ACADEMIC SUCCESS
The Villanova Law Office of Academic Success Programs is designed to help students achieve academic success in law school. The Office of Academic Success Programs provides services to students through an academic mentor program, study skills seminars, instructional materials, one-on-one meetings, and an informational website.
Everyone needs support at some point in their law school career, which is why the Office of Academic Success is open to everyone. If you need reassurance that you are on the right track or more intensive help, the Office of Academic Success is here to assist in whatever way possible. You are welcome to stop by the office to review study aides before buying them and you are encouraged to browse the Academic Success website to view content on studying techniques, time management, and academic planning and bar exam preparation.
For guidance regarding grades and studying in general, students are encouraged to contact Matt Carluzzo.
OUR TEAM
Matthew Carluzzo
Assistant Dean of Students and Academic Success
Matthew Carluzzo joined Villanova Law in 2014. As the Assistant Dean of Students and Academic Success, he designs and instructs programs and courses that teach students the skills necessary to succeed in law school, on the bar exam and in their future legal practice.
From 2010 to 2014, Carluzzo was the Director of Academic Success and Assistant Professor of Law at Vermont Law School. He earned his AB in Religion from Dartmouth College in 1997 and a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2003. Upon graduation from law school, he joined the litigation practice group at the Washington, DC law firm of Arnold & Porter, where his practice comprised of large-scale civil and appellate products liability litigation. He later joined Gilbert LLP, also in Washington, DC, where he specialized in corporate insurance law. In 2006, Matt joined the AmeriCorps VISTA program, where he worked with Middlebury College's Alliance for Civic Engagement to lessen the causes and effects of poverty in rural Vermont. From 2007 to 2008, Carluzzo served as the Dean of Cook Commons at Middlebury, a role in which he served as a primary resource to help students achieve success in their academic and personal lives.
Rebecca L. Scalio
Associate Director of Academic Success
Rebecca L. Scalio joined the Office of Academic Success Programs in 2024. Previously, she was a visiting assistant professor at Villanova Law, where she continues to teach legal writing. She has also taught in various positions for Delaware Law School Widener University and Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law. Further, she was an adjunct professor for the University of Dayton School of Law where she created and taught the Appellate Practice & Procedure course in the Hybrid JD Program. Scalio teaches (or has taught) legal writing, legal research, professional responsibility, advanced appellate advocacy courses and sales & leases, and has collaborated in courses on evidence, civil procedure, and corporations.
Before embarking on her teaching career, Scalio was in private practice in Wilmington, DE, where she worked for the law firms of Richards, Layton & Finger, PA and Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP. While with Richards, she was a member of the bankruptcy group where she represented debtors and creditors in chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. While with Potter, she was a member of the corporate litigation group where she represented various corporations and shareholders in both litigation and transactional matters.
Scalio earned a BA in psychology from the University of Delaware (magna cum laude) and her JD from Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law, where she was first a staff member and then an executive editor of the Temple Political & Civil Rights Law Review. During her third year of law school, Scalio was selected for the Federal Judicial Clerkship Clinic, where she worked in the chambers of The Honorable Stephen M. Orlofsky (now retired) of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Scalio is a board member and Treasurer of Innocence Project Delaware, which works to release innocent incarcerated individuals from Delaware prisons, provide post-exoneration support, and helps to educate the public about criminal justice reform. She is admitted to practice in Delaware and New Jersey.