In Newark, new facility opens opportunities
Archived article from Nov 5, 1999
By Irene O'Brien
The last few months have been a whirl- wind for Stuart Deutsch, new dean of the School of Law-Newark, who came to Rutgers July 1. Deutsch was immediately thrust into the intense preparation and planning for the dedication of the Center for Law and Justice Sept. 9. At the same time, he was getting acquainted with the faculty and staff and preparing for the start of the fall semester.
Now that the dedication is behind him and classes are under way, he is looking forward to launching several initiatives to advance the goals and mission of the law school and increase its resources.
Deutsch, who came to Rutgers from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, recognizes that the new facility offers exciting opportunities. "The layout of the new building is bound to influence the way the faculty interacts and works with the students," he observed. "For the first time in more than 20 years, the faculty offices will be in close proximity to each other. That alone could lead to new collaborations."
The building's electronic resources also offer a wealth of possibilities, Deutsch said. "Several smart classrooms will be available to faculty who want to incorporate audiovisual aids or computers into their classes. In addition, the library was designed for electronic research and educational activities with our specific needs in mind. One of our main goals is to utilize these resources to their full potential, making them an important part of the educational process.
"However, the new building is only part of the picture," he continued. "We've got a strong foundation here. This has been a superb law school for a long time, with a history of innovative programs, including the clinics and the Minority Student Program, and a nationally renowned, diverse faculty."
To build on these strengths, Deutsch is launching the second leg of the law school's capital campaign, reaching out to alumni, New Jersey's law firms and others in an effort to build the school's endowment. His goal is to have all alumni, state judges and leading lawyers visit the new building to participate in a yearlong series of events on the theme "Rededicating the Law School's Ideals." The series, which will include a 30th-anniversary celebration of the clinics, will culminate in a national conference on the future of clinical education April 7-8, 2000.
"We have an incredible list of distinguished alumni who are working in law, the corporate sector, politics and academia, and, as Rutgers graduates, they have a lot of which to be proud. The law school in Newark has maintained educational excellence as well as a commitment to its key ideals, including community service and equal opportunity. These are very admirable accomplishments," Deutsch noted.
Deutsch would also like to do more to attract top students. "Comparatively speaking, our financial-aid resources are not as strong as they should be, and this can be a major consideration for many top students who may find that it is actually cheaper to attend a more expensive law school, whose scholarship funds are often much greater," he said.
Deutsch is clearly thrilled with the nationally renowned faculty at Rutgers-Newark but also maintains that continuing the efforts to attract top faculty is key to attracting top-level students. "There is a great need to create more endowed chairs for our faculty and provide additional support to their scholarship in the form of research stipends and assistants," he notes.
The dean is actively planning new curriculum initiatives, but said that it is premature for him to go into detail. He did note, however, that "there will be a strong international component as well as a multi-disciplinary approach that will tap into the many resources here at Rutgers-Newark."
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