Excerpts from the NYU Law Full-Time Faculty Handbook

Law School Statement of Faculty Responsibilities

All full-time members of the faculty share a basic core of responsibilities respecting teaching, scholarship and university fellowship.  A fuller description of these may be found in the New York University Faculty Handbook (pages 21-25).  

These principles are consistent with the Statement of Good Practices by Law Professors in the Discharge of Their Ethical and Professional Responsibilities, adopted by the Executive Committee of the Association of American Law Schools in 1989 and amended in 2017. 

Reflecting the general principles set forth above, each full-time member of the law faculty has the following specific responsibilities:

• To teach approximately ten to eleven credit hours per academic year and to meet one’s assigned classes regularly.
• To supervise a reasonable number of Substantial Writing projects for students each year, either through seminars taught by the faculty member or through directed research projects.
• To be reasonably available as an advisor and mentor to students.  As part of this responsibility, each instructor should have no fewer than three hours per week of office hours when available to students, in addition to other times by appointment.
• To be a productive and engaged scholar.  This entails not only producing one’s own scholarship but also being available to support the work of colleagues and to regularly attend workshops and similar events.
• To participate in the Law School as a community.  This entails regular attendance at faculty meetings and the weekly faculty workshops, active participation in assigned committee work, attendance at the annual Convocation at least once every three years, participation in one colloquium every week or two, and attendance at an appropriate number of student events such as journal dinners and admitted student days as well as other duties at the Dean’s discretion.
• To adhere to guidelines respecting the time for submission of grades as well as grade distribution guidelines.

The responsibilities of visiting faculty (including members of the Hauser Global Law School Faculty) should be adjusted accordingly.

Law School Policy on Assignment of Classes

The Dean is responsible for all teaching assignments, but the Vice Dean usually makes the assignments, consulting with faculty members as appropriate about courses and teaching times.  Teaching assignments for clinicians are made by the Associate Dean for Experiential Education.

Each unit of credit for a non-clinical course or seminar requires the equivalent of 13 teaching hours of 55 minutes each.  One additional credit is awarded for a seminar in which the student completes a Substantial Writing paper.  Prior approval of the Vice Dean is required for faculty wishing to offer Substantial Writing for their lecture course.  (See the Substantial Writing Requirement section.)