Non-Traditional Law Deans and Tenure

In the interests of FULL DISCLOSURE:  I'm on the dean search committee at my school and this post is NOT about any specific dean candidate so no inferences should be drawn about any of these comments with respect to our dean search. Nevertheless, it has been in the context of participating in our dean search that I have started thinking more generally about the following issues. 

It seems to me that in recent years, a number of law schools have moved away from appointing traditional academics as law deans (understandable, because the skill set isn't always obviously and immediately transferable between faculty member and dean).  So we've seen law schools appoint business people, retired politicians, retired judges, practitioners, university counsel etc as deans.

What are the pros and cons of this approach?  And what have those schools done about the tenure question?  In other words, do non-traditional deans generally get (or are they required under university/school rules to get) tenure?  If so, are they held to the same standards as more traditional academic dean candidates?

I can think of a handful of upsides and downsides on all these issues, but I'd really be interested in other people's thoughts and experiences.  Some of my own thoughts - and NOT necessarily those of the CRWU dean search committee - are:

1/ A non-traditional dean brings new and different perspectives to the position and this may be particularly useful in challenging economic times, particularly if the dean's background is somehow connected with finance or business.

2/ However, a non-traditional dean may not truly understand the academic enterprise and may not have a good grasp of scholarship standards for appointment and tenure, for example.  This could be difficult in terms of providing leadership in, say, the case of a split appointments or tenure vote.

3/ If the dean doesn't have/isn't required to have tenure, how does (s)he participate in faculty governance meaningfully on issues involving scholarship and tenure standards?

4/ On the plus side, a non-traditional dean with a lot of management experience may well be better at managing budgets and administrative staff than an academic who doesn't have much experience in those areas.

5/ A non-traditional dean may also be more likely to have solid fundraising experience, again depending on his/her background.

I'm sure there's a lot more issues I haven't thought of, and I should also disclose that our current interim dean is a practitioner who is doing a great job, so I'm certainly not advocating against the appointment of non-traditional deans.  But I would be very interested in other people's thoughts and experiences on these issues.

Comments

[Tim Zinnecker]

Perhaps hiring a dean from outside the academy makes more sense when the law faculty is comfortable that it doesn't need a leader at the helm on such matters as teaching and scholarship (presumably because stable faculty governance is in place, everyone is singing from the same hymnal, etc.) and is otherwise comfortable with its market perception. In that situation, perhaps the faculty tells itself, "What we REALLY need is a fundraiser, not a scholar or a dynamic classroom teacher. And if this candidate can generate some significant contributions/donations/pledges, etc., then we'll have more money to hire more scholars or more dynamic classroom teachers --- a 'win win' situation for everyone!"

If a law school has significant internal strife, bickering, turmoil, etc., however, it would seem to me that hiring a traditional dean candidate makes more sense. A nontraditional candidate may want to come in and clean house, but tenure will be a problem. A traditional dean may have a better feel for what can and should be done (and what may work best) in such an academic environment.

I don't know why, but I sense that private law schools are more apt to hire non-traditional dean candidates that are state law schools. Is that your sense, Dean Jacqui?

[Jacqui L.]

OK - so my disclaimer should have also made clear that I don't actually want to BE a dean either!

But I'm not sure what the answer to your question is. We're a private school and we're certainly doing well with a non-traditional interim dean so I could see us potentially continuing along this road. But I don't know if there's a private/state divide in terms of who is more comfortable with non-traditional folks.

[Jeff Lipshaw]

Jacqui, I think the question is interesting but moot. I was once a non-traditional dean candidate. I believe that, under the ABA law school accreditation rules, the dean MUST have tenure. So, for example, when my former law partner, Lloyd Semple, became the full-time dean at U-D Mercy, without a shred of tenure-like scholarship, he got tenure.

[Jeff Lipshaw]

Follow up. ABA Accreditation Standard 206(c): "Except in extraordinary circumstances, a dean shall also hold appointment as a member of the faculty with tenure."

There's no interpretation I can see quickly of "extraordinary circumstances," but one wouldn't think that circumstances in which one has the time to do a full dean search and choose to hire a non-traditional candidate would be extraordinary.

[Jeff Lipshaw]

I should note that doesn't impact the other issues you raise.

[Jacqueline Lipton]

Thanks, Jeff. I actually had looked at those rules last year, but didn't have them in mind when I wrote the post - so I appreciate your posting them, particularly the precise text which not everyone is probably familiar with.

[Howard Wasserman]

At FIU, we just hired a non-traditional dean (former Asst. AG and US Attorney) and he was not given tenure. He has a long-term contract as dean and a contract position on the faculty for when he is done deaning. He has the option to be considered for tenure at any point. So far, that has not affected his ability to manage the institution.

As someone who was initially skeptical of a non-academic dean when we entered our process, I must confess to having been won over to the notion, at least with the right person. I think the person must have an academic bent, that allows her to pick up on things such as scholarship standards and tenure evaluations and, frankly, to be interested in them. But a good manager with the right academic mindset and interest can learn that stuff fairly regularly.

Much depends not only on the faculty, but also on the institution overall and its current evolutionary point. For us, as a relatively new (Year 8 right now) school, we needed to start making inroads in the local legal community for jobs and fundraising, so this type of hire made sense for us.

[seoreseller.com]

But I'm not sure what the answer to your question is. We're a private school and we're certainly doing well with a non-traditional interim dean so I could see us potentially continuing along this road. But I don't know if there's a private/state divide in terms of who is more comfortable with non-traditional folks.