Memorandum 98-11

Faculty Appointments Register. Table 1 discloses registrations in the current Faculty Appointments Register (FAR) by gender, and race and ethnic background. Table 2 provides these data for the last ten years. There are 903 registrants in the current Faculty Appointments Register. Three hundred seven (307) of those reporting gender identified themselves as women, and 530 of those reporting gender identified themselves as men. Sixty-six (66) registrants did not identify gender on the FAR form. One hundred sixty (160) of registrants identified themselves as belonging to ethnic groups as follows: American Indian or Alaskan Native, 8; Asian or Pacific Islander, 24; Black, 73; Chicano, 4; Puerto Rican, 3; Other Hispanic Americans, 14; and Other Minority, 34. Five hundred eighty-one (581) registrants identified themselves as white; 162 registrants did not report ethnic origin.

In 97-98, 36.7% of the registrants who reported gender are women, and 21.6% of the registrants who reported ethnic origin belong to minority groups. This is an increase from 23.5% who identified themselves as women and 10.1% who identified themselves as belonging to minority groups in the 1987-88 FAR.

Faculty Recruitment Conference. The Faculty Recruitment Conference was held at the Sheraton Washington Hotel, November 6 - 8, 1997, in Washington, D.C. This conference provides an opportunity for those interested in law teaching to interview faculty appointments personnel from law schools. Table 3 discloses the number of people interested in faculty positions participating in the conference and number of law schools interviewing since 1977.

News Release. Attached as Appendix A is a copy of the news release we issued last July. It describes the Association's faculty recruitment services--the Faculty Appointments Register, Faculty Recruitment Conference, and the Placement Bulletin. The press release expressly calls attention to the interest of law schools in recruiting as faculty those who will further the schools' commitment to diversity. The Association sent the press release to about 500 publications listed in an American Bar Association mailing list that includes bar and legal trade journals, student bar newspapers, law school journals, minority newspapers and major U.S. newspapers with circulations of 100,000 or more. The news release was also distributed to deans of member and fee-paid schools with the request that the deans assist in having the announcement and news release published in bar journals of local and statewide circulation and in local newspapers. Our experience suggests that the information was carried in a number of publications, but we have no precise number available.

Workshops to Encourage Minority Attorneys to Consider a Career in Law Teaching. Since the spring of 1990, the AALS has participated in or assisted law schools in developing a number of regional programs to inform minority attorneys about opportunities in law teaching and to encourage them to consider law teaching careers. To date, at least nine such programs have been presented; many of them have been attended by between 100 and 200 minority attorneys.

The Association believes that these programs have been effective vehicles for informing minority attorneys about the opportunities in law teaching, and we note the substantial increase in both number and percentage of minority registrants in the Faculty Appointments Register since 1990-91. We encourage law schools in other major metropolitan areas to consider co-sponsoring similar programs for minority attorneys, and we would be pleased to provide information concerning arranging such programs. In fact, the Committee on Recruitment and Retention of Minority Law Faculty will be presenting a program at the 1999 Annual Meeting designed to help schools plan such programs.

Identifying Recent Minority Graduates as Faculty Prospects. Since 1985, the Association's President has regularly written the deans of member and ABA-approved schools to seek their help in identifying their recent minority graduates who would be good prospects for law teaching. The Association sends information about the AALS faculty recruitment process to those identified by deans. We continue to be disappointed that a relatively small percentage of the minority lawyers identified by deans register in the FAR. Please let the Association know of your ideas for encouraging minority lawyers to consider law teaching.

Total Number of Individuals in FAR*	903
Registrants Identified as Female	307
Registrants Identified as Male	530
Gender not Identified on FAR Form	66
% Female of Those Reporting Gender	36.7%

Registrants Who Identified Themselves as Belonging to the Following Minority Groups:	Men	Women	No Gender Stated on FAR Form	Total
American Indian or Alaskan Native	4	4	0	8
Asian or Pacific Islander	16	8	0	24
Black	30	41	2	73
Chicano	3	1	0	4
Puerto Rican	0	3	0	3
Other Hispanic-American	6	8	0	14
Other minority	19	15	0	34
White	380	195	6	581
No Ethnic Origin Stated	72	32	58	162
TOTAL	530	307	66	903
Total Identified As Minority	78	80	2	160
% Minorities of Those Reporting Ethnic Origin	17.0%	29.1%	25.0%	21.6%

* A total of 910 forms were included in the 1997-98 Register, but seven candidates submitted forms twice, once in the fall and once in the winter.

	87-88	88-89	89-90	90-91	91-92	92-93	93-94	94-95	95-96	96-97	97-98
Female	188	194	208	268	311	326	426	377	372	292	307
Male	545	590	526	604	668	638	759	745	624	581	530
No Gender Stated	81	77	76	98	101	178	75	79	81	85	66
% Female of Those Reporting Gender	25.7	24.7	28.3	30.7	31.8	33.8	35.9	33.6	37.3	33.4%	36.7%
TOTALS	814	861	810	970	1080	1142	1260	1201	1077	958	903

American Indian or Alaskan Native	2	3	3	4	3	7	6	5	10	5	8
Asian or Pacific Islander	10	9	6	14	21	31	37	33	32	30	24
Black	36	51	50	66	87	79	94	88	63	68	73
Chicano	16	21	13	34	24	25	29	11	12	8	4
Puerto Rican								6	5	2	3
Other Hispanic-American								13	20	13	14
Other minority	3	4	3	2	13*	16	20	15	15	43	34
White	598	618	593	684	740	776	960	933	736	617	581
Total Identified as Minority	67	88	75	121	148	158	186	171	157	169	160
No Ethnic Origin Stated	150	158	145	165	192	208	114	97	184	172	162
% Minorities of Those Reporting Ethnic Origin	10.1	12.5	11.2	14.9	16.7	16.9	16.2	15.5	17.6	21.5	21.6%
TOTALS	815*	864*	813*	970	1080	1142	1260	1201	1077	958	903

* Some registrants listed two ethnic backgrounds; as of 1991-92, they are included in the "other minority" category.

Year	Candidates	Schools
1997	547	130
1996	528	125
1995	608	139
1994	712	155
1993	694	139
1992	621	138
1991	667	144
1990	629	154
1989	501	152
1988	523	155
1987	433	147
1986	440	141
1985	411	138
1984	410	144
1983	424	149
1982	405	n/a
1981	331	n/a
1980	369	n/a
1979	n/a	n/a
1978	294	n/a
1977	289	n/a

To:	Deans of Member and Fee-Paid Schools
From:	Bari R. Burke
Subject:	Information on Faculty Appointments Register and Diversity Efforts