SALT is committed to helping the next generation of progressive law teachers and scholars enter the academy.  Besides supporting and co-sponsoring pipeline events like the ones featured here, our New Teachers Pipeline Committee is available to discuss with you any questions or concerns you might have as you approach a career in the academy. SALT is an organization for all involved in legal education --- clinicians, classroom professors, deans, administrators, fellows, librarians, adjuncts and legal writing teachers – who are dedicated to justice, diversity and academic excellence.  Please e-mail New Teachers’ Pipeline Committee co chairs  Ruben Garcia (rgarcia@cwsl.edu) and Angela Harris (aharris@law.berkeley.edu) if you would like to be contacted by one of our committee members.



SALT’s Faculty Mentoring programs introduce new faculty to what a good article looks like and what good teaching means. Through the annual Faculty Development Workshop, faculty get roadmaps on how to conceive of, research, draft, finalize, and market an article. Those who attend the Workshop are urged to bring in drafts of works-in-progress for constructive criticism from more seasoned faculty.

Teaching skills are also examined, with practical advice about how to devise sessions that are comprehensive, insightful, and accessible, while anticipating how to deal with students who might challenge progressive ideas and outsider faculty.



In addition to the written rules—scholarship, teaching, and service—SALT’s Faculty Mentoring program opens the way to understanding some of the unwritten rules of academia, helping novice professors navigate the pitfalls of achieving tenure. Included within the unwritten rules is an understanding of how to balance professional demands with family responsibilities and personal interests. The unwritten rules also articulate how to pursue leadership roles, navigate divisions within a faculty, and how to develop a progressive agenda within a law school with like-minded faculty.



SALT’s Faculty Mentoring program and annual Workshop also offer the opportunity for junior faculty to network with fellow progressives. With access to seasoned professors as well as a cohort group of junior colleagues, these networks provide support and answers to the many questions that arise.

Update on 2009 LatCrit-SALT Junior Faculty Mentoring:

The Fourth Annual SALT-LatCrit Junior Faculty Development Workshop (FDW) took place on October 1-2 in conjunction with the 14th Annual LatCrit Conference in Washington, D.C., hosted by American University Washington College of Law.  This year’s FDW was a terrific success, with panels on critical pedagogy, scholarship, and activism outside the academy.   The attendees came from various institutional settings, such as teaching fellowships, tenure-track jobs, and law practice.

The FDW seeks to develop the savvy skills needed for law teachers currently in tenure track positions to succeed, but also to inform those seeking to enter the academy on issues related to clinical professors and teaching fellows.  Indeed, one of the great needs to which SALT and LatCrit are committed is grooming the next generation of progressive legal scholars and teachers.  To that end, discussions continue about how best to marshal the resources of the two organizations and like-minded partners to ensure that the playing field is level for progressive candidates in the job market.

There were two sets of mock job talks for those entering the job market.   The mock job talks proved to be a critical opportunity to get feedback on style, substance, and delivery. There was also a model job talk presented by Professor Frank Valdés, University of Miami Law School, which will be posted on the AALS web site in conjunction with the AALS Committee on the Recruitment and Retention of Minority Law Professors.

We had panels on Success Outside the Ivory Tower, Moving (or thinking about moving) to Administration, and Professionalism and Balance.

The FDW is integral to SALT’s encouragement of the next generation.  We hope that many of you can attend future events and encourage your progressive colleagues to attend.  We especially hope to encourage those in teaching fellowships and pre-tenure track visitorships to attend.  If you are interested generally in junior faculty mentoring, please e-mail Ruben Garcia at rgarcia@cwsl.edu or Angela Harris aharris@law.berkeley.edu at .  Please watch your e-mail and www.saltlaw.org for more details.

For a recent bibliography of literature on progressive teaching and writing.

For more information about how to become a mentor or how to locate a mentor, contact co-chair Ruben Garcia or co-chair Angela Harris.