2001-2002 Annual Report Georgia State University College of Law
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Georgia State University College of Law Reading Room Annual Reports Historical Materials October 2002 2001-2002 Annual Report Georgia State University College of Law Janice C. Griffith Follow this and additional works at: https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/annual Institutional Repository Citation Georgia State University College of Law and Griffith,a J nice C., "2001-2002 Annual Report" (2002). Annual Reports. 24. https://readingroom.law.gsu.edu/annual/24 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Historical Materials at Reading Room. It has been accepted for inclusion in Annual Reports by an authorized administrator of Reading Room. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ANNUAL REPORT 2001 - 2002 GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY ANNUAL REPORT FY02 COLLEGE OF LAW w September, 2002 College of Law 2001-2002 Annual Report Section A. Summary of Major Accomplishments Planning for the Future The most important accomplishment among the many notable achievements this past year was the adoption by the faculty of a new strategic plan to guide the College of Law in the years ahead. The new plan was the result of several years of diligent effort on the part of many among the faculty and administration. The new plan integrates the college's future goals with the university's strategic plan and goals. Coupled with strategic planning was the development of a more specific plan of improvement arising out of the university's academic program review. Together these documents gives clear direction and specific goals for the college to achieve in the years ahead. Interdisciplinary Programs More interdisciplinary activities are an important goal in the new strategic plan. However, the College of Law already has much to be proud of in this area. This past year, for the first time, law students studied in the same classrooms with Emory's medical students and with Georgia Tech's city planning students. Professor Charity Scott collaborated with faculty members of Emory University's School of Medicine to introduce law and medical students to the interdisciplinary issues that arise from the intersection of law, medicine, and ethics. Professor Julian Juergensmeyer and Professor Chris Nelson of Georgia Tech's College of Architecture explored growth management legal and policy issues in classroom discussions among city planning students and law students. The College of Law co-sponsored a symposium and a conference that greatly served the community and highlighted the value of interdisciplinary cooperation. With the Georgia Institute of Technology's Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development, Georgia State's College of Law jointly sponsored a symposium on impact fees, which are imposed to finance the public infrastructure costs incurred as a result of rapid urban growth and sprawl. The symposium focused on the evolving impact fee practice, the emerging legal theories surrounding impact fees, and the effect these fees have upon developers, home buyers, taxpayers, and regional economic development. Attendees included state and local government officials, developers, and academicians. In the spring of 2002 the College of Law was pleased to participate as a supporter of the university's Heritage Preservation Conference in collaboration with the History Departments' Master of Heritage Preservation program. Law faculty continues to teach courses for Georgia State's Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, and Education. Correspondingly, a member of the Risk Management and Insurance faculty of the College of Business teaches insurance law to College of Law students. William Edmundson holds a joint appointment with the Department of Philosophy. The College of Law has three joint programs with other colleges at Georgia State University where one can earn a J.D. degree and a M.A. in Philosophy, a Masters in Public Administration, or an M.B.A. degree. It is hoped that current conversations with the School of Architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology will yield a joint degree program in law and city planning. Technolow Enhancements Technology has had a profound effect upon the practice of law, legal research, instruction, and law school administration. The College of Law at Georgia State University is proud to be recognized as a leader in embracing these new innovations. By nature technology changes rapidly, and the College of Law is changing just as rapidly with evermore integration of technology into all aspects of its academic endeavors. The college still holds its rank as the 1lth "most wired" law school in the country by the National Jurist Magazine. This past spring two members of the college's staff made presentations at the CALI (Computer Assisted Legal Instruction) conference, the most prestigious organization focused on this issue. The web-based Meta-Index for U.S. Legal Research, created and maintained by Professor Patrick Wiseman, won yet another award as an excellent source for internet legal research. Included among the technology enhancements enacted this past year are a new CD-ROM for student recruitment, special technology sessions during new student orientation, new computers for all law and law library staff, expansion of information available on the college's website, an on-line alumni directory, an option for students to take computer-based examinations, an on-line student and graduate resume bank for use by perspective employers, a doubling of the student computer laboratory in the Law Library, additional wired study carrels in the Library, and new computers for Law Review, Moot Court, and other student organizations. Faculty are exploring ways to use technology to enhance their classroom instruction. To support instructional technology needs, the college engaged in a major upgrade of all classrooms by the purchase of instructor laptops, ceiling mounted computer projection systems, and multimedia equipment for every law school classroom. The installation will be completed in the fall semester of 2002. Furthermore, this past year saw the reconstruction of the college's final large lecture hall, providing electricity and internet connections at all student work stations in the classroom. Develovment and Alumni Cultivation With the assistance of the college's Development Director and her staff, the Dean devotes considerable time to fund raising, alumni and community cultivation. Fruits of this effort are clearly reflected in the accomplishments of the past year. The overall percentage of alumni giving during the college's annual fund drive increased. Work with the graduate leadership council has proven valuable, for it has been providing important assistance with this effort. For the second year in a row 1989 graduate Cathy Henson challenged the alumni to increase their financial support of Georgia State. During 2001-2002 she offered a $50,000 challenge grant if alumni giving exceeded $100,000. In response, graduates of the college contributed $145,902 in gifts. In the inauguration of a new tradition, the graduating class of 2002 honored the college by making the first class gift totaling $13,850, with most of the funds designated for much needed scholarships. Furthermore, a new endowment account was funded by Melinda Lehrer to support the Michelle Ferguson Priestly Award, and an account was established in the name of Patricia Morgan, beloved faculty member who fell ill and died this past year. New Faculty Recruited The college's recruitment effort was greatly successful this past year, enticing Professor Clark D. Cunningham from the Washington University School of Law and Professor Tanya Washington fiom the University of Maryland School of Law to join the Georgia State community. Professor Cunningham became the first W. Lee Burge Chair Holder in Law and Ethics. A graduate of Dartmouth College and the Wayne State University Law School, he is nationally recognized as an outstanding scholar. He is an expert on the applications of linguistics to law and is engaged in a study of how lawyers communicate with their clients. Professor Washington is a graduate of James Madison University and the University of Maryland School of Law. She received a LL.M. degree from the Harvard Law School in 2001. Professor Washington served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Robert M. Bell of the Court of Appeals of Maryland and come to Georgia State from teaching at the School of Law at the University of Maryland. Faculty Scholarship The impressive record of scholarly research and publications by the faculty of the College of Law continues, building an ever greater professional reputation for themselves and contributing to an increasing scholarly reputation for the college and university. Legal scholarship constitutes an important part of the college's mission to provide new insights on molding the law to better serve our society. Many of the faculty engages in original and influential scholarly inquiry. The appendix indicates the productivity of the faculty in their scholarly endeavors and reflects an increase in scholarship in tune with the college's articulated goals and promotion and tenure policy. Only a portion of faculty endeavors can be mentioned in this summary. The following represents faculty members who had published products of their scholarship this past year: Douglas Yarn, supplements to his books on alternative dispute resolution in Georgia and North Carolina, and an article in Arkansas Law Review; Eric Segall, article in Georgia State University Law Review; Charity Scott, article in Georgia State Universitv