STRATEGIC PLAN, 2000-2010 University of Georgia School of Law
INTRODUCTION
The University of Georgia School of Law has a proven record of success in producing leaders who serve with distinction in both the public and private sectors. Its graduates include the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, the Speaker of the House and the House majority leader, two members of the Board of Regents, key organizers for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, nationally prominent business leaders, highly regarded attorneys throughout Georgia, the United States and overseas, many state and federal judges, and leading public interest lawyers. This success must continue during the next century for the benefit of Georgia and its flagship University.
The Law School has been successful in preparing leaders because it is recognized as one of the nation’s outstanding public law schools. There are 183 accredited law schools in the United States, and U.S. News & World Report ranked Georgia 36th overall and 14th among public law schools in 1999. The Law School aspires to be ranked in the top 25 overall and in the top10 among public law schools by 2010. The keys to achieving this ambition during the next decade are (1) improving the quality of its highly capable students, and (2) recruiting and retaining faculty who are excellent teachers and highly productive, nationally recognized scholars as well as dedicated role models and mentors.
These are the keys to advancement because the nation’s best law schools are distinguished by the quality of their students and faculty. Georgia has an excellent opportunity to enhance student and faculty quality in the next decade for several reasons including the projection of a dramatic increase in college age students from the state, the prospect of hiring up to a dozen new faculty for positions that will open because of retirements, a tradition of strong public and private support for the institution, and loyal and generous alumni.
While the Law School strives to enhance student and faculty quality, it is imperative for the curriculum, as well as the school’s teaching, research and service programs, to remain responsive to developments in the law and the legal profession in Georgia, the United States and around the globe. It is also important for the Law School to take fuller advantage of being an integral part of the University of Georgia. Moreover, the students and faculty must study and work in modern facilities with state of the art technology and a comprehensive law library.
The stature of the Law School will be enhanced in the next decade by implementing this plan’s strategic initiatives. Of course, many of the initiatives require substantial new investments of public and private resources. The school has raised an average of over $1,300,000 in each of the last five years, over 30% of the school’s alumni make annual donations, and the total endowment stands at over $35 million. It is critical for these figures to increase for the Law School to achieve this plan’s objectives. Accordingly, the school will increase the resources necessary to reach this plan’s several fund-raising goals.
The Mission of the University of Georgia School of Law The University of Georgia School of Law is steadfast in its commitment to be a law school “of such excellence that no citizen of Georgia need ever leave the state because a superior legal education is afforded elsewhere.” This commitment to excellence, announced by Governor Carl E. Sanders at the groundbreaking of the Law Library in 1964, remains a realistic but ambitious mission for the Law School as it enters the 21st century.
Fulfilling this mission requires the Law School to offer one of the most effective programs of legal education in the nation. The educational program provides knowledge of legal doctrine and process; awareness of legal evolution and underlying social policies; transaction and litigation skills; and opportunities for public service through service learning. It includes a strong international and comparative law component. This rigorous program is conducted in a caring and congenial atmosphere by a faculty of dedicated teachers who are highly productive scholars of the first rank. The faculty prepares students to be successful in any career they may choose including the practice of law, political and business leadership, and public service. The program stresses the need for ethical and responsible professional behavior, and to strive for excellence in their endeavors. It is designed to educate and prepare students to solve concrete human problems and to become leaders in diverse aspects of social life. The educational program is at its core preparation for helping people.
The ability of the University of Georgia School of Law to be successful on its mission depends upon having the Law School recruit and educate an outstanding student body; hire and support a collegial and productive faculty dedicated to teaching, scholarship and service to the legal profession and legal education; and supporting students and faculty with a dedicated administrative staff, an outstanding library, modern facilities as well as up to date computing and information technology resources, and responsive and creative programs in areas such as recruitment and admissions, alumni affairs and development, and legal career services.
Strategic Initiative 1: To recruit, admit, educate and support highly qualified and diverse students who have great potential for leadership in the legal profession, politics, civic affairs, education, business, their communities, and all other areas in which attorneys are called upon to serve.
A. The Law School will raise the academic credentials of its entering class as measured by the 25th to 75th percentile ranges on the GPA and LSAT from 3.27 - 3.75 and 157 - 164 to 3.35 - 3.85 and 160-166 by implementation of the following strategies:
1. Enlarge the applicant pool through recruiting on campus at many well regarded colleges and universities, improved relationships with pre-law advisors at those schools, effective use of the Internet, and better utilization of the Candidate Referral Service to identify potential applicants.
2. Act promptly and efficiently on completed applications, and use faculty, staff, current students, and alumni to recruit accepted students more aggressively.
3. Highlight for prospective students the school’s strengths in areas like intellectual property, international law, advocacy skills, and clinical programs.
4. Use scholarships more effectively as a recruiting tool and, through private fund raising, increase the amount of scholarships given annually to entering and continuing students from $400,000 to in excess of $1.5 million by the end of the decade. These awards will come from income on endowments as well as annual giving.
B. Through private fund-raising and redirection of existing funds, the Law School will increase the resources supporting co-curricular and extra-curricular student activities and programs like student journals, advocacy programs, student organizations, and community service opportunities. These increases will be at rates in excess of the school’s annual budget increases.
C. The Law School’s placement rate within six months of graduation will remain at least 5 percentage points above the national average throughout the decade, and at least 5% of each graduating class will be placed in judicial clerkships.
Justification: In the fall of 1999 the School of Law enrolled a first-year class of 227 students with 25th to 75th percentile GPA and LSAT ranges of 3.27-3.75 and 157-164. This class had the highest LSAT and GPA among the four law schools in Georgia, and compares favorably with the first-year classes at several higher ranked law schools including Wisconsin (3.13-3.61, 154-160), William & Mary (3.11-3.58, 160-165), Illinois (3.14-3.68, 157-163), Iowa (3.18-3.73, 155-161), Minnesota (3.31-3.81, 160-165), and Texas (3.45-3.81, 158-164). The UGA Law School has a strategic opportunity to improve the credentials of its outstanding student body in large part because Georgia’s population of college age students is projected to grow by roughly 25% over the next decade. In order to take full advantage of this opportunity, admissions and recruitment efforts must be enhanced so that the Law School can compete for the very best students. This will require a substantial increase in scholarship funds available for awards to incoming and returning students as well as more direct involvement in the recruitment of admitted students by faculty, current students and alumni.
The Law School’s co-curricular and extra-curricular activities are vital to the overall student experience at the Law School. Moreover, the opportunity for moot court and mock trial competition, research and editorial work for a law journal, and leadership positions in student organizations help attract top students. The school’s substantial investment in these activities must be increased in order for them to continue to flourish and attract outstanding students. Similarly, the Office of Legal Career Services must remain successful in assisting students to secure employment upon graduation. Today’s law students expect to compete for rewarding employment opportunities, and it is critical for the Law School to show that its students and graduates enjoy great success in the marketplace.
STRATEGIC INDICATOR 2: To sustain and enhance the University of Georgia School of Law’s strong faculty, comprised of professors who excel both as superior teachers and accomplished scholars recognized at the state, national and international levels, while also excelling as role models and mentors of intellectual and professional integrity.
A.. The Law School will have the opportunity to hire up to a dozen faculty in the coming decade because of retirements. In filing these positions the school must recruit and hire men and women who are superior teachers and exceptional scholars who will enhance the quality and reputation of the institution as well as serve the profession. In doing this hiring the school will:
1. Consider candidates for Assistant Professor positions who have outstanding credentials, meaningful practice experience, and exceptional promise as teachers and productive scholars who will enhance the school’s reputation.
2. In filing senior positions, including endowed Chairs and Professorships, consider highly regarded and experienced faculty from other institutions with proven records of excellence in teaching, service, and scholarship, who will enhance the school’s reputation.
3. In seeking to fill a particular position, insure that the core curriculum is covered, that the full range of offerings satisfies the demands of a changing profession, and that subject matter areas are strengthened including environmental law, intellectual property, international and comparative law, and health care law.
B. The scope, quality, and impact of the faculty’s research, academic and professional dialogue, and publication of books, articles, texts and others forms of scholarship will be enhanced by implementation of the following strategies:
1. Through private fund-raising efforts and redirection of current resources, support for summer research will be improved during the next decade at annual rates in excess of the increases provided for base salaries.
2. A formal research intensive semester policy will be adopted and implemented.
3. Through private fund-raising and redirection of current resources, the annual allocation per faculty member to support his or her travel, research assistance, and book purchases will be more than doubled by the end of the decade.
4. Over $15 million will be raised to create new Chairs and Professorships as well as add to those endowments supporting the Law School’s existing Chairs and Professorships.
Justification: The Georgia Law School’s tenured and tenure-track faculty of 37 men and women is experienced and productive. The median years in teaching is 21, eight professors have been teaching more than 30 years, and up to a dozen will retire in the next decade. These retirements will be substantial losses for the institution, but they also will provide opportunities to strengthen the overall quality of the institution at both the junior and senior levels. In seeking to fill these vacancies the Law School’s hiring must be responsive to curricular needs, changes in the legal profession, and strengthening subject matter areas. Moreover, it is important to recognize that the quality of a law school depends in large part on the quality of its faculty’s research and scholarship. Therefore, the Law School’s current faculty, and new faculty hired in the coming decade, need to publish more scholarly works which will build the school’s reputation. In order to enhance scholarly productivity as well as to recruit and retain top faculty, the Law School must offer competitive salaries along with substantial financial support for research, scholarship and travel to conferences and meetings. Currently, the Law School’s endowments supporting the faculty with Chairs and Professorships are in excess of $21 million, and this total must be increased during the next decade by building up existing endowments and establishing new ones. The growth of current endowments through wise investments must be augmented by at least $15 million in new money.
STRATEGIC INDICATOR 3: To identify and develop areas of the curriculum for enhancement, thus ensuring that graduates develop the necessary skills to be highly competent and ethical professionals who are equipped to devise creative solutions and thrive in the integrated, global community which increasingly pervades all practice areas in all geographic locations, be they the smallest towns in Georgia or the largest metropolitan communities of the world.
A. The Law School will continue to respond to developments in the legal profession and to the needs of students entering the profession with appropriate changes and additions to the curriculum in subjects such as intellectual property, health care law, environmental law and international law, while ensuring that students are challenged in their reading, analysis, thinking, research, experiential learning, and writing and encouraged to be active in their profession and the community.
B. The examination of ethical and professionalism concerns in core curriculum courses as well as in advanced courses and the required Professional Responsibility course will be continued and complemented by initiatives supported by the A. Gus Cleveland Endowment for Ethics and Professionalism.
C. The Law School curriculum will evolve to include additional interdisciplinary courses, new joint degree programs with Accountancy, Political Science, Public Administration, the Terry College of Business and other campus departments. Joint programs with other institutions, such as the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Medical College of Georgia, will be explored and implemented if feasible.
D. The Law School will expand opportunities for faculty and students, from the United States and around the globe in teaching, research, service and learning in international and comparative law through the many activities of a consolidated Dean Rusk Center for International & Comparative Law and International & Graduate Legal Studies including the London Law Consortium, the Brussels Seminar, faculty exchanges with Lyon, ITAM and other institutions, hosting foreign teachers and scholars, educating foreign lawyers in the LL.M. program, supporting research and scholarship on international and comparative law issues, organizing conferences on such issues, and providing continuing legal education programs to foreign lawyers and judges. In addition, the Law School will be an active participant in the University of Georgia’s international initiatives.
Justification: The Law School added 30 new upper level courses, established a Civil Externship and a Domestic Violence Clinic, and doubled its teaching staff dedicated to legal writing in the last seven years. These curricular changes came in response to changes in the legal profession, feedback from employers, and student interest. During the next decade the Law School must ensure that its core curriculum is fully covered while responding to the need for additional strength in some areas and/or entirely new courses. The most significant opportunities for enhancing the curriculum require the Law School to take advantage of the University’s resources as well as the University’s ambition to have an impact around the globe. Specifically, the Law School must increase the number of its joint degree programs and facilitate more interdisciplinary studies. In addition, the Law School’s well regarded programs and activities in international and comparative law, including the Dean Rusk Center and International & Graduate Legal Studies, must be consolidated, better coordinated, integrated with the University’s international initiatives and thereby enhanced.
STRATEGIC INITIATIVE 4. To develop the finest physical and technological facilities necessary for the study of law and for service to our students, faculty, staff and alumni, as well as to the bench, the bar, and other communities the Law School serves.
A. In order for the Alexander King Law Library and the Hosch Library Annex to have sufficient space to facilitate collection growth, the Law School will:
1. Raise at least $500,000 in private funds to support the University’s efforts to build a Special Collections Library with compact storage for up to 100,000 volumes from the Law Library’s collection.
2. The Law Library will continue to identify and remove books that are redundant, superseded, or no longer useful for other reasons, as well as identify hard copy titles that can be replaced by less space-consuming formats without loss of functionality.
B. The annual budget of the Law Library for improving the collection, maintaining resources, and ensuring a full service operation will be increased from public, recurring funds, by over $1,000,000 during the next decade so that it is on par with the budgets at peer law schools.
C. The Law School will apply for Major Repair and Rehabilitation funds, seek special funding from the state, and raise private funds in excess of $5 million dollars to improve facilities and enhance technology capability in the following ways:
1. Renovate, refurbish and refurnish existing classrooms, study areas, and public spaces in Hirsch Hall.
2. Renovate, refurbish and refurnish the study areas, carrels, and public spaces in the Alexander King Law Library and the Hosch Library Annex.
3. Replace its current network wiring, provide network access to classrooms, and provide network access throughout the Law Library.
Justification: The Law School’s facilities include Hirsch Hall, Dean Rusk Hall, the Alexander Campbell King Law Library, and the Hosch Library Annex. These facilities are spacious and well maintained plus the school’s North Campus location is excellent. The King Library and the Hosch Annex together constitute a large and well maintained research unit at the Law School. The collection is strong and the staff is very good. The library is, however, outgrowing its facilities and needs retrofitting for enhanced computer and other uses. Moreover, its annual budget is far below that of peer law libraries. With regard to classrooms, although multimedia consoles have been added to four of the school’s largest classrooms, there is not sufficient wiring in them to accommodate the ever-increasing number of students who wish to use laptop computers. Moreover, the main buildings, Hirsch Hall and the King Library, have changed very little in the last 30 years while many peer law schools have impressive new or renovated facilities. Classrooms, study areas, carrels and public spaces need to be refurbished. Dealing with these technology and facilities issues over the next decade will be costly, but these are areas where substantial investments are needed in order for the Law School to compete for the best students and the best faculty.
Total New Funding Needs Over the Next Decade:
An increase in annual scholarship awards by over $1.0 million to be paid from income on endowments and annual giving.
An increase of $470,000 in annual expenditures for extra-curricular and co-curricular programs ($150,000), faculty research stipends ($250,000), and support for faculty travel and research assistants ($70,000). The funds will come from redirection, income on endowments, and annual giving.
An increase in the Law Library’s annual operating budget of $1,000,000. This money will come from public funds.
$15 million in new private funds for endowments supporting faculty chairs and professorships.
$5 million in public and private funds for technology enhancement and renovations of facilities.
At least $500,000 in private funds for the University’s Special Collections Library.
