Assistant Dean for Academic Success and Director of Bar Writing Positions at Barry University

The primary responsibility of the Assistant Dean for Academic Success, Bar and Bar Prep. is to direct and implement the Law School’s Bar Preparation programs and initiatives designed to prepare students for success on the bar examination. This position is also a tenure track faculty position on the skills track.

The Assistant Dean supervises the Director of Bar Multiple Choice Initiatives , the Director of Bar Writing Initiatives, the Director of Bar Data Collection and Assessment, the Director of Academic Success and support staff.

Essential Duties

1. Organizing and facilitating Bar Preparation lectures and workshops by:

• Working with the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs on the Comprehensive Exam and the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) workshops.
• Being a resource to the faculty to increase teaching effectiveness.
• Teaching one or two Bar Preparation related courses and workshops each semester designed to increase bar exam readiness and legal analysis and test-taking skills.
• Advising and assisting students in the interpretation of their Individual Student Reports regarding their performance on the Comprehensive Exam.
• Organizing, overseeing and presenting Bar Application workshops.
• Organizing, overseeing and administering simulated bar exams.
• Organize, oversee and administering simulated MBE and Florida Bar exams.

2. Conduct and oversee all aspects relating to the Florida Bar exam and Florida Bar applications by:

• Organizing and overseeing all Bar application related issues.
• Organizing and overseeing the delivery of  Bar applications presentations at Orientation.
• Serving as the Law School’s liaison with the Florida Board of Bar Examiners and with commercial bar preparation providers.
• Travel to Tampa Bar Exam twice a year.

3. Coordinate the implementation of periodic program assessment by:

• Collecting and analyzing bar examination statistics.
• Tracking students through law school.
• Reporting data related to bar exam outcomes and pass rates.
• Maintaining all information on bar exam outcomes from all jurisdictions for all law graduates.
• Providing data to, and working collaboratively with, faculty and staff.
• Keeping accurate records and data for reporting on the ABA’s annual bar passage questionnaire.

4. Assist in the direction of the CLASP Program by:

• Working collaboratively with the CLASP team on academic success and bar preparation.
• Meeting with and counseling students on their academic progress and bar readiness.
• Working with students from the point of admission, through matriculation and through bar admission.
• Updating and maintaining the Academic Success and Bar Preparation webpage.

5. Work with the Director of Multiple Choice Initiatives to oversee the MPRE Process including tracking students taking the MPRE, administering the MPRE Milestone Exam, overseeing the MPRE Required Reviews and simulated exams including scheduling and makeups.

Qualifications/Requirements

• Juris Doctorate required.
• Current member of the Florida bar.
• Demonstrated high score on The Florida Bar Exam, Part A and Part B. 
• Demonstrated high scores on Part A Essay Questions of the Florida Bar.
• One to three years of relevant experience to include supervisory and general management skills.

 

Director of Bar Writing Initiative & CLASP Counselor is responsible for providing support to students from matriculation through admission to the bar examination, with the primary goal of enhancing the learning and study skills of students; primarily responsible for all bar writing initiatives and programs.

Individual Academic Counseling: 

• Provide intensive individual academic counseling to assigned students and advise them on various academic issues.  For those students on probation, advise students on the petitioning process to obtain an additional semester of discretionary probation.
• Provide individual academic counseling to all students considered at-risk and/or those seeking to improve their academic performance.
• Advise and approve course selections for students below an established GPA with the goal of providing a balanced legal education that aims to improve students’ success in law school and on the bar exam.
• Counsel with the student’s assigned faculty mentor to provide the best advice to students.
• Assess individual students’ learning styles and assist students in identifying the most effective study plans and strategies.  Review and provide individual feedback on students’ practice exams, outlines, and overall study and exam-taking skills.  Upon request by students or faculty, conduct individual exam reviews with students.
• Continually evaluate student performance, identifying which students appear to be struggling or at-risk; initiate and maintain contact with those who are at-risk or on probation.
• Monitor progress and compliance with requirements of assigned students to include bar application, AMP and BEAT workshops, MPRE requirements, and other CLASP requirements through the creation and maintenance of student portfolios; notify students of due dates; file Student Conduct Code violations where appropriate.
• Counsel and advise students regarding bar applications and admission, including all issues pertaining to the bar application.
• Assist students in reviewing answers to practice bar exams and provide advice regarding exam strategy.
• Attend and support students at each Florida Bar exam administration.

Oversee Bar Writing Initiatives:

• Maintain primary responsibility for bar writing initiatives, with the primary goal of enhancing the writing of students preparing to take the bar examination.
• Maintain responsibility for training CLASP Counselors on providing individual academic counseling on bar writing.
• Maintain resource center of study aids and practice exam materials for students’ utilization and review.
• Select, train, and supervise Dean’s Writing Fellows to assist students with their law school-related writing in the areas of grammar, punctuation, structure, style, and citations.
• Prepare Dean’s Writing Fellow Handbook that outlines specific duties, responsibilities, policies, and procedures.
• Work collaboratively with participating Legal Research and Writing (LRW) faculty who sponsor a Dean’s Writing Fellow to assist the professor’s students with student writing assignments.
• Plan and organize workshops designed to assist students with legal grammar and citations for LRW assignments and the Upper-Level Writing Requirement (ULWR).
• Supervise the development of a student-authored citation manual to assist students with their ULWR; collaborate with Barry Law Review for input and participation in the manual.
• Collect and maintain records on student visits to the Writing Center; collect and study student evaluations of program for making continued improvements and adjustments to overall program.
• Monitor Dean’s Writing Fellows’ “billable hours” and university time sheets (for those who are paid) to ensure proper time and effort is devoted to services provided by the Writing Center.
• Coordinate with other CLASP counselors to disseminate information provided in workshops and to facilitate workshops and programming.
• Work collaboratively with the Faculty Administrator of Bar Preparation, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and other Bar Writing Course instructors on developing the curriculum for bar writing courses; continue to assess and review the effectiveness of the bar writing curriculum and revise as appropriate.
• Teach Bar Writing Courses as appropriate.

Oversee Bar Grading Initiatives:

• Prepare rubrics and grading devices for bar examination essays.
• Coordinate grading program and facilitate grading of bar essays with bar essay graders.
• Provide training on bar essay grading to bar essay graders and CLASP counselors.

Faculty Committees:

• Serve on faculty committees where appropriate and assigned.

• Assist in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of student data, performance, and outcome measures and assessments consistent with ABA standards. 

Scholarship:

• Remain educated on bar preparation and ASP pedagogy, trends, and developments.
• Attend professional conferences aimed to improve students’ success.

Educational/Experiential Requirements

• JD from an ABA accredited law school, admission to a state bar, and strong academic records
• 3-5 years of related work experience; legal work experience in private practice, non-profit organizations, government, corporate, or judicial clerkship preferred.
• At least one year experience teaching legal writing/legal methods, or working in academic support and/or counseling law students from diverse backgrounds.