Additional Policies

Continuing Appointments

One-Year Appointments
 A faculty member may be appointed for a one-year appointment ("One-Year Appointment") on a full- or part-time basis, which may or may not be renewed at the discretion of the Law School.

Continuing Appointments
 A full-time faculty member may receive a continuing appointment ("Continuing Appointment") as follows:

Eligible Ranks
 Continuing Appointments may be made for full-time faculty members in the ranks of:

  • Assistant Clinical Professor
  • Associate Clinical Professor
  • Clinical Professor
  • Lecturer
  • Senior Lecturer
  • Professor of Practice

Service Requirement
 A faculty member seeking a continuing appointment must first be appointed for three consecutive One-Year Appointments in a full-time position, in one of the above ranks, with no break between such appointments.

Criteria for Consideration
 Once the faculty member has completed three consecutive years of full-time service as described above, he or she may be considered for a Continuing Appointment at the discretion of the Law School. The Law School may consider an eligible faculty member for a Continuing Appointment if his or her performance demonstrates excellence in teaching and service to the Law School. In addition, the role in which the individual performs must meet the ongoing educational mission of the Law School and its programs.

Termination of Continuing Appointment
 A Continuing Appointment will continue until terminated by the Law School. If the Law School decides to terminate the Continuing Appointment, the Law School will provide the faculty member with written notice that his or her appointment will end on the date (the "Termination Date") that is 12 months after the date of the of notice (the "Termination Notice Date") and the appointment will end on the Termination Date.

During the period between the Termination Notice Date and the Termination Date, the faculty member's salary and benefits will continue provided the faculty member continues to perform in a satisfactory manner. Duties, including teaching and other assignments, will be determined at the discretion of the Law School.

Termination of a Continuing Appointment or the non-renewal of a One-Year Appointment may occur at the discretion of the Law School for reasons including but not limited to the following:

  • Evolution of needs and priorities, change in focus, or termination of program to which the faculty member is assigned
  • Performance issues of the faculty member as determined by the Law School
  • The role performed by the faculty member no longer meets the educational mission of the Law School

All other terms and conditions of these appointments are consistent with University policy regarding faculty.

Service

Each faculty member is expected to conscientiously carry out the work of any University or Law School committee and other assignment made by the Dean for Faculty and Research. In order to help manage workloads, a faculty member should not agree to serve on a University committee or other similar assignment without the approval of the Dean for Faculty and Research.

Student Support and Participation

Faculty are expected to be available for and engage students as much as possible both inside and outside the classroom.

All faculty members are expected to organize their professional and personal schedules to permit them to participate in our annual graduation ceremony and reception and our annual school-wide orientation event for the incoming students. A faculty member who is unable to attend either the orientation or graduation event must contact the Dean directly as far in advance as possible. Attendance at these events will be excused only for significant, non-recurring family events (such as weddings, child graduations) or for being engaged in professional activity that advances the mission of the Law School or the University and that has the Dean's prior approval.

Meals for Classes
Except as otherwise explicitly provided in advance, the Law School will not pay for, reimburse anyone for, or provide support for, food provided to classes by individual professors, whether during classes or otherwise, including make-up classes or evening classes. This rule applies to all programs. Research account funds similarly may not be used for meals or refreshments for classes.

One general exception to this rule is for 1L student meals. Effective Fall 2021, the Law School will reinstate the policy to reimburse faculty members who teach required 1L classes and who take small groups of their students to a meal. The lunch must comply with the University’s current policies on gatherings. Masks are required at all times during the meal, except when actively eating and drinking. Masking is optional if you are dining outdoors, and we encourage faculty to take advantage of outdoor dining as much as possible. Reimbursements for these meals will not exceed $25 per individual (total, including tax and tip), and a list of names of students must be provided in the reimbursement.

Parking

Each year the Law School will provide each faculty member who otherwise qualifies under University rules with a parking space in one of the University lots at the prevailing University rates. In allocating spaces in specific lots, consideration will be given to the faculty members' teaching-related needs for access to his or her vehicle during the work day and to reasonable security concerns. An allocation of a space in a specific lot is for one year only and subject to reallocation in subsequent years.

Courtesy Appointments

Faculty from other schools in the University may be appointed by the Dean upon the advice of the Law School's Personnel Committee as members of the Law School faculty. Such appointments shall be for a term of three years and renewable for additional terms if the appointee has taken steps to take advantage of the appointment.

Courtesy appointees carry the title of Assistant, Associate, or Professor of Law (depending on their title in their home School and department) and enjoy non-monetary benefits, such as access to the Law School library and staff participation in workshop series. Courtesy faculty are not entitled to vote at faculty meetings.

Emeritus Faculty

Upon obtaining the Provost's approval for emeritus status, the following policies will apply to retired faculty:

  • Teaching
    If the Law School requests and the faculty member is willing, the emeritus faculty member may continue to teach, in which case her or she will be appointed "professor emeritus in service". For each course taught, the faculty member will receive the compensation in effect at the time for a faculty member teaching an overload in a degree program (see Course Overload).
  • Office and Parking
    If the emeritus faculty member is teaching in the residential degree programs, he or she will have an office during the period of his or her teaching, and will be provided University parking at the rate for faculty then in effect in one of the University lots. Emeritus faculty will not generally be provided either an office or parking if they are not teaching in one of the degree programs.
  • Faculty Meetings
    An emeritus faculty member may attend all faculty meetings, which he or she would have been able to attend prior to retirement, except that such faculty member will not have a vote.