It is that time of year again. Many entry-level candidates have offers and are negotiating their first academic job. Despite the relatively short time I have been in the academy, I have had the pleasure and privilege of mentoring several entry-level candidates and professors who are (barely) more junior that I am. Time and again I am reminded that many entry-level candidates have less than the ideal amount of information when they begin negotiating their first law teaching position. With that in mind, I am linking to a few relevant posts and sharing the checklist of questions that I put together when I was interviewing for law teaching jobs not so long ago.  

I am aware of several helpful posts: 

• Brian Leiter on What do you need to find out now that you've gotten a tenure-track offer? (2009)
• Glenn Cohen on Asking questions on the job market - Part II: about the offer (2008)
• Geoffrey Rapp on Negotiating Your First Law Professor Job (2006)

I am sure that there are others out there and I hope that people will include links to them in comments to this post.

Questions to Consider in Academic Job Negotiations

1. Salary:
    a. What is the salary scale and where would you be on that scale? Is it negotiable? 
    b. Are there interim promotions and, if so, what are the expectations for promotions?

2. Teaching Package and Load:   
    a. What is the standard breakdown of the course package?   
    b. How are the courses distributed?   
    c. How is the class size determined?   
    d. What is the policy on determining the days and times to teach?

3. Start Date: What is the standard start date? Is it possible to start earlier to prepare for classes?

4. Moving Expenses: What is the policy on moving expenses?

5. Summer Research Money:   
    a. This Summer: Is it possible to get summer research money for the summer before I teach my first classes? Is the amount negotiable since you may have start-up costs?   
    b. Summer Research Money Pre-Tenure: What is the policy on summer research money pre-tenure? Can it be agreed in advance or do you have to reapply each year?

6. Pre-Tenure Teaching Dispensation: Is there a reduced teaching load in the first semester / first year / pre-tenure period?

7. Pre-Tenure Committee Dispensation:   
    a. What are the expectations around committees?   
    b. On which committees do junior faculty usually serve?

8. Conferences: Is there a policy on funding to attend conferences? Do you have to apply for each one? Is it possible to designate certain conferences that you will be able to attend even if you are not participating? Is there a different policy for domestic versus international conferences?

9. Research Assistants:   
    a. Is it possible to get money for research assistance throughout the academic year?   
    b. Is there funding for research assistants during the summer and if so, what is the procedure?

10. Research:  
    a. Does the law school support ExpressO for article submissions?   
    b. Does the library carry the law reviews and journals that are important to your field or research?   
    c. Does the law school have access to electronic databases that are important to your field or research?

11. Contract Duration:   
    a. What is the standard length of pre-tenure contracts?   
    b. What is the process for renewal?

12. Tenure:
    a. What is the timeline for the tenure process?
    b. What are the tenure expectations?
    c. Is there a mid-pre-tenure review process and when does this take place?   
    d. If there is a mid-pre-tenure review, and what are the expectations around that?       
    e. Is it possible to get an option to request earlier tenure review?

13. Housing Assistance:
    a. Is there a university-wide or law school program to provide housing assistance and if so, how is that structured? Is there anything to compensate for high property taxes?
     b. Is there travel funding to return for house hunting visit?

14. Faculty Budget: Do faculty members have a discretionary budget, for example, for books and, if so, how is that money accessed?

15. Bar Membership Fees: What is the policy on bar membership fees?

16. Furniture and Computer Hardware: What is the policy on furniture and computer hardware?

17. Health Care: What is the health care plan and how does that work?

18. Pension: Is there a pension or retirement program and how does that work?

19. Offices: How are offices allocated?

20. Parking: Is there a parking allowance? How does that work?

21. Sabbatical: Is there a sabbatical policy and if so, what is the policy?

22. Title: What do the terms assistant, associate, and full professor mean and what obligations, rights, and privileges are associated with each?

23. Junior Faculty Support:   
    a. How many other senior/junior people are they hiring this year, or have they already hired?   
    b. Are there programs in place for them (e.g. paper workshops, workshops on teaching)?

24. Timing for Answer: When do you need a response?

This is not an exhaustive list and candidates will need to make choices about which questions to ask, who to ask which questions, and when to ask these questions.   Many thanks to all my friends and mentors in the academy, who suggested these questions and advised me when I was on the market. 

Junior Scholars, Law Schools/Lawyering, Miscellany | Bookmark

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