The goal of the VAP program is to help increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the legal academy in the United States. The program is primarily designed to help aspiring faculty members from underrepresented groups get time for research and writing, receive mentorship from senior faculty, learn more about how academic life works, and prepare for their own entry into legal academia as a law professor.
The VAP appointment will be for a period of two years. Two VAPs will be hired every other year.
Each VAP will have one assigned faculty mentor/advisor.
VAPs will be allowed to attend faculty meetings and are strongly encouraged to attend faculty workshops. They also will be allowed to see candidate job talks as means of helping them prepare for going on the market with their own job talk.
First Year
Time during the first year will be devoted primarily to producing scholarship, developing relationships with faculty, attending faculty workshops, attending full-time faculty members' classes to witness and learn from different teaching styles, and receiving mentorship.
The VAP will not teach during the first semester. The VAP will teach a seminar, usually taught only one day a week, during the second semester. Teaching this seminar will enable the VAP to have teaching experience and evaluations when they go on the market.
Starting in the spring semester, the VAP's faculty mentor; the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; the Associate Dean for Intellectual Life; and the Associate Dean for Equity, Justice, and Engagement will help the VAP prepare their materials for the AALS Faculty Appointments Register (FAR).
The expectation is that the VAP will produce at least one draft article for revision by the end of June. Ideally, the VAP will submit at least one article to law reviews by early August.
Under an ideal timeline, the VAP will have a draft by December of their first year to vet and revise with faculty and at conferences. These expectations are set to assist the VAPs in preparing for the job market.
The VAP will submit their materials in the first round of the AALS FAR in August of their second year.
Second Year
The VAP will not teach during the first semester of this year, as the VAP is expected to be on the market and traveling during this time.
The VAP will teach another course during the spring semester, hopefully with an eye toward prepping a course they will teach in their first year as a full-time faculty member at the institution that hires the VAP.
Ideally, the VAP leaves the position with one or two drafts that they can revise and submit during their time on the tenure stream or on their promotional path.
Personal Statement: In this statement, please explain why you wish to be a legal scholar and teacher and how your appointment will advance our goals of increasing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the legal academy in the United States. The essay should be no more than two-double spaced pages with 12-point font.
Research Proposal: In one or two, double-spaced pages, please describe the set of issues or problems you seek to write about. Specifically, please describe the idea/question you will focus on and the arguments you hope to make in two separate articles for publication.
Two Reference Letters: Please have the references e-mail the letters directly to us at lawdean@bu.edu.
Official Transcript(s): Please send a transcript from every institution of higher education you have attended or are currently attending. An electronic pdf is preferred. An unofficial transcript will do for the process, but the University will need an official transcript for hire.
Salary and Support
Fellows will be on a 9-month contract, and their salary will be paid over 12 equal monthly installments. Fellows also will receive a summer stipend in the summer they start and the summer after their first year.
Fellows are eligible for standard benefits available to all full-time faculty.
The position starts on July 1 of the VAP's first year and ends on June 30 of their second year, e.g., July 1, 2022-June 30, 2024.
In addition, the two VAPs will share an office space. Each VAP will receive a laptop or laptop with docking station for use for their professional work. The laptop is BU Law property and must be returned at the end of their two-year appointment.
They also will have use of faculty support services.
Each Fellow will receive the student research assistant support that is provided to junior faculty.
Each Fellow will receive a faculty account to support travel and participation in conferences and purchase books/materials for research.
Fellows are eligible for moving expenses.
Please note all newly hired staff and faculty, will need to be in compliance with Boston University's COVID-19 Vaccination and Booster Requirement within 30 days of date of hire. You must upload your vaccine documentation or request a medical or religious exemption (instructions). For further information on the University's response to COVID-19, please visit the Back2BU site.
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.
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