Faculty Regulations
11. General Criteria Used in Evaluation
of Faculty Members
The
evaluation of a member of the faculty
at the time of initial appointment, at
each renewal, and on the occasion of promotion
in rank or appointment with tenure is
based upon his/her actual and potential
contribution to legal scholarship, to
law teaching, to the legal profession,
to the Washington College of Law community
of students and faculty, and to the University.
The
criteria set forth in this section are
intended to guide both the Committee on
Appointments and the Committee on Rank
and Tenure of the Washington College of
Law in the evaluation of faculty members.
The purpose of these criteria is
to focus the attention of these Committees
to the overall contribution and performance
of the faculty member without necessarily
implying that equal weight need be assigned
to the separate criteria.
In
making its recommendations to the dean
regarding reappointment, promotion, and
granting of tenure and in making its recommendations
to the faculty concerning appointments,
the Committee on Rank and Tenure shall
apply the applicable criteria set out
herein.
Occasionally,
the faculty or the Committee on Rank and
Tenure may propose a faculty action although
not all the criteria for the rank or status
involved have been met.
Such recommendation must be justified
on the basis of the exceptional merits
of the case and its relation to the mission
of the Washington College of Law.
Probationary
appointments are appointments without
tenure.
A probationary appointment creates
no expectation or right to an appointment
with tenure.
It should be understood that non‑renewal
of probationary appointments may occur
for many reasons, including, for example,
as a result of the discontinuance of a
course of study or a clinical program
in the subject matter of which the probationary
appointee claims expertise, even when
an individual has fulfilled all other
criteria for reappointment.
In
order that the application of the criteria
be clearly understood by all Washington
College of Law faculty members, the faculty
of the Washington College of Law should
engage in full discussions of the criteria
used by its Committee on Appointments
and its Committee on Rank and Tenure for
the appointment, retention, and promotion
of members of its faculty.
Such discussions involve the criteria
specified in this Manual. Moreover, such discussions should occur at least
once a year after the Committee on Appointments
and the Committee on Rank and Tenure have
held their annual information meeting
and before the Committee on Rank and Tenure
begins its review of faculty personnel
actions.
a. Educational and Professional Background
A person recommended for appointment to the faculty shall have
the educational background and the professional
experience appropriate to the position
proposed.
In the case of any faculty member
teaching in a clinic, membership in good
standing of a state bar and eligibility
to acquire the right to practice before
the bar of the jurisdiction in which the
faculty member is supervising students
is an additional prerequisite for appointment,
reappointment, tenure, and retention of
tenure.
The record should show the completion
of requisite academic work and possession
of recognized earned degrees attesting
to educational background and an employment
and professional history relevant to the
teaching field and of sufficient duration
to satisfy the requirements of the rank
to which appointment is sought.
The
University prefers that the members of
its faculty be diverse in their educational
background and teaching experience and
discourages the appointment of faculty
members whose earned degrees have all
been obtained at American University.
b. Effective Teaching
Quality
of teaching is a primary consideration
in the selection, reappointment, promotion,
and granting of tenure of faculty members
of the Washington College of Law.
Effective
teaching includes superior classroom performance,
organization, development, articulate
presentation of subject matter, involvement
of the student in the learning process
with due concern for motivation, and an
appropriate respect for the intellectual
needs of students.
The conduct of seminars, colloquia,
or other forms of planned faculty‑student
interaction and the supervision of dissertations,
theses, and independent study, when these
are appropriate to the faculty member's
duties, shall be considered an important
part of effective teaching.
The
provision of a stimulating atmosphere
within which students can learn and grow
intellectually is also a major professional
contribution the faculty member can make
to the development of students.
This includes frequent and active
presence on campus, student counseling
and advising, and participation in activities
that promote interaction between student
life and the academic environment.
The
following major factors will be considered
as evidence of teaching ability:
• ability to communicate;
• preparation for class;
• breadth of knowledge relevant to the field;
• thoughtful organization of individual
class sessions and overall course content;
• ability to stimulate students;
• ability to direct effectively a classroom
meeting;
• ability to devise methods of determining
a student's progress and achievement,
appropriate to the courses taught;
• effectiveness and direction of research
and clinical programs or similar individual
or small group programs;
• accessibility to students and demonstrated
interest and involvement in their welfare;
and
• in the case of clinical faculty, additional
factors to be considered are one‑on‑one
interaction with and support of students
for courtroom or administrative hearings.
Student
evaluations of teaching effectiveness
shall be important tools in ascertaining
teaching effectiveness and will be used
in evaluation and review of faculty members
at all levels.
The statistical information from
formal student evaluations, however, should
not be the sole kind of evidence regarding
teaching effectiveness used in personnel
recommendations and decisions.
c. Creative, Scholarly, and Professional
Development
A
broad scholarly knowledge of one’s
field, creative work and production of
significant scholarship are essential
to the mission of the university and to
effective teaching. The University is
committed to support and assist in the
development of scholarly research and
effective teaching.
The Washington College of Law also
recognizes that professional activities
may constitute a contribution of importance
to the law.
Evidence
of development, scholarship, and creativity
includes the publication of significant
scholarly contributions, development and
publication of teaching methods and materials,
public lectures, leadership in professional
organizations, and other professional
activity that demonstrates concern with
the advancement of the faculty member's
discipline or interdisciplinary work.
Scholarship
is defined as consisting of original contributions
to the author's field of knowledge such
as would warrant recognition among scholars
and educators in the same field.
In applying this governing standard
to legal research, it must be noted that
legal scholars can find many outlets to
pursue their areas of scholarship and
research. Interests may range from the highly abstract
to eminently practical contributions.
Legal scholars may seek to accomplish
a wide range of purposes in their scholarship.
The scholarly piece, in whatever
form or length, should reflect those qualities
of mind that justify the imposition of
the scholarship requirement.
Scholarship may be represented
in an effective analysis of empirical
data that breaks new ground in determining
how the law functions. The scholarly piece may include a carefully
conceived doctrinal or theoretical construction
that is offered as a perspective on existing
material.
Whether it be a new way of perceiving
established dogma or a proposal for new
directions, the scope of scholarly work
should be sufficiently ambitious to justify
the substantial commitment of time invested
in the work. Scholarship, in sum, is informed, reflective,
deeply analytical, and in some substantial
part a personal statement. By way of contrasting example, a book that simply
collects the views of others, an article
that merely reports the holding of a number
of judicial opinions, or an analysis of
a current legal issue that is content
to summarize the contentions already made
by others is not sufficient evidence of
scholarship.
Furthermore, only in the most exceptional
circumstances would a brief supporting
a litigant's position be able to meet
the scholarship requirement.
Thus, not all written work that
appears in the traditional forms necessarily
meet the standards of quality for legal
scholarship.
Quality
of scholarship is not measurable in terms
of pages or even numbers of pieces, but
instead should be sufficient in relation
to the time spent at the Washington College
of Law to demonstrate a devotion to intellectual
inquiry and scholarly productivity through
the person's professional life. Scholarly publications prior to coming to the
Washington College of Law may be relevant
insofar as they indicate that these qualities
are not recently acquired.
d. Professional Conduct and Service to the Institution,
Community, and Discipline
The
American Bar Association Model Rules of
Professional Conduct and Canons of Judicial
Ethics are incorporated herein.
Insofar as there may be any inconsistency
between such Code and the provisions of
this Manual, the provisions of
this Manual shall prevail.
Faculty
members are expected to devote substantially
all of their time to the Washington College
of Law.
In addition to the duties of teaching
and scholarship, the responsibility of
a full‑time faculty member includes
attendance and participation in faculty
meetings, committee work, and accessibility
to students for conferences. Compliance with faculty determinations regarding
the timing of examinations and the publication
of students' grades is expected of all
faculty and must take priority over all
outside activities.
Activities outside the Washington College of Law should include
the application of professional skills
in service to the community and the profession
which may be manifested through activities
of a bar association or other professional,
governmental, or community organizations
relevant to the major field of the teacher.
What is important in measuring
such activities is the quality of service
and the depth of involvement and the extent
to which they enrich teaching and scholarship. Despite the long term value and importance of
these activities, it must be emphasized
that full‑time membership on a faculty
involves a commitment to teaching and
scholarship as a principal activity.
Furthermore,
a member of the faculty should actively
contribute to the general development
of the University.
Participation in faculty meetings
and committees and in student organizations
and activities constitutes such a contribution,
as does the use of the member's professional
skills and training in the affairs of
the communities which the University serves
and of society at large.
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