Clinical Faculty in the Legal Academy: Hiring, Promotion and Retention
Journal of Legal Education, Volume 62, Number 1 (August 2012)
47 Pages Posted: 12 Apr 2017
Date Written: August 2012
Abstract
This article represents a report written at the request by the Chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Clinical Legal Education to identify faculty leading clinical programs or employing clinical methodologies in order to distinguish the most robust models. In addressing the need to collect reliable data to assess clinical models, as well as the statuses of the educators who run them, this article facilitates much-needed conversation regarding the value of clinics and those who run them. Such areas of considerable value include content-based education, learning through performance, and consistent feedback, among others. Given the clinical model’s value, this article recommends a unitary tenure model and a continuing yet more limited approach for full-time and part-time educators, respectively, and notes points of tension that may flow from these recommendations. This article concludes with proposals as to how clinical models might be implemented to align with the group’s findings and recommendations
Keywords: clinical faculty, academia, education, legal clinic, tenure model, faculty retention, experiential learning
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