Penn State President Graham Spanier said in his opening remarks at the Penn State Board of Trustees meeting Friday that applications to the Penn State Dickinson School of Law had increased by 31 percent over last year.

Philip McConnaughay, dean of the law school, said the number of applicants to the law school is a thousand more than in 2002, which is a 60 percent increase.

Spanier added that applications to the university as a whole are up 10.6 percent.

"This is the greatest flow of applications in the history of Penn State," he said.

McConnaughay said law students would begin attending classes this fall in temporary facilities in the Beam Business Administration Building at University Park.

"We expect to admit as many as 80 or more first-year students there in the fall," he said. McConnaughay added that the design of the University Park law school building was also in progress.

Penn State plans to construct two new buildings, one at Carlisle and another at University Park, as part of the dual-campus plan. Students will be able to take classes at either campus during their law education.

The Penn State Board of Trustees approved the purchase of a $200,000 property in Carlisle for the law school on Friday.

The purchase of the property, which is surrounded by the law school's Carlisle campus, will allow for the design and construction of a new building to begin.

"The acquisition will consolidate the campus, enabling the law school to use the entire parcel," Gary Schultz, senior vice president for finance and business, said.

Both the Carlisle building and the University Park building are expected to be ready for student use by the end of 2008, McConnaughay said.

Spanier also spoke about the university's new fundraising campaign. He said that he had met with deans of the academic colleges, trustees and major donors to Penn State, and that they would decide on a monetary goal for the campaign later.

"A key theme we're pursuing is to make Penn State a more student-centered university," Spanier said. "Now, we're thinking about the kinds of projects to support."

Spanier reported that the Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute at the Hershey Medical Center was ranked as one of the top-100 cardiovascular hospitals in America. The trustees agreed to lease land at the Hershey Medical Center to a Chicago health care real estate developer to construct and expand new outpatient facilities.

The board also approved a $239,215 purchase of undeveloped property to incorporate into Penn State DuBois' north campus and approved an architect to design a new parking garage at Penn State Erie.

The trustees also agreed to change the name of the School of Information Sciences and Technology to the College of Information Science and Technology in recognition of the college's growth and other accomplishments.

"The program has been so successful in the short time it's been in existence," Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said.

The trustees approved Robert Pangborn, professor of engineering mechanics, as the new vice president and dean of undergraduate education.

"I am very pleased to accept the challenge," Pangborn said, adding that he hoped to build on the work and legacy of Jan Jacobs, the former vice president and dean of undergraduate education who died last fall.

"It will be an honor to follow her example," Pangborn said.

Cynthia Baldwin was re-elected by the board to serve her third term as chairwoman. She said this would be the last year that she will hold the position.

The next board meeting will be March 16 and 17 in Pittsburgh.