Faculty & Staff

The School of Law regularly employs Adjunct Faculty to augment our teaching faculty and enhance curricular offerings to our law students.  This Policy is designed to comply with the University System of Maryland Policy II-1.07, Policy on the Employment of Adjunct Faculty (“UMB Policy”).

  1. Categories of Adjunct Faculty

    Adjunct Faculty shall be designated as either Adjunct Faculty I or Adjunct Faculty II/Senior Adjunct.  At the School of Law, Adjunct Faculty II shall be referred to as Senior Adjunct.  Adjunct Faculty I shall include all adjunct faculty at the School of Law, except those faculty members who meet the criteria for designation by the School of Law policy as Senior Adjunct. Senior Adjunct faculty members, in addition to the other criteria required by the UMB policy, must  

    1. have a consistent record of high-quality instruction as determined by the School of Law;
    2. have a record of teaching at least three years at the School of Law and a total of 12 courses of two credits or more;
    3. have a series of high-level performance evaluations over the course of at least twelve full semester courses at the University; and
    4. have made a written request to the Academic Dean at the School of Law to be re-classified as Senior Adjunct.
  2. Adjunct I Appointments

    For a new Adjunct Faculty I position, the Academic Dean or his/her designee shall verify the credentials of the applicant and contact a reference (designated by the applicant) who can verify the applicant’s substantive knowledge of the area in which the adjunct may teach.  All adjunct faculty will also be approved by the Academic Dean in consultation with relevant faculty who will consider the individual’s

    1. Academic and professional background.
      The School of Law requires all adjunct faculty to hold an advanced degree (J.D. or Ph.D. expected absent exceptional circumstances), and have a minimum of two years of relevant experience in the area in which he/she may teach. Prior teaching experience is preferred, but not required for adjunct faculty.
    2. Area of expertise in relation to the School of Law’s current curricular needs
      The Academic Dean will assess curricular needs each semester to determine the demand for adjunct faculty.
    3. Past Performance Evaluations (if applicable).
      The Academic Dean will monitor adjunct faculty teaching performance and will review student evaluations in the current semester for each adjunct.
  3. Senior Adjunct Appointments

    For promotion to Senior Adjunct, the Academic Dean in consultation with relevant faculty from the Faculty Appointments Sub-Committee on Adjuncts will consider, in addition to the criteria in Section A above, the individual’s

    1. Academic and professional background.
      The School of Law requires all adjuncts to hold an advanced degree (J.D. or Ph.D. expected absent exceptional circumstances). Prior teaching experience is required for Senior Adjunct faculty.
    2. Area of expertise in relation to the School of Law’s current curricular needs.
    3. Past performance evaluations.
      The Academic Dean, or his/her designee, will assess the overall competence of the adjunct faculty member, including review of the adjunct faculty’s student evaluations as evidence of high-level performance.    In addition to the review of student evaluations in the current semester performed by the Academic Dean for each adjunct, the Academic Dean also will review past evaluations and other personnel records when Adjunct Faculty I request promotion to Senior Adjunct.   High level performance evaluations will include a series of student evaluations ranking the adjunct faculty at 4.5 or above (“Very Good” or “Superior”) in Questions 10 and 11 of the Student Evaluation, which is submitted by students anonymously online each semester through course evaluations.

The School of Law does not permit full-time law students to be employed more than 20 hours per week during the academic year. Additionally, the School of Law discourages facilitating employment of first-year, full-time (Day Division) students during their first academic year. The Career Development Office reserves the right not to post position listings that are inconsistent with its policies.

To facilitate hiring practices that comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Career Development Office encourages prospective employers that are recruiting students for unpaid positions to consult U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) guidelines

To determine whether UM Carey Law students may receive credit for externships, please see the School of Law’s Policy Statement on Externships. For additional information about externships, contact Crystal Edwards, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs and Lecturer in Law, cedwards@law.umaryland.edu.

Employers that post position listings in the CDO Job Bank are required to affirm that they will observe UMB’s non-discrimination policy. Additionally, the CDO seeks and obtains position listings from alumni, employer contacts, Internet job boards and third-party recruiters as a service to students and graduates.  While all position listings are verified prior to publishing to job-seekers, some listings from external sources do not include organizational employment non-discrimination policies. In these cases, the CDO encourages job-seekers to use contact information within the listings to review the organizational employment policies. Further, by posting position listings obtained from third parties and other external sources, the CDO does not represent that the organizations featured in the listings comply with UMB’s non-discrimination policy.

The University of Maryland School of Law regards academic freedom as essential to our mission and core values. Our commitment to academic freedom extends to all members of the law school community. We recognize the need for academic freedom for students and teachers, in their, at times overlapping, roles as scholars, educators, clinicians, administrators and librarians. Freedom in research is fundamental to the advancement of truth. Academic freedom in the classroom is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the teacher in teaching and of the student to freedom of learning. We also endorse the "Statement of the Association of American Law Schools in Support of Academic Freedom for Clinical Faculty," which affirms that "academic freedom is critical to achieving the objectives of clinical legal education and that the principle of academic freedom applies equally to clinical law faculty." We also believe that academic freedom is central to our core commitment to the pursuit of diversity as a source of richness within our faculty, student body and the legal profession as a whole. Finally, we endorse the 1995 declaration of the American Association for University Professors, which declares, "Academic freedom is indispensable to librarians, because they are trustees of knowledge with the responsibility of ensuring the availability of information and ideas, no matter how controversial, so that teachers may freely teach and students may freely learn."

(See also the Information Technology Acceptable Use Policy (UMB))

Acceptable Students, Faculty and Staff Use of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law Computing Facilities and Resources. [Revised March 2003]

Introduction
The University of Maryland provides computing resources, including Email, in support of the School’s mission of teaching, research, and community service. The goal for the School of Law's technological resources is to provide the greatest opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to conduct their work and exercise their curiosity freely.

Rights and Responsibilities
Computing resources can provide access to resources on and off campus, as well as the ability to communicate with other users worldwide. Access requires that individual users act responsibly.

The School of Law reserves the right to view any materials on our computer systems and to periodically delete any and all files.

1. The following practices are prohibited:

a. Using any computer network for a purpose other than scholarship (research and/or learning), public service, or personal communication.

b. Using the Campus Network to gain unauthorized access to any computer systems;

c. Using a computer account in a manner that violates the law, the policies of UMB, or the policies of the School of Law. Examples of such prohibited use include violations of a School's anti-discrimination or harassment policies or of its Honor Code..

d. Forging the identity of a user or machine in an electronic communication;

e. Using a computer account without authorization;

f. Using electronic mail to harass or threaten others. Examples of prohibited use include violations of the School’s anti-discrimination or harassment policies or of its Honor Code.

2. Users must respect the intellectual property of others and avoid any unprivileged or unauthorized access to or use of copyrighted materials;

3. The School of Law provides Email services at the University of Maryland to facilitate official communications between the school, student organizations, faculty staff and students. Email messages that are unofficial and unsolicited are considered SPAM, and represent an inappropriate use of Maryland’s computer resources.

Misuse of computing, or information resources may result in the loss of access and other sanctions. Enforcement of this policy, when applied to students, should be vested in the Administrative Committee. Enforcement of this policy, when applied to non-students, is vested in the Dean of the School of Law or his/her designatee.

Web Policies
In addition to responsible use of computing resources, the School of Law maintains a web page with the following guidelines and concerns:

Information in the School of Law web page is provided by many different people. While we try to keep it accurate and up-to-date, we cannot guarantee that it always will be. If you see something in a document that should be corrected or updated, send an e-mail to the webmaster. Be sure to give the full URL of the document in your e-mail. We will check with the appropriate department to see if the information can be corrected.

As with any web page, use information here at your own risk.

All faculty, staff & students are required to present a School of Law ID to the Security Officer when entering the building.

In general, all visitors who state they have legitimate business at the School of Law or Law Library will be allowed to enter upon presentation of an acceptable form of photo identification.  Individuals who clearly lack sufficient reason for being in the building will be denied entrance.  The School of Law has provided the Security Officers with School of Law VISITOR IDs.  Library visitors will be issued VISITOR IDs that are a different color than the standard VISITOR IDs.  Specifically, our policy for visitors is:

All visitors, unless noted below, will be required to show the Security Officer a valid driver’s license, a Maryland Identification Card issued by the Maryland Department of Motor Vehicles, some other government issued photo identification card, or a UMB Campus ID to gain entrance to the building. 

All visitors will be required to sign the visitor’s log except those with a valid UMB Campus ID or School of Law Adjunct Faculty ID. 
Each semester the Dean’s Office will supply the Campus Police Department Supervisor with a list of adjunct faculty and will issue to adjunct faculty SCHOOL OF LAW ADJUNCT FACULTY IDS.  Adjunct Faculty will be required to show this ID to the Security Office and wear the IDs while in the building.  If they do not have their Adjunct Faculty ID, they should follow the procedures above for regular visitors.

On those occasions when a large public meeting is held at the school’s facilities, the Security Officer may be given a list of meeting attendees and a supply of stick-on School of Law special event ID’s which include the name, location and date of the meeting.  These visitors will not be required to sign the visitor’s log.  They will, however, be required to show proper identification to the Security Officer and to wear the special event ID while in the building.

Everyone in our community is encouraged to alert the Security Officer or any staff member in a position of responsibility if they notice a visitor who is not wearing a Campus or School of Law ID.  The Security Officer may call for support from the Campus Police if he/she feels it is needed. 

Use By Non-Law School Organizations

The law school makes available bulletin board space to profit-making enterprises, but usage of the premises for commercial purposes requires the payment of a rental fee.

Westminster Hall, which is operated by the Westminster Preservation Trust, is available for rental for receptions, meetings, or lectures.  With the approval of the President of the Trust, the hall may be reserved for law school activities by faculty or student organizations subject to a fee of $100.  Campus organizations are eligible to receive a University discount of 30% off of the customary rental fee for weekday (Monday – Thursday) events.  For information about scheduling an event in Westminster Hall, call the manager of rental information at 410 706-2072.

Campus Facilities Use Policy

Buildings designated specifically and completely for occupancy by one professional school (for example, the law school building) are administered for scheduling purposes by the dean of that school.

  1. Requests from recognized campus organizations for utilization of facilities in such buildings will be considered and acted on by the dean.
  2. Requests from professional organizations related to the school will be considered and acted on by the dean.     
  3. Requests from other non-campus groups or organizations require the approval of the dean’s and President’s offices.

Facilities designed for general campus use, the Student Union Building and the Health Sciences Library auditorium, are available for use by campus groups, both organized and unorganized.  The Student Union/Resident Life designee and the Director of Facilities Management, respectively, will schedule utilization of these facilities.   

  • Requests for utilization of these facilities by non-campus groups should be made by means of an application requiring approval of the Student Union/Resident Life designee or the Director of Facilities Management and the President’s Office.
  • An exception to the need for President’s Office approval is made for the organized labor unions and associations of which classified employees are members.  These groups may schedule the use of facilities with approval of the appropriate dean, the Student Union/Resident Life designee or the Director of Facilities Management.