Teaching

Generally, all full-time faculty should be available to teach at least nine months out of the twelve months 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

Assignments
Teaching assignments and course loads are within the discretion of the Dean (or the Dean's designate) in terms of both subject matter and schedule. Faculty may be assigned 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-intensive faculty, the Dean (or Dean's designate) 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. Unless otherwise agreed, these assignments are counted as part of a faculty member's Law School course load. Any request not originating with the Dean (or the Dean's designate) must be approved by the Dean (or the Dean's designate).

Minimum and Maximum Enrollments
The minimum and maximum enrollments for the following types of courses:

  • General demand courses:
    • Maximum: 70
    • Minimum: 25
  • Research seminars:
    • Maximum: 20 (see special policies below)
    • Minimum: 10
  • Colloquia:
    • Maximum: 30
    • Minimum: 10 (see special policies below)
  • Practica:
    • Maximum: 20
    • Minimum: 10
  • Clinical practice:
    • Maximum: 16
    • Minimum: 8
  • International Team Projects:
    • Maximum: 25
    • Minimum: 15

Courses with initial enrollments (as determined on the first day of the semester or quarter) with less than the minimum will be canceled and no teaching credit provided unless the Dean or Dean's designate decides otherwise. No course may exceed its maximum enrollment without the approval of the Dean or Dean's designate.

Teaching Loads and Credits

Teaching Loads
Full-time faculty are expected to teach a load equal to the following (subject to individual increases or reductions as determined by the Dean):

  • Research-intensive Faculty: 8.0 or 11.0 (as determined in each case by the Dean or Dean's designate)
  • Senior Lecturers: 14.0
  • Clinical faculty: 12.0

The teaching load of a faculty member who holds only a partial appointment in the Law School will be proportionate to the percentage of his or her appointment in the Law School.

Teaching Credits
For each class taught in a semester, a faculty member will receive one teaching credit per weekly-scheduled classroom hour of instruction. In particular, a faculty member will receive:

  • Four (4) teaching credits for a general demand course with 4 classroom hours per week in a semester.
  • Three (3) teaching credits for a general demand course with 3 classroom hours per week in a semester.
  • Two (2) teaching credits for a general demand course, research seminar or colloquium with 2 classroom hours per week. This is subject to the Colloquium Policy below, and includes seminars in which students may earn an additional academic credit for completing a writing assignment.
  • One-quarter (0.25) credit for each independent Senior Research Project or supervision of an SJD, LLM, or PhD dissertation ("Supervision"). A faculty member may receive no more than 0.25 teaching credits per student in any fiscal year, regardless of number of credit hours the student has enrolled for the Supervision, and regardless of how many semesters that student is supervised by the faculty member. A faculty member may not engage in more than four (4) Supervisions in one fiscal year without the approval of the Dean (or Dean's designate). Total teaching credits which may be earned is limited to one (1) per fiscal year.

These credit allocations assume a solely taught course; if there is more than one faculty member teaching a course or providing supervision, the credits are shared equally. In addition, the credits are calculated without regard to the number of academic credits a student may earn from additional work in the given course.

Distribution
Generally, in a fiscal year, all full-time faculty should teach (subject to individual increases or reductions as determined by the Dean or the Dean's designate):

  • Research-intensive faculty: at least two or three (depending on such person's teaching load) general demand courses (one of which should be a first-year required course), and one research seminar (including Colloquium)
  • Senior lecturers: at least four general demand courses and one research seminar
  • Clinical faculty should teach at least two sections of Clinical Practice or at least four sections of Practica

Balances
Teaching credits in excess of a faculty member's load may be banked for future year teaching credit, subject to the teaching needs of the law school in any given year. Deficits must also be eliminated in future years. Deficits should not run more than 3 years.

Buy-Downs from External Grants. With the approval of the Dean (or Dean's designate), faculty may buy down teaching obligations with external funding according to current policy. The policy does not apply to teaching at other universities or institutions as a visitor as approved by the Dean (or Dean's designate).

Special Policies for Teaching Credit
Colloquia Sections: As with Research Seminars, the minimum enrollment for Colloquia, whether taught by a single faculty member or more than one faculty member, is 10 students. A Colloquium will not be canceled the first time it is offered for failing to meet this minimum. With co-taught Colloquia, the 10-student minimum will be enforced if any one of the participating faculty members taught it in a previous semester.

For a Colloquium taught by a single faculty member, the faculty member will receive two teaching credits.  When a Colloquium is co-taught by two faculty members, each faculty member will receive one teaching credit.

Research Seminars: all seminars satisfying the Research Writing requirement must be capped at a minimum of 20.

Clinical Practice Sections: Each faculty member teaching a section of Clinical Practice will receive 6 teaching credits for each semester section, or summer session section, with a final enrollment of 8 or more students. No Clinical Practice section will be cancelled for failing to meet the 8-student minimum. However, if any Clinical Practice section fails to meet the 8-student minimum in three consecutive semesters in which it was offered, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs: Curriculum, in consultation with the Associate Dean for Clinical Studies, may remove the section from the curriculum in subsequent semesters.

CLR Sections: Each faculty member teaching a section of Communication and Legal Reasoning in a degree program will receive 6 teaching credits for each semester section, or summer session section, of at least 25 students.

Practicum Sections: Each faculty member teaching a Practicum section in a degree program will receive 4 teaching credits for each semester section, or summer session section, with an enrollment of at least 10 students. No Practicum section will be cancelled for failing to meet the 10-student minimum. However, if any Practicum section fails to meet the 10-student minimum in three consecutive semesters in which it was offered, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs: Curriculum, in consultation with the Director of Practicum Courses, may remove the section from the curriculum in subsequent semesters.

International Team Projects Sections: Each faculty member leading a section of International Team Project in a degree Program will receive 1 teaching credit for each semester section, or summer session section, of at least 15 students.

Course Overloads
If a faculty member is requested by the Dean (or the Dean's designate) to and agrees to teach additional courses and sections above his or her course load requirement, the Law School will provide appropriate additional compensation or the faculty member will bank the teaching credits in excess of his or her teaching load. In general, untenured research-intensive faculty will not be asked or permitted to teach overloads.

Teaching Assistants

The Law School provides one student teaching assistant to each faculty member teaching a general demand course required for first-year law students. Such assistants are intended to assist the faculty member in conducting multiple interim evaluations during the term and to provide students with regular feedback.

Grade Submission

All faculty must submit grades for each course they have taught at or prior to the deadline set by the Dean (or Dean's designate) for that term. If a faculty member believes that it will be impossible to submit grades on time, he or she must contact the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs: Curriculum before the deadline and request permission for late submission.

Course Inventory

In consultation with the Dean (or the Dean's designate), all research-intensive faculty members and senior lecturers must 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 Q&L Analysis report. Where necessary to meet the Law School's curricular needs, a faculty member may be assigned to teach one or more courses not listed on his or her inventory.

Generative AI Policy

Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that generate new content by identifying and mimicking patterns from the data sets on which they were trained. Unless expressly permitted by the instructor, students are prohibited from using generative AI to produce, derive, or assist in creating any materials or content that is submitted to the instructor. Instructors retain the discretion to permit the use of generative AI in their courses to any extent they deem appropriate. Instructors should provide notice of any permitted use to the entire class.