Elon University's campus in Charlotte has launched its new Flex Law Flex Program this fall. Alan Woodleif, vice dean of Elon Law, said the program has already exceeded its enrollment goal for the first year.
“Our goal was 35 students this year, and we had 36 students, so we exceeded that goal, and we projected a class size of between 35 and 40 for several years to come,” Woodleif said.
Before Elon opened a campus in Charlotte, Elon University's law school has been hosted in Greensboro since its establishment in 2006.
Woodlief also said in order for the program to be successful, he wants to focus on incremental, slow growth.
A flex law program is an in-person, part-time program. According to Elon Law’s website, this program is designed to meet the needs of working professionals and is designed to take four or more years to complete.
Woodlief also said experiential learning for students in Charlotte is part of the goal of the Flex program.
“Charlotte is noted for its banking and finance, its health care and its sports and entertainment opportunities,” Woodleif said. “A lot of our students are interested in those types of opportunities, and so we'll be able to provide them experiential opportunities.”
He said establishing a strong law program had always been a top priority for the faculty at Elon University and reflected on the program in Greensboro.
“Our priority would be to establish an excellent law school, a first rate program, bringing the Elon law student centered, experiential based legal education to Charlotte,” He said. “We want to take advantage of some unique opportunities that Charlotte presents, both there in that program, but also probably transferring that back even to Greensboro.”
Woodleif said three Elon faculty are teaching in Charlotte as of now, intending to expand the program to include more staff.
He also describes some of the courses that are being taught and explains that these courses are beneficial for students because the professors have experience in what they are teaching.
“We have a criminal law class that's being taught this fall, but another class is a criminal law lab, okay? And that criminal law lab is designed to expose students to real world practice. And so we have two adjuncts who are practicing attorneys in the criminal law field who are coming in to teach that class.”
Ashley Pinney, director of national campus programs, said Elon wanted to move in this direction to include Charlotte.
“Before us, there was no law school at all in Charlotte. We wanted to move into a great location, and we saw it as such an opportunity for growth within the city,” Pinney said. “The Greensboro program is a great program, and so we wanted to bring it to Charlotte.”
The sports management program in Charlotte has also started its second year this fall.
In 2023, Elon University established its Charlotte campus, welcoming 12 students — primarily sport management majors — to the new campus.
“We chose Charlotte specifically because there are so many sports teams that Elon University doesn’t have within the main campus,” Pinney said. “Students are also interested in interning, and there is no better place to do it. A lot of alumni who work in sports can offer all types of jobs for undergraduate students so that they can get that first hand exposure to an experience they wouldn't get in Elon.”