Both individuals have established impressive scholarly and administrative reputations on the national level. Another road to national prominence is to establish areas of excellence. We have already established the leading program in agricultural law in the United States, with our graduate program, the National Center for Agricultural Law Research and Information, and the strong interdisciplinary work with agriculturally related units of the University. We are currently exploring establishing other centers to focus and develop existing areas of expertise. Areas currently under consideration include Lawyering Skills and Professionalism, Business Law and Entrepreneurial Excellence, and an Institute for Law and Justice.
Scholarship published at a national level also contributes to a law school's national reputation.
We recently have had faculty publications in nationally-prominent law reviews including the University of Michigan, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Arizona, and Rutgers University. Finally, it is important to let our alumni and the world at large know of our activities in the national arena. We are continually reviewing better ways to communicate with external constituencies, in conjunction with the central administration of the University of Arkansas. Student Centered University Surveys of students and alumni have consistently emphasized the importance of practice opportunities in the law school, and the law school has taken a number of steps in response to these comments. The array of skills courses has increased dramatically, and the faculty has adopted a skills requirement for all students.