CARLISLE -- The Penn State Dickinson School of Law Board of Governors voted 25-4 Saturday to create a task force to begin negotiating terms to create a law school campus at University Park.

Board of Governors chairman Laddie Montague drafted the resolution and will appoint members to the task force to investigate the dual-campus plan, which has been a contentious subject for board members and university officials since last November. Any final deal would need the Board of Governors' approval.

Penn State's relationship with the law school has been strained in recent months with talks of the university cutting ties with Dickinson.

In August, the Board of Governors turned down a Penn State proposal to help fund renovations at its current campus in Carlisle while building a $60 million facility at University Park.

But Montague said that in recent weeks, university officials talked to him in hopes of beginning negotiations to work out specifics for a two-campus law school.

He called the dual-campus system "the best of both worlds."

Board member Don Taylor said students would ultimately benefit from the proposed plan.

"I just can't understand why there's any hesitation to it," he said. "If I were a student starting school today, I would love to go part time [in Carlisle], maybe one year, maybe two years, and go [to University Park] and take other courses."

Dissenting voters said they feared Penn State could later shut down the Carlisle campus, threatening the original purpose of the Dickinson Law School to train lawyers for practice in local communities.

"Penn State's focus is going to be national," board member Leslie Anne Miller said. "The business of Penn State is big business."

After lengthy debate over whether the resolution should mandate the law school's primary campus remain in Carlisle, the board eventually opted to leave the decision to Penn State.

"Penn State wants the ability and needs the flexibility to do what they think is best in running this law school," Montague said.

He said he "can't predict the future" so other members' calls to keep the Carlisle campus open indefinitely might not be feasible.

Miller said she had "no confidence" in Penn State's promise to keep the Carlisle campus open.

She said the university's attempt last November to move the law school to University Park shows Penn State's "lack of commitment" to Carlisle.

Miller also took issue with Montague's outspoken support for the dual-campus system, saying she thought the chairman would do all he could to promote the plan.

She said the chairman should remain impartial on the issue.

But Montague said his support for the plan has helped to move plans forward.

"If I hadn't taken sides, we wouldn't be where we are today," he said. "I think I have advanced the thinking of both Penn State and our board. I'm chairman, but I'm also a member of the board."

Montague said he would choose about five volunteers for the task force and would make the names public after selecting them.

Penn State spokesman Steve MacCarthy declined comment on Saturday's resolution, saying university officials would need a few days to review it.