Academic

Wilkes Barre Law School Moving Ahead

By Alfred Brophy

Wilkes University's board of trustees is moving ahead with plans to open a law school, according to this story from the Times Leader.  We've previously mentioned that they hired Loren D. Prescott from Widener Law School as their initial dean.  More details on the school are available at their website.  The first class will enter in the fall of 2011.  According to the school:

The inaugural class of 60 full-time students and 25 part-time students is expected to be seated in 2011. Once fully operational, the school will enroll 275 to 300 full-time students and 80 to 100 part-time students.

However, the trustees have made the plan "contingent on the University being able to raise the necessary funds without taxing the university?s other schools, programs or priorities."  What's not clear to me if how contingent that contingency is--or how much money they'd need to raise.  Last year I wrote a little bit about the economics of law schools at Madisonian.  

At this point, the administration will "develop a business plan to secure the necessary financial resources, identify a suitable building for the new school and seek final board approval."  They are also going to be seeking approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE).  I would imagine they'll also be hiring some faculty members this fall, obviously starting with the first year subjects.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on June 18, 2009 (boomark / email).