Why are there visiting professors? Forum

[Extension_Cord]

Are they supposed to be exceptionally skilled professors or are they professors that didn't quite cut it at other schools?

[I.P. Daly]

It depends. Many schools have an endowed visiting professorship. It's usually to promote "intellectual diversity" among the faculty. (Usually, the visiting professor is a tenured professor at another school.) Some professors do it for research purposes. Some professors do it because they get bored.

[NYC Law]

Most of my visiting professors have been very good, so I doubt it's the latter reason. I'm guessing professors want to go on visiting status when they have an off semester at their primary school (i.e. a professor that only teaches Civ Pro and it's only offered during the fall, would go on visiting status for Spring Semesters). Then I guess schools and professors bid on each other or something, unless there's already an established relationship.


Just pulling this out of my ass, but I think it's something like that. Or a professor just wants to travel.

[Extension_Cord]

Interesting stuff, thanks!

[missinglink]

Often it's a school "testing out" a Professor that they may layer wish to hire.

It gives the faculty a chance to get to know them in person and to see how student evals rate the Visiting Professor.

[MrPapagiorgio]

In my case, to piss me off. LRW prof taught us in the fall and took a sabbatical for the spring. I'm happy for him because I really, really liked him (so did our entire LRW section), but the visiting prof that is taking his place is terrible.

[TTH]

Law professors scrupulously follow the "it's not cheating if it's in a different area code" rule.

[03121202698008]

I have a visiting prof who is writing a casebook with another prof from here so they let him teach a semester so he'd be here.

[jkay]

Law professors scrupulously follow the "it's not cheating if it's in a different area code" rule.

I think this is the most likely explanation.

[legalmindedfella]

To a very large extent it's about faculty hiring. The normal way of things is for a scholar to be a visiting professor before receiving a job offer. It's a way for both the professor and the school to see if it's a good fit - teaching evaluations, how he/she felt about the area, etc.

Obviously not all visiting professors are looking to leave the schools they're at, and you might get someone visiting multiple times over the years as a set arrangement. Or someone visiting schools and for whatever reason deciding they want to stick where they are. Individual circumstances are different.

More here - http://leiterlawschool.typepad.com/leit ... 11-12.html