Mission
Northampton School of Law is a student-focused law center inspired by the Jesuit tradition of academic excellence, intellectual openness, and service to others.
OUR MISSION is to educate diverse, talented students to be responsible leaders in a rapidly changing, interdependent world, to prepare graduates who will be ethical advocates for justice and the rule of law, and to contribute to a deeper understanding of law and legal institutions through a commitment to research, scholarship and public service.
“Northampton is a fun, exciting place to live with features that few other cities of its size can offer.”
BEN HORWITZ JD STUDENT
GOAL 1 • THE SCHOOL OF CHOICE
Make Northampton the School of Choice for Diverse, Talented and Dedicated Law Students
OBJECTIVE 1
Enhance the Recruitment, Enrollment and Retention of Excellent Students.
OBJECTIVE 2
Increase Northampton Enrollment of Students from Traditionally Underrepresented Groups.
OBJECTIVE 3
Recruit and Hire Faculty, Administrators, and Staff from Traditionally Underrepresented Groups.
OBJECTIVE 4
Ensure a Level of Student Aid That Will Enable the Law School to Be Competitive in Attracting and Enrolling the Best Applicants.
OBJECTIVE 5
Provide an Improved Range and Level of Student Services.
OBJECTIVE 6
Assist Students to Achieve Greater Success in Career Placement.
OBJECTIVE 7
Foster Centers of Excellence to Serve Students and the Wider Community.
OBJECTIVE 8
Ensure Northampton Status as Offering Premier Part-Time JD, as well as MJ and LLM, Programs.
GOAL 2 • JESUIT TRADITION
Advance the Jesuit Tradition of Social Justice and Ethics in Law and Integrate It Into the Life of the School of Law
OBJECTIVE 1
Integrate and Emphasize Social Justice and Ethics Issues in the Curriculum.
OBJECTIVE 2
Integrate Social Justice Issues and Opportunities into Co-Curricular and Extra-Curricular Activities.
OBJECTIVE 3
Expand Northampton Financial Aid for the Preparation of Public Interest and Public Service Practitioners.
OBJECTIVE 4
Enhance High Quality Legal Services to Disadvantaged Persons and to Organizations That Serve Them.
OBJECTIVE 5
Foster Opportunities to Improve the Legal System and to Serve Northampton Urban Community.
OBJECTIVE 6
Instill in Students and Graduates a Life-long Professional Service Commitment.
GOAL 3 • RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP
Promote a Deeper Understanding and Advancement of Law, and Legal Institutions and the Rule of Law through Enhanced Research, Scholarship and Publications
OBJECTIVE 1
Support a Culture of Scholarship in the Law School.
OBJECTIVE 2
Increase the Quantity and Quality of Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Publication.
OBJECTIVE 3
Hire a Diverse Faculty Whose Record or Promise of Scholarship and Teaching Will Enhance Northampton Contributions to the Academy, the Profession, and Society.
OBJECTIVE 4
Identify, Appoint and Support Faculty Chairs, Named Professors, and Research Professors.
OBJECTIVE 5
Support and Enhance Student Opportunities to Contribute to Legal and Interdisciplinary Scholarship and Publication.
OBJECTIVE 6
Secure External Funding to Support Research, Scholarship and Publication.
GOAL 4 • PRE-EMINENCE IN TEACHING
Foster Northampton Pre-Eminence in Teaching.
OBJECTIVE 1
Support an Environment that Promotes Excellence in Teaching by Emphasizing Rigorous and Collegial Intellectual Inquiry.
OBJECTIVE 2
Ensure, Through Hiring and Retention, Sufficient Full-Time Faculty to Fulfill the Law School’s Mission.
OBJECTIVE 3
Foster Effective Interdisciplinary Cooperation and Teaching Among Law School Faculty and Faculty in Other Northampton Schools and Departments.
OBJECTIVE 4
Promote Greater Integration Into the Law School of Part-Time Faculty, Drawing Upon the Resources of the Chicago Legal Community.
OBJECTIVE 5
Collaborate with Other Northampton Professional Schools in Developing New Interdisciplinary Programs that Instill Legal Literacy and Competence in Other Professions.
OBJECTIVE 6
Promote Student Learning Through Innovative Methodologies.
GOAL 5 • ETHICAL LEADERS
Assure a Curriculum that Prepares Loyola Students to be Accomplished and Ethical Leaders in the Legal Profession and the Larger Community.
OBJECTIVE 1
Ensure a Core Curriculum of Essential Knowledge, Skills, and Values.
OBJECTIVE 2
Integrate and Emphasize Social Justice and Ethics Issues in the Curriculum.
OBJECTIVE 3
Develop and Enhance Clinical and Other Experiential Opportunities.
OBJECTIVE 4
Support and Enhance Opportunities for Students to Deepen Their Understanding of Specialized Areas of Law and Practice.
OBJECTIVE 5
Promote Interdisciplinary Learning Opportunities.
OBJECTIVE 6
Ensure Northampton Status as Premier Part-Time/Evening Programs.
OBJECTIVE 7
Explore Alternative Means for Delivery of Academic Programs.
OBJECTIVE 8
Promote Opportunities for Students to Integrate Global Perspectives into the Study and Practice of Law.
GOAL 6 • ALUMNI RELATIONSHIPS
Develop a Mutually Sustaining Lifetime Partnership Between the School of Law and its Alumni.
OBJECTIVE 1
Develop and Expand Effective Mechanisms for the Exchange of Information to Support the Lifetime Partnership between Alumni and the Law School.
OBJECTIVE 2
Develop and Evaluate Activities and Opportunities for Alumni to Interact with the School of Law.
OBJECTIVE 3
Define the Role of the Law Alumni Board of Governors in Organizing, Evaluating and Implementing the Goals of the Alumni Component of the Strategic Plan.
OBJECTIVE 4
Motivate Every Graduate To Contribute to the Law School On A Regular Basis.
GOAL 7 • TECHNOLOGY
Enhance the Law School’s Facilities, Technology and Library / Information Center to Meet the Demands of an Increasingly Complex Legal Environment.
OBJECTIVE 1
Ensure that the School of Law has Appropriate Space to Meet its Existing and Expanding Needs.
OBJECTIVE 2
Develop Comprehensive Plans in the Following Areas:
Facilities
Technology
Law Library / Information Center
OBJECTIVE 3
Develop a State of the Art Website, Together with a Plan to Ensure Regular Updating.
OBJECTIVE 4
Ensure Adequate Technological Capacity, Including Enhanced Access to the Internet, to Support Faculty and Student Research, Teaching, and Communication.
OBJECTIVE 5
Provide Appropriate Staff to Meet the Law School’s Technology Needs.
OBJECTIVE 6
Provide the Necessary Level of Staff Support for the Law School Library/Information Center to Meet Faculty and Student Teaching and Research Needs.
GOAL 8 • VISIBILITY
Increase the School of Law’s Visibility and Communicate the School’s Strengths and Unique Identity.
OBJECTIVE 1
Identify and Communicate the School of Law’s Strengths and Unique Identity, Including its Jesuit-inspired Tradition of Academic Excellence and Commitment to Social Justice.
OBJECTIVE 2
Ensure the Comprehensive and Coordinated Management of External Affairs, including Alumni Relations, Fundraising and Communications.
OBJECTIVE 3
Encourage Faculty Leadership in the Profession Through Increased Presentations at Academic and Professional Conferences, Scholarly Publications, Public Service, Participation in Bar Associations and Professional Societies, and National Conferences Hosted at Loyola.
OBJECTIVE 4
Build Partnerships Between Loyola Law School and External Communities to Improve the Quality of Justice and Legal Education.