DeanWuBlog

Faculty

There are many types of professors whom we are privileged to have associated with the Law School. Our full-time faculty includes individuals who are tenured or tenure-track. Tenure is a tradition which by ensuring job security enhances academic freedom; the ideal of tenure is that a professor who has earned it will be able to pursue independent research protected from arbitrariness and bias. Tenure-track faculty are individuals who are eligible for tenure and progressing toward it, much as an attorney might be on the partnership track at a law firm. At Wayne State University, tenure- track faculty typically have six years to attain tenure. At most institutions of higher education, individuals who are not granted tenure usually no longer have employment.

There are several ranks among tenured/tenure-track faculty. They are, in order, Assistant Professor; Associate Professor; and Professor. In most, but not all, instances, an individual is promoted from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor simultaneously with the grant of tenure (this is not true at all schools). Some of the most senior faculty also hold an endowed chair, meaning a donor has provided funds that generate income to supplement the regular faculty salary; or an honor such as the University Professor designation.

There also are full-time faculty who have different roles. Clinical faculty are employed on long-term contracts, and the American Bar Association requires they have job security that is similar to tenure though it need not be identical to tenure. Legal Research & Writing instructors also are employed on a contractual basis.

The hiring of full-time faculty is conducted by the full-time faculty. A supermajority of two-thirds is needed to approve of an offer. Neither the Dean nor the Associate Dean votes, and in most instances neither the Dean nor the Associate Dean states a view about a candidate during the deliberations, which are conducted in executive session.

At this time, none of the Assistant Deans is a faculty member. They are administrators appointed by the Dean.

Our part-time faculty are called "Adjunct Professors." They are talented members of the bench and the bar (in rare instances, retired) who have particular expertise that benefits our students. Many of them teach specialized courses or use a pedagogy oriented toward practice rather than theory. Many, but not all, also are alumni -- decisions about adjunct faculty are made solely on the basis of academics and without regard to whether an alumnus is a supporter of the Law School. They are approved by the full-time faculty and supervised by the Associate Dean. The American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools monitor the use of adjuncts and they prefer law schools rely on full-time faculty and restrict the total number of adjunct faculty.