Visiting Assistant Professor Program

The Visiting Assistant Professor (VAP) program is a centerpiece of the Chicago-Kent School of Law legal writing program. The VAP program provides students with a faculty that has diverse academic interests and legal practice experience and gives promising teachers experience in teaching legal writing and doctrinal law courses and engaging in academic scholarship.

Each year several legal writing courses are taught by VAPs. VAPs are generally appointed for two-year terms, with the possibility for a single one- or two-year renewal, or in extraordinary cases, for a long-term contract. Each VAP typically teaches a single section of approximately 30 first-year legal writing students. They teach Legal Writing I in the fall and Legal Writing II in the spring. Regular Legal Writing faculty meetings are held to coordinate assignments and to provide newer VAPs with the opportunity to enhance their legal writing teaching skills, share experience, and plan upcoming assignments and classes.

In addition to teaching Legal Writing, each VAP teaches a single doctrinal course each year. VAPs may teach any course in the law school curriculum other than required courses with class allocation based on the professor's experience and interests and the school's curricular needs. Teaching additional courses is permitted, but discouraged until the VAP has written at least one article, as the labor-intensive nature of course preparation makes it difficult to find time for scholarship. VAPs are provided with mentoring and guidance from other faculty in preparing and teaching doctrinal courses.

The school provides VAPs with considerable assistance and guidance in developing their academic scholarship, including a research and travel fund. Traditionally, VAPs use their time at the school to write and publish one or more scholarly articles as a basis (along with their teaching experience) for obtaining a tenure-track law teaching position. In addition to providing faculty mentors, the school offers a series of informal “roundtables” or workshops at which faculty members, including VAPs, can discuss their works in progress with colleagues.

VAPs are strongly encouraged to become part of the life of the law school by attending faculty and student functions, participating in faculty roundtables and workshops, volunteering to judge moot court practice arguments and competitions, serving on faculty committees, and interacting with current and prospective students.