Gregory Scott Parks (Wake Forest; Google Scholar) & Blake D. Morant (George Washington), Tapping Potential: How Law School Deans Can Lead Faculty To Be Good Institutional Citizens,

Scholars have paid scant attention to the role of the law school dean. However, what has been observed is that law school deans are faced with a myriad jobs and duties, which include overseeing an administrative apparatus that (1) coordinates scores of courses each semester; (2) manages faculty and faculty committees; (3) oversees clinical, externship, pro bono, and public interest programs; (4) supports hundreds of students, individually and through student organizations; (5) maintains connections with alumni; (6) engages with central administration; and (7) fundraises. The diversity of tasks deals with areas of "student matters, staff matters, strategic planning, budget, external relations, fundraising, 'bushfires' and other crises, university-wide matters, discipline-wide matters, and these are apart from any residual scholarly or teaching ambitions." Therefore, one of the challenges faced by deans is that they must prioritize numerous individual duties to ensure they address the most important matters first.

Beyond these duties, there are also numerous, more tedious tasks and complications. Law school deans, directly or indirectly, must (1) ensure that staff vacation and sick days are not abused; (2) navigate the political realities of tensions between law school employees; (3) work most weekends; and (4) endure being bogged down by meetings. These tasks, although not enjoyable, are crucial responsibilities that law school deans must undertake in addition to their regular duties. In short, they must trade “a comfortable life of teaching, scholarship, and minimal administrative responsibility for a life of administrative drudgery, very little teaching, and virtually no time for scholarship.”

This Article utilizes empirical, theoretical, and practical perspectives to explore what law school deans should know to effectively leverage the human capital of law faculties in advancing the needs of law schools and their constituencies.

Editor's Note:  If you would like to receive a daily email with links to legal education posts on TaxProf Blog, email me here.