UC Hastings Law Announces New Plan, Vision for the Future
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 14, 2011 -- University of California Hastings College of the Law, the first law school of the American West, is responding to the changed circumstances of legal education with a bold strategic plan for the future. UC Hastings 2011: At a Crossroads charts this public institution’s way forward as a national leader in preparing law students for a dynamic marketplace that demands professionals capable of addressing the most complex problems of law and policy. It was accepted by the UC Hastings Board of Directors on September 10, 2011.
“We stand at a crossroads,” said Frank H. Wu, UC Hastings Chancellor and Dean. “We are witnessing profound changes within the legal marketplace, higher education, and the economy. Many of these changes are structural, rather than temporary in effect. They reflect a new era of dynamic transformation, powered by technology and global in scope.”
“Whether it is due to outsourcing within the profession, distance learning, or consumer expectations,” continued Wu, “UC Hastings faces a changing legal profession. We will embrace the challenges before us. Legal education, no different than the society it serves and the problems it is meant to address, must change. Legal education requires a new paradigm. This is our vision.”
The new plan outlines eight strategic goals:
- Create outstanding professionals ready to solve 21st century problems;
- Produce engaged scholarship;
- Enhance reputation and strengthen market position;
- Build a vibrant and connected community;
- Communicate identity and value;
- Optimize the campus to serve strategic goals;
- Achieve service excellence; and
- Maintain financial health.
Supporting each of these goals are 60 strategic objectives, including support for rigorous scholarship, a reduction to the size of the JD class, enhanced advocacy and public relations efforts, a capital fundraising campaign, and a financial aid policy aimed to ensure access and maintain a high quality and diverse student body.
The Strategic Plan was developed through a broadly inclusive process of institutional introspection that gathered ideas and input from students, faculty, alumni, board members, and all employees of the administration. The process was led by a Strategic Planning Committee of representatives from the student body, faculty, board, and staff, co-chaired by Academic Dean Shauna Marshall and Controller Debbie Tran.
“We are building a program that prepares our graduates to be ethical, dexterous, analytical and pragmatic professionals, able to tackle and solve effectively the myriad of problems facing lawyers in the 21st century,” noted Marshall. “Our faculty, working together in an environment that fosters collaboration, will develop a curriculum that serves the needs of our students and profession by ensuring that every UC Hastings graduate has had the opportunity to learn the law in the context of other disciplines and cultures and to apply that learning in a practical setting."
“Luckily,” continued Marshall, “in building such a curriculum, we are not starting from scratch. Many of the innovations outlined in the plan are already in practice across the College. Our job now is to ensure that those innovations are shared and replicated.”
For further information and to review UC Hastings 2011: At a Crossroads, please visit the UC Hastings website.
UC Hastings Mission & Tradition
The mission of the University of California Hastings College of the Law is to provide an academic program of the highest quality, based upon scholarship, teaching, and research, to a talented and diverse student body and to assure that its graduates have a comprehensive understanding and appreciation of the law and are well trained for the multiplicity of roles they will play in a society and profession that are subject to continually changing demands and needs.
UC Hastings College of the Law was founded in 1878 as the first law department of the University of California. Since its founding, UC Hastings has been an integral part of the fabric of the City of San Francisco and the California Judicial System.
UC Hastings is located in San Francisco’s Civic center, steps from City Hall, the State and Federal Buildings, the State Supreme, Superior and Appellate Courts as well as the United States District Court and Court of Appeals. UC Hastings is also adjacent to San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, one of the city’s most needy areas. UC Hastings’ location between the courts, policy makers and the Tenderloin is emblematic of the college’s mission to delve deeply into and unite the theory and the practice of the law, preparing students to solve society’s pressing problems.
Over the past 133 years, UC Hastings has served as the law school of choice for an ever-increasing diversity of students. Now, UC Hastings alumni span the globe and are among the most respected lawyers, judges, public servants and business leaders today.
Contact for UC Hastings College of the Law
Michael Trevino, Assistant Dean for Communications & Public Affairs, (415) 565-4892, trevinom@uchastings.edu.
Related Links
- Developing a Strategic Plan
- UC Hastings 2011: At a Crossroads
- Value of Legal Education (by UC Hastings Chancellor & Dean Frank H. Wu)
###