Preparing To Be A Law Professor: A List Of Faculty Fellowships

One of the new realities of law faculty hiring is that appointments committees increasingly tilt toward candidates with advanced degrees, a fellowship/VAP experience, or both.  But where do you get that fellowship or VAP experience?   The answer from Paul Caron is here.  I would add, however, that many schools hire Visiting Assistant Professors on an as-needed basis.  In the aftermath of the AALS scrum, some schools realize they have unmet needs for particular courses.  It can be difficult to determine which schools have these needs but, as is always the case with job searches, a little extra effort can yield unexpected opportunities.

Comments

[Anon Holla Boy]

do schools interview candidates at AALS but offer them VAP's instead?

[Jacqueline Lipton]

I can't speak for all schools, but we have done this in the past. It might be worth asking people at schools with well-developed VAP programs like Northwestern what their practice is for hiring VAPs.

[Anon Holla Boy]

How exactly does the AALS process to VAP work? Are you impressed with an individual that you wanted to hire for a full-time gig but decided that they were too raw?

[Jacqueline Lipton]

Yep, that's how it worked out last time for us. Depending on who's on the hiring committee, we might like to see at least one publication or substantial progress towards a publication. If someone shows a lot of potential, but doesn't have the scholarly background, we may consider a visit to give them a chance to do some writing etc. This is unusual for us, because most visits tend to come from word-of-mouth, but it does happen occasionally.

[anxious]

I am aware of several people that were on the market last year, didn't receive tenure-track offers, but are now VAPs at schools that don't have formal VAP programs.

[anon]

I was hired as a VAP through AALS. I originally interviewed with the school at AALS for a tenure-track position. I did not get a call back, but did receive an email in the fall saying they were still interested and may call me back later (I got no other callbacks.) I was not surprised by the lack of bites--even though I had gone on the market I'd done it more to test the waters and figured I would likely end up having better luck with fellowship programs. Then, in the spring as I was lining up interviews for the official VAP/Fellowship programs, I got a call from this school out of the blue offering me a VAP spot for the year (without going through any callback, etc). Turned out great.

[anon]

For those of us at a point in our lives where a VAP/fellowship is not a realistic option, the tilt toward VAPs/fellows has been very discouraging. For the past few years I've been working myself ragged writing two law review articles while working full-time and raising young children. So before I continue down this path, is it even worth it to be a non-VAP candiate with one or two publications? Sorry to vent . . . .

[Close but no cigar]

anon @ 10:00 am

I sympathize -- I was in a similar situation when I (unsuccessfully) tried the AALS. I do think the move towards preference for VAP and/or PhDs for entry level candidates makes it harder for candidates with kids and/or partners with careers, who might not be able to bounce from city to city doing a series of Fellowships or VAPs hoping that they one day get a job.

My sense from Solum's data on hiring is that JD-only candidates still do get hired -- especially if you have two publications -- but the market is obviously shifting and it is hard to predict how any one person will fare.

Good luck to you.

[Jacqui L.]

I've been on hiring committees for many years and we often hire JD only candidates. I personally like to see one or two good publications as evidence of aptitude for and dedication to scholarship. Also, if you can do good scholarship while supporting a family and holding down a job, that bodes well for you (although as you read these blogs, you'll see that intelligent minds differ as to what counts as "good scholarship"). So I wish you all the best for the market this year.

[blu cig]

I originally interviewed with the school at AALS for a tenure-track position. I did not get a call back, but did receive an email in the fall saying they were still interested and may call me back later (I got no other callbacks.) I was not surprised by the lack of bites--even though I had gone on the market I'd done it more to test the waters and figured I would likely end up having better luck with fellowship programs. Then, in the spring as I was lining up interviews for the official VAP/Fellowship programs, I got a call from this school out of the blue offering me a VAP spot for the year (without going through any callback, etc). Turned out great.

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