Dean of the Francis King Carey School of Law
University of Maryland, Baltimore
The University of Maryland, Baltimore (“UMB”), one of 13 separate campuses in the University System of Maryland (“USM”), is seeking a Dean for the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (“UM Carey Law”). Opened in 1807, UMB is the founding USM institution. Consistent with its core values—accountability, civility, collaboration, diversity, and knowledge to achieve excellence in leadership and in the execution of the UMB mission—UMB is devoted to excellence in professional and graduate education, research, and practice. The President of the UMB campus reports to the USM System Chancellor, William E. Kirwan. UM Carey Law is one of six professional schools (Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work) and a Graduate School on the UMB campus. UM Carey Law enriches and is enriched by the missions of the University and its UMB sister schools.
Mission of the School of Law
UM Carey Law was established in 1816 and began regular instruction in 1824. It is the third-oldest law school in the nation, but its modern mission and curriculum place it at the vanguard of legal education. UM Carey Law has capitalized on its proximity to Baltimore and Washington, D.C. to become an integral part of legal, political, and business communities at local, state, national, and international levels.
UM Carey Law is a public school with a public mission. It seeks to promote a more just society by educating outstanding, public-spirited lawyers, by advancing understanding of law and legal institutions through innovative and influential scholarship, and by enhancing access to justice through engagement in the community. This fundamental mission is grounded in an institutional dedication to connecting law with policy and theory with practice. The result is a deliberate and comprehensive integration of scholarship and curriculum with experiential learning and some of the nation’s leading interdisciplinary and specialty programs.
In furtherance of these objectives, UM Carey Law is dedicated to the following core commitments:
• Excellence in teaching, designed to produce future lawyers with the highest standards of competence, professionalism, and dedication to public service.
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• Excellence in scholarship by a community of self-motivated scholars dedicated to analyzing and proposing viable solutions for the most pressing legal, policy, and social issues of our time.
• The pursuit of diversity as a source of richness among our students, our faculty, and the legal profession as a whole.
• The pursuit of justice through greater awareness of and attention to the delivery of legal services to those who have been disadvantaged by the legal system or denied access to it.
• Innovative and interdisciplinary education designed to promote comprehensive understanding and to develop collaborative approaches to complex social and policy issues.
• A shared and fundamental sense of collegiality, collaboration, and engagement among all members of its community.
Maryland Law Today
UM Carey Law has sustained remarkable growth in its programs, faculty, and national prestige. Its continued excellence is secured in part by a 2011 gift of $30 million from the Carey Foundation, which is used to support the school’s mission as it simultaneously adjusts to the changing market for legal education. All UM Carey Law faculty share a commitment to the scholarly enterprise. The faculty has produced influential legal scholarship on the most pressing contemporary issues, using both the social sciences and traditional legal analysis.
UM Carey Law’s student body is talented, diverse, and collegial. As a result of the substantial growth in its national reputation in the last decade, the School is attracting an increasingly credentialed pool of students. One-half of its students come from outside of Maryland, including many from foreign countries. The students represent more than 100 undergraduate schools, and over 15% have other graduate degrees before enrolling. About one-third identify themselves as persons of color. UM Carey Law’s student organizations present many opportunities for participating in the school’s social, cultural, and political life. Those organizations also facilitate activity outside the building—in Baltimore, around Maryland, and at the seat of national government in nearby Washington, D.C.
The UM Carey Law curriculum combines traditional offerings with cutting-edge programs and electives. 55 full-time faculty members teach 643 full-time and 185 part-time students. The 11:1 student-faculty ratio, among the nation’s best, promotes close contact between professors and students. Its adjunct faculty reflects the unique expertise of lawyers, judges, and academics in Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Through its commitment to integrating theory with practice, UM Carey Law offers experiential learning and specialty programs that are among the best in the country. Its Clinical Law Program is widely recognized as the gold standard of legal education, and
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is built around a requirement that every student participate in one of many courses that provide legal services to those who would otherwise lack access to justice. Its certificate programs in Law and Health Care and in Environmental Law are commonly ranked in the top ten among all law schools. It has high-visibility programs in other areas, including: Alternative Dispute Resolution; Business Law; Health and Homeland Security; Intellectual Property Law; International and Comparative Law; Tobacco Control; Trial Advocacy; and Women, Leadership & Equality. Finally, the longstanding commitment to curricular integration means that students experience legal theory and practice in multiple dispute resolution formats, including counseling, formal advocacy, and mediation.
Consistent with its increasing international footprint, UM Carey Law offers a wide array of foreign study and externship opportunities. Those opportunities involve programs in, among other places, South Africa, Germany, Scotland, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and Chile. The School also maintains innovative internship programs with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and with Law Reform Commissions around the world.
UM Carey Law’s faculty and Dean are committed to being strategically responsive to the challenges that confront legal education and the market realities that its graduates face. The Dean receives counsel and support from a Board of Visitors (“BOV”). The BOV consists of 38 senior leaders in the legal community. The BOV is particularly engaged in support and development activities, including fundraising, recruitment, and alumni relations.
Key Facts
• Located in downtown Baltimore, in the thriving business and government district and near many venues for experiencing science, sports and the arts;
• Holds status as oldest, most prestigious, and highest ranked law school in Maryland;
• Committed to scholarly and human services missions consistent with the role of an elite public university;
• Close to Washington, D.C. and a short ride to all other major east coast metropolitan markets;
• Near Annapolis, the Maryland state capital;
• Occupies a modern, spacious, and technologically advanced building; and
• Enjoys local, regional, and national visibility that is being translated into an international presence.
A more detailed profile of the students, faculty, and degree programs is available at http://www.law.umaryland.edu/about/facts.html
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Role and Responsibilities
The Dean, who reports directly to UMB President Dr. Jay Perman, is the chief executive and academic officer of UM Carey Law. The Dean is responsible for providing leadership in the academic, intellectual, and administrative life of the School.
The Dean is also the chief representative of UM Carey Law when it interacts with other USM and UMB entities, and with other external constituencies. The Dean is central to the UMB human services and health sciences mission. There are unique opportunities offered at UM Carey Law to interact with other professional students and faculty and to engage with faculty and students at other USM campuses such as College Park. The Dean also plays a leadership role in regional and national intellectual communities, including those located in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Annapolis.
The Dean’s operational leadership extends to academic affairs, administration, planning, student recruitment, enrollment management, financial aid, financial management, and institutional advancement. The Dean must ensure operational success not only through management of internal resources, but also by engaging other USM and UMB entities, as well as other external constituencies.
The roles and responsibilities of the Dean may be grouped and summarized as follows:
The Dean and the University
• The action and spirit of the Dean should honor the University’s core values.
• The Dean represents UM Carey Law in meetings with other UMB entities.
• The Dean represents UMB in some aspects of its relationship with other USM campuses and with other Maryland law schools.
The Dean and the Budget
• The Dean manages the financial and human resources of UM Carey Law through an effective annual operating budget and long-term financial plan.
• The Dean develops UM Carey Law financial resources, especially through fundraising, to relieve student financial burdens and to enhance scholarship, teaching, and other programmatic objectives.
The Dean and the Faculty
• The Dean supports, enhances, and promotes faculty teaching, research, and productivity.
• The Dean works with the faculty to attract and retain promising scholars and excellent teachers, with particular emphasis on recruiting minority candidates.
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• The Dean shares governance by chairing faculty meetings and by setting an agenda in collaboration with faculty committees. In consultation with the faculty, the Dean appoints the chairs and members of committees and oversees their effective operations.
• The Dean recommends Law School faculty salary, sabbatical, appointment, promotion, and tenure actions to the President. The Dean has responsibility for recognizing and rewarding faculty contributions to the School of Law through, among other things, the allocation of annual scholarship grants and research leaves. The Dean also has final responsibility for teaching assignments and scheduling.
The Dean and the Student Body
• The Dean leads the development of innovative curriculum and new program initiatives.
• The Dean works to ensure the quality of the students entering and graduating from the Law School.
• The Dean works to improve the career opportunities available to students.
• The Dean enhances the student experience at the Law School, with particular attention to classroom teaching and skills training.
The Dean and the Board of Visitors
• The Dean relies on BOV members as key external advisors and the chief philanthropic supporters of UM Carey Law.
• The Dean works with the BOV to advocate on the School’s behalf at the community, state, and national levels.
• BOV members (38) are appointed by the Dean in consultation with the BOV chair.
The Dean and the Alumni and Broader Community
• The Dean fosters and expands the Law School’s relationships with alumni, law firms, corporations, state and federal judiciaries, leading nonprofit organizations, and other professionals in local, regional, and national communities.
• The Dean has responsibility for promoting the public interest mission of UM Carey Law.
Qualifications
Prospective Dean candidates should possess scholarship, leadership, and management ability necessary to perform roles as the chief executive officer and chief academic
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officer at UM Carey Law. In addition, strong Dean candidates will possess a combination of professional experience and leadership traits necessary to:
• Serve as the intellectual leader of the faculty through a demonstrated commitment to scholarship, an ability to inspire junior and senior faculty alike in their scholarly pursuits, and a vision for further development of the intellectual environment at UM Carey Law;
• Promote UM Carey Law’s teaching mission of educating outstanding lawyers, both in the traditional curriculum and in courses founded on experiential learning;
• Manage a law school budget;
• Manage a complex not-for-profit academic enterprise as one professional school operating within UMB and USM;
• Promote successful change in response to evolving fiscal environments and emerging challenges, including providing leadership in developing a vision for UM Carey Law that reflects both the future of legal education and the established strengths of the institution;
• Interact persuasively with the philanthropic community, and solicit and steward private support from alumni, members of the Board of Visitors, friends, foundations, law firms, government institutions, and corporations;
• Develop relationships with and raise funds from key UM Carey Law graduates, foundations, and other external constituencies;
• Support, guide, and further develop UM Carey Law’s commitment to the integration of theory and practice, including through its nationally recognized clinical and other specialty programs;
• Respect and appreciate the rigors and demands of faculty and staff roles, including through a demonstrated commitment to the continuation of a collegial model of governance;
• Promote UM Carey Law’s dedication to and long-standing record of attracting a diverse community, as demonstrated by a record of advancing diversity within a student body, faculty, and administrative team, or within a corporation or law firm environment;
• Advance UM Carey Law’s public mission through encouragement of and support for its public interest programs and projects;
• Demonstrate other values consistent with the unique mission of a public educational institution.
• Provide a global vision and be an advocate for continued growth and excellence in both the academic program and the faculty;
• Create a strong sense of community and collaboration among faculty, staff, students, alumni, the University’s other schools, the local bar, and the courts;
• Communicate to a wide range of constituencies;
• Represent UM Carey Law effectively in all relations with the local, state, and federal governments;
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• Demonstrate an ability to attract, retain, and develop outstanding faculty, administrators, and staff;
• Possess a high level of energy that motivates others and inspires enthusiasm to build on the School of Law’s solid foundation for even greater growth in the future.
Application Procedure
Applications, which should include a curriculum vitae and cover letter, should be sent to the following electronic mailbox: 4949@imsearch.com. Electronic submission of materials is strongly preferred. Inquiries and nominations may also be sent to: 4949@imsearch.com or may be addressed to:
Tim McFeeley or Karla Saunders
Isaacson, Miller
1300 19th Street, NW, Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20036
Telephone: 202-682-1504
All inquiries and expressions of interest will be held in strict confidence. The search will continue until an appointment is made.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.