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Section IV.D: Position of Library Director

  1. The Director of the Law Library (“Library Director”) is a member of the voting faculty with eligibility for an indefinite contract as the Director of the Law Library. The Library Director will have the academic titles, as appropriate per appointment and promotion, of Library Director and Assistant Professor, Library Director and Associate Professor, and Library Director and Professor. In addition to the academic title, the Library Director may also hold the title of Assistant or Associate Dean, at the Dean’s discretion.
  2. The Library Director is a joint administrative/faculty position, governed by a contract which will set out the Library Director’s rights, duties, and responsibilities. The Library Director shall have the same protections and responsibilities of academic freedom afforded to other faculty members.
  3. After January 31, 2025, appointment of the Library Director to the faculty requires a national search; an 80-percent vote of the voting members of the faculty and student representatives to the faculty, present and voting at a regularly scheduled or duly noticed special meeting of the faculty; and approval of the Dean of the Law School and the President of Lewis & Clark College (the “President”). The Dean shall determine the rank (assistant, associate, or full) at which the Library Director shall be appointed, consistent with the considerations in Part D, below.
  4. A person hired as Library Director shall: (i) have full voting rights, commensurate with rank; (ii) have full access to and responsibility for attending faculty meetings and participating on committees; and (iii) be subject to the following promotion and indefinite contract standards.
    1. Responsibilities
      1. The primary responsibilities of the Library Director are management of the library and curation of library resources and collections.
      2. The Library Director oversees the legal research curriculum and teaches legal research classes as appropriate.
      3. The Library Director will be evaluated on the requirements of the position and the Evaluation Standards set out in their contract.
      4. Scholarship by the Library Director will be supported as appropriate, but is not required or expected.
    2. Evaluation Process
      The Dean shall convene a Promotion and Review Committee in each academic year in which the Library Director is eligible for consideration for promotion. All members of the Promotion and Review Committee shall be of sufficient seniority to be eligible to vote on the promotion of the Library Director under review. The Library Director shall go through the stages of review in subsections (a)-(c), below. Ordinarily, the Library Director will be hired at the rank of assistant professor. If, however, the Library Director is hired at an associate or higher ranking, the Dean may authorize the Library Director to forego one or more of the earlier evaluation stages.
        1. Year Two
          1. Procedure - the Chair of the Promotion and Review Committee (in consultation with faculty and administrators who work with the Library Director) assesses performance and makes a recommendation to the Dean whether to continue employment. The Dean reports the decision to the faculty.
          2. Substance - a determination that the Library Director has successfully performed the duties of the position as judged according to the Evaluation Standards set forth in the contract.
          3. Successful completion of this review process results in a three-year contract for the Library Director. There is no presumption of renewal and no presumption of non-renewal.
        2. Year Five
          1. Procedure - The committee assembles a review file with information relevant to the Library Director’s performance of the contract responsibilities. This file or a summary of it is made available to the full faculty, who may communicate their views or relevant information to the review committee. The voting faculty who either have tenure or an indefinite contract shall decide by majority vote of those present and voting whether to recommend the award of an indefinite contract.
          2. Substance - a determination that the Law School will be well served by appointing the Library Director to an indefinite appointment in light of the person’s performance of the duties of the position as judged according to the Evaluation Standards set forth in the contract.
          3. The faculty recommendation shall be forwarded to the Dean, together with the reason for, and the results of, the vote. The Dean shall forward the faculty recommendation for promotion and indefinite contract, with reasons, along with their evaluation of the recommendation, and if different, with their own recommendation to the president, who shall make the final decision. If promotion and indefinite contract is granted, the president shall notify the dean and the candidate in writing. Successful completion of this review process results in an indefinite contract and promotion to associate professor, with the title of Library Director and Associate Professor.
          4. If the candidate is not successful, the Dean shall notify the Library Director that his or her appointment will terminate at the end of the succeeding academic year.
        3. Year Seven
          1. Procedure - The committee assembles a review file with information relevant to the Library Director’s performance of the contract responsibilities. This file or a summary of it is made available to the faculty, who may communicate their views or relevant information to the review committee. The committee assesses the performance of the Library Director according to the contract responsibilities and presents the file to the full faculty. The voting faculty who are superior in academic rank to the Library Director shall decide by majority vote of those present and voting whether to recommend award of a promotion.
          2. Substance – a determination that the Library Director is successfully performing the duties of the position as judged according to the Evaluation Standards set forth in the contract
          3. The faculty recommendation shall be forwarded to the Dean, together with the reason for, and the results of, the vote. The Dean shall forward the faculty recommendation for promotion, with reasons, along with their evaluation of the recommendation, and if different, with their own recommendation to the president, who shall make the final decision. If promotion is granted, the president shall notify the dean and the candidate in writing. Successful completion of this review process results in the Library Director receiving the rank of full professor and the title of Library Director and Professor.
    3. Timing of the review
        1. If the Dean and the Library Director so agree, the promotion consideration may be postponed for an additional year beyond the time period specified.
        2. Any leave of absence granted to the Library Director for reasons of illness, disability, pregnancy, childbirth, parental, or other family needs may at the option of the Library Director be excluded from the candidate’s review period. Other approved leaves may extend the review period only with the prior written approval of the Dean.
  5. A Library Director granted an indefinite contract may be terminated only as provided in those portions of Section II.M (Termination and Nonrenewal of Faculty Appointments) applicable to faculty with tenure.
  6. The Library Director shall be accorded the same rights and privileges as other faculty members that have or are eligible for indefinite contracts, except that the Library Director is not eligible for sabbaticals. Section IV.F is therefore inapplicable to this position.

Approval Date

Approved by the Faculty February 11, 2025. Approved by the President February 12, 2025.