TENURE STANDARDS

(as approved by TS&A Comm.) April 29, 1996. VI appended to document February 10, 1999 in a memo by the TS & A Committee to the full faculty.

I. First Year Review

A new Assistant Professor shall be hired on a one year contract. The Committee shall review the new faculty member's class teaching no later than February 15. If his or her teaching is acceptable, the committee shall recommend to the Dean that the candidate be granted a two year contract. If his or her teaching is unacceptable, the committee shall recommend to the faculty that the contract not be renewed. The candidate shall be notified before March 1 of the faculty's decision.

II. Second Year Review

In year two (year one of the first two year contract), an assistant professor shall apply for renewal of his or her contract for a two year term. Candidates must demonstrate competence in teaching, taking into account that they have completed only one year of law school teaching. The committee shall consider factors listed in section V A 1.

III. Fourth Year Review

In year four (year one of the second two year contract), an assistant or untenured associate professor shall apply for renewal of his or her contract for a two year term. Candidates must demonstrate competence in teaching. Candidates shall also show substantial progress in the area of scholarship. The committee shall consider factors listed in section V A 1 and 2.

IV. Promotion to Associate Professor

An Assistant Professor may apply for promotion to Associate Professor (untenured) when he or she believes that the following standards are satisfied.

A. Teaching: Candidates must demonstrate a high level of competence in teaching. The committee shall consider factors listed in section V A 1 in determining competence.

B. Scholarship: Candidates shall have published or had accepted for publication one article in a law review subsequent to hiring as a tenure track faculty member. (This article is one of the three articles required for tenure and referred to in section III A 2.) The committee shall consider factors listed in section V A 2 in evaluating the scholarship.

V. Application for Tenure

A. In year six (year one of the third and final two year contract), an Assistant or Associate Professor shall apply for tenure. An Assistant or Associate Professor may, in exceptional circumstances, apply for tenure in year four or five. Exceptional circumstances mean substantially greater than minimum standards have been met. A person whose early application for tenure under this exceptional circumstances standard is denied may apply again in year six.

B. A person who is not awarded tenure in year six shall not be eligible to apply for tenure thereafter.

VI. Notice of Intention to Seek Grant of Tenure

All candidates for tenure must inform the Tenure Committee of their intention to seek tenure on or before April 1 of the calendar year in which they will seek tenure, and of those pieces of substantial scholarship on which they will rely in their application. All pieces of substantial scholarship to be submitted for review must be provided to the Committee no later than August 15.

A. Minimum Standards for Tenure

The candidate must satisfy the minimum requirements in each category. The candidate should surpass the minimum requirements in either teaching or scholarship. A candidate who has not previously been promoted to Associate Professor shall simultaneously apply for promotion to Associate Professor.

1. Teaching: A candidate must continue to demonstrate a high level of competence in teaching. Among the factors to be considered in determining this are:

a.         Is the subject matter presented in an organized manner?

b.         Does the candidate know the subject matter?

c.         Does the candidate communicate his or her knowledge of the subject matter?

d.         Does the candidate generate interest in the subject matter?

e.         Does the candidate draw out student participation and use that participation as the basis for further instruction?

f.          Are current developments in the subject matter noted?

g.         Are the course materials up to date?

h.         Are the course goals clearly articulated?

i.          Are theoretical concepts tied in to practical issues?

j.          Are ethical issues interwoven in the course?

k.         Is the candidate sensitive to the diverse backgrounds of the students?

l.          Is the candidate available to meet with students outside of class?

m.        Are the exams consistent with the emphasis given topics during the course?

n.         Is the candidate adequately prepared for class?

o.         Does the candidate keep the discussion on track?

p.         Does the candidate address complex theoretical issues?

q.         Is the class conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect?

2. Scholarship

Except in extraordinary circumstances the candidate shall have published three pieces of substantial scholarship, at least two of which shall be sole authorship articles published or accepted for publication in law reviews, subsequent to hiring as a tenure track faculty member.

Casebooks, bar journal articles, book reviews, Judicial Conference materials, continuing legal education materials, co-authored works and other similar scholarship may be considered as part of the total body of the candidate's work but cannot be substituted for either of the two law review articles.

Scholarship shall provide useful insights into important legal issues. The works should advance the scholarly professional community by contributing to knowledge through published research. Among the factors to be considered in evaluating the quality of the scholarship are:

a. thoroughness of research

b. soundness of analysis and logic

c. clarity of expression

d. accuracy of interpretation of cases and statutes

e. originality in conception and implementation

f. absence of duplication of existing literature in the field

g. significance of work as reflected by reception by scholarly, legal and public community

h. comprehensive and creative analysis of a confused area of the law.

3. Service

Substantial service is required in at least one of the following three categories: Law School, Legal Profession, Community. Service on one faculty committee annually (as well as a discipline panel as required by rotation) is expected and is not by itself sufficient to satisfy the service requirement. Faculty should also regularly attend faculty colloquia, lectures and other school functions.

The following are a few examples of service. This list is by way of example only and is not intended to be exclusive. Some forms of service are more time consuming than others. Therefore, not all activities in these sample lists are of equal weight.

Law School: Drafting a substantial committee report; serving as secretary of the Executive Committee; serving as faculty advisor to Law Review, the Journal of Computer and Information Law or Moot Court; mentoring students in preparing law review articles; coaching moot court teams; judging practice moot court arguments; tutoring students in academic difficulty.

Profession: Chair or provide significant service to a bar association or AALS committee or subcommittee; testimony before governmental commissions or legislative committees; service on a Judicial Conference.

Community: Draft a pro bono brief; service as officer, board member or consultant to public interest organization.

B.   Faculty with Tenure Elsewhere

       1.   Use of previous tenure file

A candidate for tenure who has previously been considered for tenure by another law school shall furnish the previous tenure file and report including, to the extent available, student evaluations over the past two years, outside reviews of scholarship, and videotapes of one or more of the candidate’s classes. Where appropriate the Tenure Committee may use information from the previous tenure file in preparing its report.

       2.   Effect of previous tenure decision

If a candidate for tenure has previously been granted or recommended for tenure by another law school and the Tenure Committee determines that the other law school’s tenure standards at the time were comparable to or more rigorous than the standards currently in effect at John Marshall, the Tenure Committee and the Committee of the Tenured Faculty shall afford substantial deference to the previous tenure determination, while also considering other evidence of the candidate’s qualifications for tenure.

C. Procedures

     1.   Review of articles by outside experts

Each article shall be reviewed in writing by three outside experts. Two shall be chosen by the Tenure Committee; one shall be chosen by the candidate. The candidate may object to the committee’s choice of experts on the basis of personal or professional bias or lack of competence in the applicant’s field, but the decision as to whether a different reviewer will be chosen is solely that of the committee. If the committee objects to an expert chosen by the candidate based upon bias or lack of competence, the candidate will be given a reasonable opportunity to propose an alternate expert. If the candidate declines to propose an alternate expert, the committee’s objections to the expert chosen by the candidate shall be reflected in its report.

The reviewer should comment on the scholarship based on the factors listed in § V A 2 but not on the ultimate question of whether tenure should be granted.

This provision (section VI C 1) shall apply to the expedited review process for tenured appointments pursuant to section IX B only if previous outside scholarship reviews are not available.

    2.   Committee Review

All eligible committee members shall attend classes, read student evaluations and read the scholarship of all applicants for promotion or tenure. All committee members shall complete forms which critique the candidate’s classroom presentation and scholarship. For other reviews, the committee may delegate responsibility for these tasks to a subcommittee. This paragraph shall not apply to the expedited review process for tenured appointments pursuant to section IX B.

    3.   Committee Report

The committee shall prepare a report that details progress toward tenure as well as reasons for recommending renewal or denial of renewal. In the case of applications for promotion and/or tenure, the committee shall prepare a report that details the reasons for recommending promotion and/or tenure or denial of promotion and/or tenure. In the case of applications for tenure, the candidate shall also be given copies of the outside reviews, with any information tending to identify the reviewer having been redacted, along with a separate list of the reviewers. In all cases, the candidate shall have the right to respond in writing to the committee report.

    4.   Review by Tenured Faculty

Before voting, all eligible faculty members are encouraged to read the candidate’s scholarship and view a videotape of a class of the candidate submitted by the candidate. In the case of applications for tenure, redacted copies of outside reviews shall be made available for viewing by the faculty, along with a summary of each reviewer’s credentials.

    5.   Timing

a.   Tenure and promotion reviews will occur during the fall semester. Votes shall be taken in mid-November.

b.   All candidates for tenure must inform the Tenure and Promotions Committee of their intention to seek tenure on or before April 1 of the calendar year in which they will seek tenure and of those pieces of substantial scholarship on which they will rely in their application. All pieces of substantial scholarship to be submitted for review must be provided to the Committee in final form no later than August 15. A candidate may not supplement the application after August 15. To qualify as a published piece of scholarship, a work must have been published or accepted for publication by August 15. If a piece of scholarship is submitted to the Committee in incomplete, manuscript, or draft form, it shall be considered under the same standards as a final published work without any allowances being made for the unfinished nature of the work.

c.   This provision (section VI C 5) shall not apply to the expedited review process for tenured appointments pursuant to section IX B.

VII. Promotion to Full Professor

An Associate Professor who has been granted tenure may apply for promotion to Full Professor.

The candidate must continue to demonstrate a high level of competence in teaching based on the factors listed in section V A 1.

The candidate shall have published two pieces of substantial scholarship subsequent to the grant of tenure. At least one of the two pieces of substantial scholarship shall be a sole authorship article published or accepted for publication in a law review, subsequent to the grant of tenure. The standards for evaluating this scholarship are articulated in section V A 2.

The candidate must provide substantial law related service in one and additional service in a second of the following categories: Law School, Legal Profession, Community. The standards for evaluating this service are articulated in section V A 3. The candidate is encouraged to provide service in ways that promote the reputation of The John Marshall Law School.

VIII. Role of the Dean

The Dean and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs are non-voting ex officio members of the Tenure Committee. They are encouraged to submit oral or written reports to the committee on the application of any candidate for renewal, promotion or tenure. Only the elected members of the committee shall be present during the final deliberations of the voting process. In addition, the chair of the committee may, at his or her own initiative or upon the request of a member of the committee, call an executive session meeting of only the elected members of the committee. The result of any decision made through the voting process shall be promptly communicated to the ex officio members.

IX. Lateral Hires

Those persons who, at the time of appointment to the faculty, have previous tenure track service on the faculty of another law school, may be treated as lateral hires subject to this section. In extraordinary circumstances as determined by the Tenure Committee in consultation with the Selection and Appointments Committee, persons with substantial experience other than on the tenure track at a law school may also be treated as lateral hires.

A. Untenured Lateral Appointments

An untenured lateral appointment, for purposes of this section, means an appointment of a lateral hire to the tenure track faculty. Such an appointment shall not carry with it the right to immediate tenure. At the time of appointment, a lateral hire and the Dean shall negotiate rank, scholarship and service credit, and the number of years of tenure track service for which the candidate shall be given credit, and the Dean shall provide this information to the Tenure Committee.

1.   Rank

The Dean may appoint a lateral hire at a rank that has been approved by the appropriate Committee under section V B of the Assembly Constitution or at any lower rank.

2.   Scholarship and Service Credit

The Dean shall designate the particular scholarly works and service activities that shall be treated as part of the lateral hire’s tenure track scholarship and service. Except in extraordinary circumstances, such scholarly works must have been completed during the lateral hire’s previous tenure track service. If the person has more than four years of previous tenure track service, ordinarily only the scholarly works completed during the last four years will be considered. This rule is not intended to preclude consideration of scholarship completed over a longer period in extraordinary circumstances, such as where the candidate’s recent previous service was in a primarily administrative position (e.g., Librarian or Associate Dean).

3.   Years of Service

The Dean shall designate the number of years of previous tenure track service for which the candidate shall be given credit for purposes of biennial reviews and the tenure application. In no instance shall a person be given more than four years of such credit, nor shall a person be given credit exceeding the number of years of actual previous tenure track or comparable service.

B. Tenured Appointments

A tenured appointment, for purposes of this section, means an appointment of a lateral hire to the faculty with tenure. This section sets forth an expedited review process for consideration of such appointments. The expedited process is available for a faculty candidate who is being considered for or has been offered a position on the tenure-track faculty, and for a person who is currently or has just completed serving as a look-see visitor. In the case of a visitor, normally the expedited review process will be timed to result in a tenure decision in January for a fall-semester or academic-year visit, and in September for a spring-semester visit.

The expedited review process described in this section shall be the only means by which a faculty member may be appointed with tenure.

1.   Rank

At the discretion of the Dean, a tenured lateral hire may be appointed at the rank of Professor with the previous approval of the Committee of the Tenured Professors pursuant to section V B of the Assembly Constitution. In all other instances, a tenured lateral hire shall be appointed at the rank of Associate Professor.

2.   Initiation

When the Selection and Appointments Committee determines that it is reasonably likely that a faculty candidate whom it has interviewed or who is serving as a look-see visitor may be considered or recommended for a tenured appointment, that Committee shall promptly inform the Tenure Committee.

The Selection and Appointments Committee shall furnish or assist the Tenure Committee in obtaining materials necessary for consideration of the candidate for a grant of tenure, including (where applicable and available):

a.   the candidate’s previous tenure report;

b.   the standards under which the candidate was granted tenure;

c.   the report on promotion subsequent to tenure;

d.   the candidate’s scholarly publications;

e.   outside reviews of the candidate’s scholarship;

f.    names of references provided by the candidate and/or contacted by the Selection and Appointments Committee, and a summary of any information obtained from such references;

g.   video recordings of the candidate’s teaching; and

h.   student evaluations.

After receiving the above materials, the Tenure Committee shall determine whether to undertake an expedited review of the candidate’s qualifications for a grant of tenure and, optionally, for an appointment at the rank of Professor. Ordinarily an expedited review will be appropriate only for candidates who have previously been granted or recommended for tenure by another law school under standards that are substantially equivalent to or more rigorous than the standards currently in effect at John Marshall, and only in circumstances in which the Committee considers it unlikely that there will be substantial opposition to the tenured appointment.

If the Tenure Committee decides not to undertake an expedited review of the candidate, it shall so inform the chair of the Selection and Appointments Committee. The Selection and Appointments Committee may bring the question to the Committee of the Tenured Faculty, which may (by a majority vote taken at a properly convened meeting) overrule the decision of the Tenure Committee and direct the Tenure Committee to undertake an expedited review of the candidate.

3.   Process

If a candidate is eligible for expedited review under the preceding section, the Tenure Committee shall review the candidate’s scholarship and other available materials on an expedited basis. If outside reviews of the candidate’s scholarship are not available, the Committee shall obtain expert reviews as is done for internal candidates for tenure, except that for candidates who are not visitors, the reviewers may be members of the John Marshall faculty who are expert in the relevant field rather than outside experts, and the candidate shall not have the opportunity to object to the reviewers appointed by the Committee.

If the Tenure Committee elects not to recommend the candidate for an award of tenure, it shall not prepare a report, but shall so inform the chair of the Selection and Appointments Committee. The Selection and Appointments Committee may elect to present the candidate to the Committee of the Tenured Faculty notwithstanding the Tenure Committee’s decision not to recommend the candidate for an award of tenure. In that event, the Selection and Appointments Committee shall so notify the chair of the Tenure Committee, the Tenure Committee shall prepare a report to the Committee of the Tenured Faculty stating its reasons for not recommending an award of tenure, and the Committee of the Tenured Faculty shall consider the tenure question pursuant to section V B of the Assembly Constitution. (If the Tenure Committee recommends a candidate for an award of tenure but declines to recommend that the appointment be made at the rank of Professor, it shall prepare a report on the latter question only if the Selection and Appointments Committee elects to present the rank question to the Committee of the Tenured Professors.)

If the Tenure Committee elects to recommend the candidate for an award of tenure, it shall prepare a report that details the reasons for recommending tenure, and a separate report that details the reasons for recommending appointment at the rank of Professor if the Committee so recommends. In the event that the Faculty approves a faculty appointment for the candidate, the Committee shall provide such reports to the appropriate bodies for consideration pursuant to section V B of the Assembly Constitution.

X. Applicability

The current version of the Tenure Standards shall apply to all matters governed by the standards, without regard to the date on which a candidate was appointed to the tenure track. However, if a substantive provision of these standards was amended after the date that a candidate for tenure was appointed to the tenure track, at the candidate’s election, the Tenure Committee shall apply the previous version of the provision in lieu of the current version.