Employment Opportunity
Posting Date: January 8, 2021
Title: Visiting Assistant Professor
Status: Full Time (currently remote)
Mitchell Hamline School of Law seeks entry-level candidates to join our growing, vibrant faculty as visiting assistant professors (VAPs) in July 2021. Appointment is for two years with an option to be considered for a one-year renewal.
The VAP program trains talented lawyers—particularly those from underrepresented groups—to be great teachers and to compete successfully in the national law school market for permanent faculty hires. Although VAPs typically will teach in both blended and residential enrollment options, a hallmark of the program is to introduce VAPs to best practices in blended legal education, a field Mitchell Hamline pioneered among accredited law schools (https://mitchellhamline.edu/academics/j-d-enrollment-options/blended-learning-at-mitchell-hamline/).
Candidates must have a J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school or foreign equivalent degree. We seek colleagues who can contribute to the diversity of our campus community and wish to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion through teaching and service. We encourage those who attended HBCU law schools or undergraduate institutions, as well as other institutions that have historically graduated substantial diverse student populations to apply.
VAPs will teach a legal writing course each semester and one additional first-year or upper division doctrinal or skills class in the spring semester. They are expected to complete at least one scholarly article during their appointment and participate in the annual AALS law professor recruiting conference in the fall of their second year. Each VAP will have a faculty mentor in the legal writing program, as well as a scholarship faculty mentor and a general teaching mentor. VAPs are strongly encouraged to become part of the life of the law school by attending faculty meetings, serving on faculty committees, participating in faculty colloquia and other faculty and student functions, and volunteering to judge moot court practice arguments and competitions.
Our law school is in an historic area of Saint Paul, on the Indigenous homelands of the Dakota Oyate, home to the Penumbra and Fitzgerald theaters, ethnic restaurants, and one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world. Just across the river, Minneapolis is the home to the Walker Art Center, First Avenue, the Guthrie Theater, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and one of the nation’s liveliest performing arts scenes. The city was the birthplace of the American Indian Movement and continues to boast one of the largest urban Indian populations in the country. Eleven federally recognized tribes, including four Dakota and seven Ojibwe tribes, remain within the State of Minnesota.
Minneapolis and Saint Paul are among the top cities for arts and entertainment, sports, biking, cross-country skiing, active lifestyles, non-profit organizations, and exceptionally high levels of civic engagement.
Please apply online (https://mitchellhamline.applicantpro.com/jobs/1634735.html) and provide: a cover letter, a resume, and whether in your cover letter or a separate document, a statement addressing your past efforts and future plans to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion through your teaching and service. For best consideration, all application materials should be submitted by January 31, 2021. Interviews will be scheduled in February. Members of diverse and underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
Mitchell Hamline School of Law is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We seek candidates who can contribute to the diversity of the campus community, as well as candidates who wish to work in a collaborative atmosphere with faculty and staff. We do not discriminate based on race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, veteran/military status, disability or handicap, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, status with regard to public assistance, or any other protected status defined by law.