Towards the end of November, Dean Michael A. Simons shared a message of gratitude with St. John’s Law faculty and staff. “Later tonight, we will conclude the in-person portion of our semester, which involved hundreds of students, taking over 60 different classes, taught by almost 60 different full-time and adjunct faculty,” he wrote, adding “And, of course, none of this would have worked if we didn’t also offer almost half of our classes online.” As Dean Simons noted, teaching and learning the law in this new normal “took a leap of faith.” It was also a leap of reinvention facilitated by a unique faculty collaboration. Months earlier, as the public health crisis shuttered New York, Dean Simons convened the Law School’s new Online and Hybrid Learning Task Force to think through the challenges of teaching in remote and in-person environments, identify practices faculty could adopt, and develop actionable recommendations for the fall semester. Co-chaired by Associate Dean for Library Services and Associate Professor of Legal Research Courtney Selby and Associate Dean for Experiential and Skills-Based Education and Professor of Legal Writing Rachel H. Smith , the Task Force included: • Renee Nicole Allen, Assistant Professor of Legal Writing • Jennifer Baum, Associate Professor of Clinical Legal Education • Catherine Baylin Duryea, Assistant Professor of Law • Robert A. Ruescher, Professor of Legal Writing • Eric Shannon, Adjunct Professor of Law and Senior Director of Student Services • Jeff Sovern, Professor of Law The group was a mix of junior faculty and senior faculty who teach a variety of courses at St. John’s—large 1L, large upper-level, skills, seminar, clinical, and writing. A few came with online teaching experience that predated the pandemic, and some had online learning experience. “Each of us had knowledge and insights to share and so, so much to learn,” says Dean Selby. “We needed to have the opposite of a stuck mindset to move across multiple iterations of tools and platforms, and our work was better because we taught, and learned from, each other. Perhaps most importantly, the task force was a relatively diverse and inclusive group, which allowed us to think about the challenges faced by a broad range of students and faculty.” Working through the summer, the Task Force gathered input from colleagues and students, collected and reviewed resource materials, and coalesced around a set of ideas. The members then drafted recommendations to distribute before the start of the semester.
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“We decided to make general recommendations that would be useful to all faculty and specific recommendations for each type of class,” Dean Smith says. “Some suggestions deal with the nuts and bolts of teaching online, while others with how to accomplish broader goals. We didn’t expect anyone to follow all our suggestions. Faculty could adopt and adapt them as they liked.” Reflecting on her Task Force role, Professor Renee Allen says: “Being fairly new to St. John’s, collaborating with the group and the faculty at large provided opportunities for me to get to know my colleagues better, something that was cut short during my first year as a result of the pandemic.” The Task Force also had the benefit of Professor Allen’s experience as an online learner. “I recently completed an online master’s degree in educational psychology with a concentration on adult learning,” she explains. “The faculty used a combination of teaching methods—lecture, short videos, discussion boards, breakout rooms, group presentations—to keep us engaged. So, I felt pretty confident about my ability to ease any skepticism my colleagues had about online learning.” Professor Allen also tapped that experience as she revised her courses to accommodate remote learning. “With so many COVID-related deaths and after the social unrest last summer, I was most concerned about my students’ physical and mental health as I approached the fall,” she shares. “I think I would have felt the same way if we were in person, but I tried to be mindful of what it’s like to start law school in a mostly remote environment. I was careful to provide opportunities for students to learn, and get the writing practice and feedback that’s essential to a legal writing course, while also getting to know me and each other.” While Professor Allen and the other Task Force members crafted their recommendations with remote teaching and learning in mind, they knew that faculty teaching in person during the fall semester would also rely on the guidance. As part of its mandate, the Task Force explored options for teaching large 1L classes. Giving the new students a sense of belonging to a Law School community was a top priority, as was facilitating connection and collaboration. Those priorities, the Task Force concluded, could best be met for 1L doctrinal courses using an in-person, co-located model. Each class would divide and meet in two separate rooms, one where the professor taught in person and the other where the lecture was livestreamed. With the class meeting twice each week, the professor could switch rooms to give all the students an in-person learning experience.
