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Faculty Student Committees

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Prospective representatives should note time commitments below and should plan to regularly update the DBA External Vice President about important developments in their respective committees.

The primary responsibility of the Entry Level Appointments Committee is to identify and recommend the hiring of tenure-track faculty for entry-level teaching positions at Duke. Beginning in August with hundreds of applications, the Committee identifies a manageable number to interview at the hiring conference in the fall, and to bring back to campus for job talk presentations and full interviews in the late fall and spring. The Committee then decides whether to recommend candidates for appointment to tenure-track positions. Much of the Committee’s work involves reading and discussing candidates’ legal scholarship and their prospects as teachers and institutional citizens.

Students play an important role in the work of the Committee.  Student representatives meet periodically with the Chair of the Committee to discuss specific candidates as well as general hiring priorities.  Student representatives also attend job talks by entry-level candidates; meet with the candidates to discuss scholarship, teaching, and institutional vision; convey their assessment and recommendations to the Committee; and assist in the recruitment of faculty who have been offered an appointment.  Though open to all students, this level of engagement with the hiring process may be of particular interest to those with an interest in legal academia.  The time commitment for student representatives is typically 10-15 hours per year.

The responsibilities of the Lateral Faculty Appointments and Promotions Committee include the following:  (1) recommending the appointment of tenured and tenure-track faculty who have already started their teaching careers at another law school or university; (2) recommending to the Dean visiting appointments for the purpose of evaluating candidates for a possible tenured or tenure-track appointment to the faculty; (3) considering whether tenure-track faculty at the Law School should be reappointed and, at the appropriate time, should be awarded indefinite tenure; (4) evaluating whether Clinical Professors of Law and Professors of the Practice of Law should be reappointed; and (5) recommending Secondary Appointments at the Law School for faculty in other departments or schools.  At the Dean’s discretion, the Committee may also consider the initial appointment of Clinical Professors of Law and Professors of the Practice or Law.  Much of the Committee’s work involves the reading and discussion of scholarship by lateral, reappointment, and tenure candidates.  The Committee also reviews and reports on the quality of the candidates’ teaching and on their institutional service. 

Students play an important role in the work of the Committee.  Student representatives meet periodically with the Chair of the Committee to discuss specific candidates as well as general hiring priorities and to convey the views of the student body about the quality of teaching by visiting faculty.  Student representatives also attend job talks by lateral candidates; meet with the candidates to discuss scholarship, teaching, and institutional vision; convey their assessment and recommendations to the Committee; and assist in the recruitment of faculty who have been offered an appointment.  Though open to all students, this level of engagement with the hiring process may be of particular interest to those with an interest in legal academia.  The time commitment for student representatives is typically 10-15 hours per year.

The Committee supports the work and mission of the Career & Professional Development Center team as a resource, developing and assessing proposals, discussing ways to optimize the student experience, and providing advice and guidance on current issues.  The Career Center’s mission is:

To build strong and lasting relationships with our students, and to empower them to pursue their unique career aspirations by acquiring professional skills, identifying and achieving individual goals, developing insight to adapt to a rapidly changing global market, and embodying the Duke Law Blueprint values.

 Student Role

  • Participate fully in discussion.
  • Vote when votes are taken.
  • Students “represent themselves,” with views informed by their interactions with the community.
  • Default “is open meeting.”

Student Limitations

  • No limitations, except as required to protect students’ privacy and institutional confidentiality needs (e.g., not disclosing institutional decisions or data that has not yet been made publicly available).

Time Commitment for Student Representatives

  • Varies annually, but rarely would exceed 10 hours per year, though there are sometimes opportunities to volunteer on individual projects.

Number of Students and Class Years

One 1L, one 2L and one 3L are elected through DBA student elections.  Additional members may be invited to join to provide a range of perspectives and experiences.

Duties

The Curriculum Committee is responsible for approving all new courses, and for general review of issues relating to the course of study for the JD and LLM degrees. The Committee also is responsible for working with the Dean’s Office to ensure compliance with ABA standards that relate to the program of legal education and its delivery to students. Pursuant to its general review responsibility, the Committee may, from time to time, be asked to take up issues of degree requirements, course crediting, grading, aspects of curricular components such as the experiential education, ethics or writing programs, and new programs.

Meetings and Time Commitments

The Committee generally meets once or twice each month, though if tasked with an in-depth curricular review, may need to meet more often.  The Committee also regularly conducts business via email. The time commitment of committee service is generally about 3 hours/month. Student representatives, one each from the 1L, 2L and 3L JD classes, participate in all business of the committee, including instances in which confidentiality is especially expected, such as with curricular proposals, but are recused from situations in which more sensitive data potentially relating to specific faculty or students may need to be discussed, such as in discussions of grading, for example. The committee chair and the Dean’s Office will keep students informed of the issues under discussion in any instances in which students do not attend meetings or receive all materials related to a committee task.   

The Library and Technology Committee (LTC) comprises a mix of faculty, ex officio members, and student representatives.  The Committee meets every semester (and more frequently when necessary) to review, discuss and, where appropriate decide on—

  • Direction from the Dean or the Faculty or on its own initiative, matters of relevance to Library and Technology services;
  • Advise the Associate Dean for Information Services and Associate Dean for Finance and Administration on faculty and/or student views when asked;
  • Library and technology user satisfaction or concerns, including surveys;
  • Ideas for improvement in operations and service;
  • Decisions by the Associate Dean for Information Services and Associate Dean for Finance and Administration that might have an impact on students and faculty;
  • In closed session (faculty and staff only) personnel matters the Associate Deans bring to the Committee for deliberation and decision; and
  • The strategic direction of library and technology services, possible implications for faculty and students, and impact and changes on the Law School’s teaching and research missions.

The time commitment for student representatives is typically no more than 10 hours per year.

The role of the Committee is to provide advice to the Admissions, Financial Aid, and Student Affairs staff teams and to the Dean’s Office about specific issues concerning admissions, financial aid, and student affairs. Relevant Duke Law School’s Rules and Policies to the work of the Committee may be found in Sections I and V of the Rules codified here: https://law.duke.edu/about/community/rules/sec1/ and https://law.duke.edu/about/community/rules/sec5/. In practice, the Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs and staff often bring issues before the Committee related to admissions process, forms, assessment, proposals for rule or policy changes, the Honor Code, and programs and services such as orientation and ADA accommodations. Changes to Duke Law School’s Rules or Policies in the subject area originate from the Committee. Admissions and financial aid award decisions are not made by the Committee. Recent issues have focused around the Loan Repayment Assistance Program and the use of GRE scores in admission decisions, for example. Student Committee members voice the student perspective on these issues. Student representatives participate in all aspects of the Committee’s work, though on occasion sensitive matters are discussed in closed session with faculty and staff members only. (For example, an examination of the correlation between law school academic performance and measures of academic promise, such as LSAT/GRE scores or undergraduate GPAs, may take place in closed session if it is impossible to anonymize the data fully.) The time commitment for student representatives varies from year to year, but typically does not exceed 5 hours per year.

Student representatives play an important role on the Faculty Alumni & Development Committee, assisting the faculty and Alumni & Development staff in a variety of different capacities.  Student representatives meet periodically with the Chair of the Committee and Alumni & Development staff to discuss strategies for creating meaningful connections between students and alumni.  Student representatives serve as ambassadors during signature alumni programs during the academic year such as Reunion Weekend, fall and spring leadership weekends, thank-a-thon, and regional alumni events.  Students also work with faculty and staff to develop resources and programs to support the graduating class navigate the transition from students to alumni. Through serving on the Alumni & Development committee, student representatives provide general and specific feedback and guidance to faculty and Alumni & Development staff on student and alumni engagement and development activities. The time commitment for student representatives is roughly 10 hours per semester.