The Associate Dean for Faculty Research Position: Encouraging and Promoting Scholarship

Abstract

This Article recounts the experience at the University of Cincinnati College of Law with the Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development position in the hope that it may be of interest to those schools that either have a similar position or are contemplating establishing such a position. Along the way, we offer our thoughts on the respective roles of the Dean, Associate Dean, and Faculty in improving the quality, productivity, and visibility of a law school faculty and their scholarship. The Associate Dean position was established at Cincinnati two years ago to (1) promote excellence in scholarship and teaching, (2) facilitate and coordinate scholarly activities, and (3) publicize the scholarly activities of the faculty. Responding to the first two charges, the Associate Dean has worked to provide greater institutional support for faculty research at each stage of the production process in the form of various initiatives such as a Work-in-Progress Group, Summer Scholarship Series, Faculty Workshop Series, Scholar Exchange Program, and Law School Working Paper Series. In response to the third charge, the Associate Dean has ramped up our publicity efforts, using both old and new technologies in increasing faculty participation in our alumni magazine, monthly web-based faculty news, and periodic e-mail and print publicity. The Dean has revamped our system of scholarly incentives and rewards, combining elements of both the all-for-one-and-one-for-all approach and the eat-what-you-kill approach. In the end, all of these efforts are aimed at strengthening a scholarly community in which the whole is greater than its parts. The guiding ethos should be that a rising scholarly tide lifts all boats, and that when we row together we not only get to our common destination quicker and easier, it also makes for a more enjoyable and satisfying journey. Like the man who sets out to slay a whale armed only with a row boat and a faith that leads him to bring along a jar of tarter sauce, we come to this task armed only with the ideas described in this Article and a faith in our colleagues that allows us to experiment with different ways to build this scholarly community.