Assistant Dean for the Part-Time J.D. Program and Lecturer (00005020)

This position is located at NIU Law’s new Naperville campus. This is an extraordinary opportunity for the right candidate to play a foundational role in growing a new legal program that will expand access to legal education for working professionals in the western suburbs of Chicago.

The position has both administrative responsibilities and teaching responsibilities.

The Assistant Dean will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the PTJD Program at the Naperville campus. This includes overseeing building operations, classroom scheduling, facility management, and serving as the liaison between the administration at the Naperville campus and the administration at the DeKalb campus. In coordination with the Associate Dean for the PTJD Program, the Assistant Dean will coordinate and oversee all aspects of the PTJD Program’s on-site needs, which may include scheduling co-curricular activities and events for students. Under the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs’ direction and approval, the Assistant Dean will identify, recruit, and hire adjunct professors to teach in the PTJD Program and will be responsible for ensuring that the adjunct faculty roster meets the curricular needs of the program each semester. The Assistant Dean will also assist the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs with the evaluation and mentoring of adjunct faculty.

Because the PTJD Program holds classes in the evening, the Assistant Dean must be available and present at the Naperville campus at least two evenings per week during class instruction. Occasional weekend presence may also be required depending on programming and student needs. Flexibility in scheduling is essential.

The position requires teaching at least one course per term (fall, spring and summer), which may be a doctrinal course or a skills-related course, such as legal writing or a legal clinic. The Assistant Dean will also be the faculty of record for the Introduction to the Legal Profession course (a half-credit course held during the first year of the PTJD curriculum) and will organize the content and guest speakers for the course. The Assistant Dean will engage in outreach to the local bench, bar, and corporate community in Naperville and the surrounding suburbs to build and strengthen partnerships that support the law school’s mission, its students, and the program’s long-term growth. 

The PTJD Program’s class schedule is built around its students’ professional lives. Class formats include:

Candidates should have a demonstrated experience with or express a willingness to master synchronous and asynchronous online legal instruction. The candidate should also have a commitment to staying current on distance education best practices and emerging instructional technologies.

Preferred candidates will have either a demonstrated capacity for or expressed willingness to master the following:

The ability and willingness to remain proficient and up to date on best practices in distance education is an ongoing expectation of this position, not merely a hiring preference.

Although the PTJD Program will be located in Naperville, it will operate as one law school along with NIU Law’s DeKalb campus.

Faculty at the PTJD Program are full members of the NIU Law community and will have service commitments that integrate with faculty in DeKalb. Travel to DeKalb for some service commitments, such as attending faculty meetings, is required.