn State Dickinson Law has worked to prioritize important student-focused governance matters following last fall’s approval for the reunification of the Law School’s Carlisle and University Park locations.

Faculty committees, each co-chaired by faculty members based in Carlisle and University Park, developed proposals to reconcile differences between the two locations in curriculum, academic policies, and graduation requirements. Those proposals were then taken up by the unified faculty, which held weekly faculty meetings, and adopted as Penn State Dickinson Law policy. Simultaneously, administrators have been developing new academic policies to harmonize and maximize the new two-location model.

While most of these new policies will be in effect starting with the class entering in fall 2025, the curricular impacts of the faculty’s progress are already benefitting students in multiple ways, including collaboration between the two locations on the externship program and the availability of new clinical opportunities.

Additionally, Penn State Dickinson Law cross-listed a few courses in spring 2025 and increased those options for fall 2025, using technology to leverage the expertise of faculty at Carlisle and University Park for students at both locations. Not every class will have a dual option, nor is that the goal. Required and core courses in the curriculum will continue to be offered in person in Carlisle and University Park, while the expertise at each location, as reflected through upper-level course offerings, will increase in availability through cross-listed courses.

Forthcoming work in 2025-26 will more comprehensibly focus on faculty governance policies as well as a unified Law School Honor Code, certificates for Juris Doctor (J.D.) students, concentrations for Master of Laws (LL.M.) students, and administrative processes supporting the needs of law students entering unified degree programs in fall 2025 and beyond.

Here are some of the policies the faculty adopted this academic year.

Unified Bylaws

To begin work as the faculty of a single academic unit, the faculty first had to establish rules for faculty governance. The Penn State Dickinson Law faculty adopted new faculty bylaws outlining membership criteria, defining organizational functions, conferring voting rights, establishing standing committees, and specifying meeting procedures for the Law School’s faculty governance organization.

Graduation requirements

Faculty adopted unified graduation requirements for students entering the J.D., LL.M., and Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) programs in fall 2025 and beyond.

J.D.: Students enrolled in the J.D. degree must complete the required first-year curriculum, including receiving at least a “C” in Legal Analysis & Writing I & II and Legal Research. The following first-year curriculum has been adopted for 2025-26 at both locations:

Fall Semester (14.5 credits)

  • Torts (4)
  • Civil Procedure (4)
  • Criminal Law (3)
  • Legal Analysis & Writing I (2)
  • Race & Equal Protection of the Laws (REPL) (0.5)
  • Pathways to Legal Success: Foundations, Skills, and Career Development (Pathways) (1)

Spring Semester (15.5 credits)

  • Contracts (4)
  • Constitutional Law I (3)
  • Property (4)
  • Legal Analysis & Writing II (2)
  • REPL (0.5)
  • Legal Research (2)

Courses like REPL and Pathways create student experiences that span both locations, setting a cultural expectation for Penn State Dickinson Law course offerings. REPL focuses on the core values of equality and justice for all through the lens of a historical, synthetic understanding of the Fourteenth Amendment, while Pathways aids students in developing their professional identities for success in law school and legal practice.

Over the required six full-time semesters, students must complete 88 credits, including an upper-level writing seminar and the Professional Responsibility course with a grade of at least a “C.” To maintain good academic standing and ultimately graduate, students must:

  1. Earn a grade point average of at least 1.7 in the first semester;
  2. Earn a semester grade point average of at least 2.0 each subsequent semester;
  3. Maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0; and
  4. Receive no more than two Fs during the student’s law school career.

In addition, J.D. students must complete a minimum of nine experiential education credits, with at least three of those credits earned from a clinic or externship. As part of increasing accessibility to experiential education opportunities for all students, the Carlisle sections of the classroom component of the externship program will serve students at both locations starting in the fall. This will allow students at both locations to learn side by side on Zoom and discuss their experiential learning externship opportunities. Bethany N. Schols will relocate to lead the Carlisle externship program and Gopal Balachandran will continue to lead the University Park externship program.

Similarly, some clinical opportunities have already been made available to students across locations. Four of the Law School’s 14 clinics have enrolled students from both locations in a single clinical course for fall 2025: the Entrepreneur Assistance Clinic, the Intellectual Property Clinic, the Manglona Lab for Gender and Economic Equity, and the Veterans and Servicemembers Legal Clinic.

Finally, the unified Law School will continue to offer and require students to take an upper-level civil rights, equal protection, and social justice course that satisfies the American Bar Association (ABA) 303(c) standard. A variety of these course offerings will be available for students at each location. Click here to learn more about J.D. graduation requirements.

LL.M.: To receive the LL.M. degree, a student must:

  1. Earn at least 24 credits;
  2. Complete Introduction to the U.S. Legal System; and
  3. Complete Legal Analysis, Writing and Research for LL.M. Students. This curriculum reflects the current requirements at our University Park location. Click here to learn more about LL.M. graduation requirements.

S.J.D.: Following detailed consideration, the Curriculum Committees moved to approve the current Carlisle S.J.D. policy for both locations. To receive the degree, a student must:

  1. Earn at least 24 credits; and
  2. Satisfy the requirements and rules outlined in the S.J.D. policy. The requirements include a residency period, coursework, a candidacy defense, and a dissertation defense. Students must also maintain satisfactory progress throughout the S.J.D. program. Click here to learn more about S.J.D. graduation requirements.

Academic policies

Faculty have also reconciled other academic-related policies, including:

  • Latin honors: For students graduating in 2025, 2026, and 2027, academic honors will be awarded as follows: cum laude to graduates who rank in the top 30 percent, magna cum laude to those who rank in the top 15 percent, and summa cum laude to those who rank in the top 5 percent. Rankings will be calculated separately for students in Carlisle and University Park.
    For students graduating in 2028 and beyond, Latin honors will be awarded as follows: cum laude to graduates who rank in the top 25 percent of the graduating class, magna cum laude to those who rank in the top 10 percent, and summa cum laude to those who rank in the top 3 percent of their class. Penn State Dickinson Law students must have at least 57 graded credits to be eligible for academic honors.
  • Class rank: Unified class ranks including students at both locations will begin next year with those anticipated to graduate in the class of 2028 and beyond. Rankings will not be posted on transcripts, but at the conclusion of each semester, all students subject to the new policy will be issued an official letter from Penn State Dickinson Law reporting their semester and cumulative class ranks.
  • Woolsack Honor Society: Penn State Dickinson Law’s honor society will induct students at both locations who rank in the top 15 percent of their class after the fifth or sixth semester.
  • Enhanced Academic Support Program: After each semester, students who are in good academic standing but whose cumulative GPAs fall in the lowest 20 percent of their class will be notified that they are subject to the conditions of the Enhanced Academic Support Program.

Reconciled grading norms and systems for both J.D. and LL.M. students are under consideration by the faculty at the final meeting of the year on May 6. The Curriculum Committee also recently put forward updated distance education and learning outcomes policies for faculty consideration.

Future updates

The Student Academic Handbook is being updated and will be released this summer, touching on other new policies related to class attendance, credit hours, co-curricular credits, independent study courses, graduate-level coursework, earning credits from other ABA law schools, grade appeals, and employment in law school. Policies still applicable to students graduating in 2026 and 2027 will remain available for future reference.