Teaching

Generally, all full-time residential faculty are expected to teach nine months out of the calendar year. In some cases, the specific terms of a faculty members appointment may mean that they are expected to be available to teach throughout the year.

Teaching Assignments

Research-Intensive Faculty
The current standard course load at the Law School for full-time productive research-intensive faculty members (as the sole instructor) each year, as follows:

Two general demand courses (minimum enrollment of 20 students and maximum enrollment of 65), one of which may be a required, first-year course, and
One research seminar (minimum enrollment of 10 and maximum enrollment of 25) on a topic of his or her choice, subject to the needs of the curriculum as determined by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Curriculum, and
Primary supervision of up to two senior research projects, directed reading projects, LLM theses, PhD dissertations, or other independent student research projects ("Independent Student Research Projects") and service as a second reader on up to two additional Independent Student Research Projects.

Research -intensive faculty members who do not meet the Minimum Productivity Level (as defined in the Compensation Policies section) may be asked to teach a greater course load.

Clinical Faculty and Senior Lecturers
The standard teaching loads for clinical faculty and senior lecturers are as follows:

For a clinical faculty member, four solely taught classroom courses per year or its equivalent; and
For a senior lecturer, five solely taught classroom courses per year or its equivalent

For purposes of determining this load, the sole supervision of at least eight students in a semester-long Clinical Practice section, and at least 25 students in a semester long section of Communication and Legal Reasoning, is considered equivalent to two classroom courses. Clinical faculty and senior lecturers should also be available to supervise and be second readers on Independent Student Research Projects.

General
The teaching credit for courses co-taught by faculty members generally will be split equally among the faculty members.

The teaching load of faculty who hold only a partial appointment in the Law School will be proportionate to the percentage of their appointment in the Law School .

Teaching assignments and course loads are within the discretion of the Dean and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Curriculum in terms of both subject matter and schedule. Faculty may be asked to teach in any semester or in the summer session to meet the needs of the Law School's curriculum.

In making teaching assignments, the Law School will, where possible, take into consideration a research-intensive faculty member's research plan and subject matter areas. In some cases, especially for junior research-ingensive faculty, the Associate Dean may assign an individual faculty member multiple sections of the same course in the same term to free up time for that faculty member's research in other terms. This will be done only when the faculty member has demonstrated that his or her teaching is strong.

Faculty may be asked to cross-list or teach courses in other University schools or departments. Any request not originating with the Dean or his or her designate must be approved by the Dean. These assignments are counted as part of a faculty member's Law School course load.

For research seminars, faculty who agree to supervise all enrollees in a course in pursuance of their three-draft writing requirements may limit the enrollment maximum to 15 students.

Teaching Assistants

The Law School provides one student teaching assistant to each faculty member teaching a general demand course for first year law students.

Course Overloads

If a faculty member is requested by the Dean to and agrees to teach additional courses and sections above the course load the Dean has set forth for that faculty member, the Law School will provide appropriate additional compensation or will provide equivalent relief from future teaching obligations. In general, untenured research-intensive faculty will not be asked or permitted to teach overloads.

Grade Submission

All faculty must submit grades for each course they have taught at or prior to the deadline set by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Curriculum for that term. If a faculty member believes that it will be impossible for him or her to submit his or her grades before the deadline, he or she must contact the Associate Dean directly and request permission for late submission.

Course Inventory

In consultation with the Dean or the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Curriculum, all research-intensive faculty members and senior lecturers should develop an inventory of courses that they could be called upon to teach, including, generally, at least one required first-year course. The inventory can change over time depending on the faculty member's research and teaching interests and the Law School's teaching needs.

The courses should be as closely related to the faculty member's research interests as possible. (A faculty member's course inventory is reported each year in his or her Quality and Load Analysis.) Where necessary to meet the Law School's curricular needs, a faculty may be assigned to teach one or more courses not listed on his or her inventory.