By Kenneth Mullinax/ASU
The Presidents of Alabama State University and Faulkner University held a joint news conference on September 24 on the ASU campus where they signed an articulation agreement, allowing undergraduate students at ASU to earn both a bachelor's degree and a juris doctorate degree in just six years. Without this formal agreement, most students would need at least seven years to complete both degrees.
ASU President, Dr. Quinton T. Ross, Jr., and Faulkner President, Dr. Mitchell Henry signed the agreement before a crowd of students and academic representatives from both institutions. The formal articulation agreement between ASU and Faulkner’s Thomas Goode Jones School of Law provides a unique opportunity for ASU students.
"It is an honor today to stand before you on the cusp of our signing this legal document between our two outstanding institutions of higher education,” stated President Ross. "Today, we advance ASU’s mission of providing excellence, research and service so as to develop our students to become global change-agents and create within them a positive 'CommUniversity' atmosphere, which supports one and all."
Joining both presidents on the dais were Dr. Carl Pettis, ASU's provost and vice president of Academic Affairs; Dr. Charles Campbell, Faulkner's dean of the Jones School of Law; and Dr. Tanjula Petty, ASU's vice president for Institutional Effectiveness, Strategic Initiatives, and Transformation, who orchestrated the agreement for ASU.
Faulkner's President Henry shared that he is proud, as the leader of one of only three accredited Alabama Bar Association law schools, to be associated with such a historic undergraduate institution as Alabama State University. Faulkner University’s Thomas Goode Jones School of Law has educated lawyers for more than 90 years.
"We are excited to now have an academic relationship with Alabama State University and its long and impressive list of alumni, many of whom are known as among the very finest attorneys, judges and lawmakers in the history of both the state of Alabama and within our nation," President Henry said. "With this agreement that we have consummated today, we expect that your students who will be a part of this new program to continue making history for your university, and I thank President Ross and his leadership team for making our joint dream a reality."