Co-Director, Academic Success and Bar Preparation

The Talent Acquisition department hires qualified candidates to fill positions which contribute to the overall strategic success of Howard University. Hiring staff “for fit” makes significant contributions to Howard University’s overall mission.

At Howard University, we prioritize well-being and professional growth.

Here is what we offer: 

• Health & Wellness: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, plus mental health support
• Work-Life Balance: PTO, paid holidays, flexible work arrangements
• Financial Wellness: Competitive salary, 403(b) with company match 
• Professional Development: Ongoing training, tuition reimbursement, and career advancement paths
• Additional Perks: Wellness programs, commuter benefits, and a vibrant company culture

Join Howard University and thrive with us! 

https://hr.howard.edu/benefits-wellness

JOB PURPOSE:

The Co-Director of Academic Success and Bar Preparation works in partnership with the other Co-Director to lead, design, and continuously improve the School of Law’s academic support and bar preparation programs. This position plays a critical role in advancing the School’s mission by helping students build the doctrinal knowledge, analytical skills, and exam-taking strategies necessary to succeed in law school, pass the bar examination on their first attempt, and enter the legal profession as practice-ready attorneys. This role carries particular significance as the profession transitions from the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) to the NextGen Bar Exam, which launched in July 2026 and places greater emphasis on integrated legal skills, client-centered lawyering tasks, and the practical application of foundational legal concepts. The Co-Director is responsible for ensuring that the School’s academic support and bar preparation programming, and where appropriate the broader curriculum, evolve to reflect the content, format, and skills tested on the NextGen Bar Exam.

SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY:

Supervises and directs the work of academic success staff, teaching assistants, peer tutors, and bar preparation instructors or contractors assigned to the Academic Success and Bar Preparation Program.

NATURE AND SCOPE:

Internal contacts include the Dean and Associate Deans, faculty, the Registrar, Admissions, Student Affairs, and academic support staff.  External contacts include commercial bar preparation providers, state bar examiners and boards of law examiners, the American Bar Association, and peer institutions’ academic success professionals.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Co-lead, with the other Co-Director, the design, delivery, and continuous improvement of a comprehensive academic success and bar preparation program serving students from matriculation through bar admission.
• Develop and teach courses, workshops, and seminars covering the content and skills tested on the NextGen Bar Exam, including the Foundational Concepts and Principles (FC&P), Foundational Skills (FS), and integrated question sets and performance tasks that combine doctrine with practical lawyering tasks such as legal research, negotiation, and client counseling.
• Monitor guidance from the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) and the relevant licensing jurisdiction(s) on the rollout of the NextGen Bar Exam, and translate that guidance into updated academic support and bar preparation programming throughout the multi-year transition period.
• Identify at-risk students using academic performance data, practice exam results, and other early-warning indicators, and design individualized intervention and coaching plans.
• Provide one-on-one and small-group academic coaching, exam-skills instruction, and bar-readiness counseling to students throughout law school and during bar study.
• Collaborate with doctrinal faculty to align academic support programming and, where appropriate, course curricula with the skills and content specifications of the NextGen Bar Exam, and to strengthen students' foundational legal analysis, writing, and lawyering skills.
• Manage relationships with commercial bar preparation vendors and coordinate the integration of their NextGen-aligned resources with the School's internal programming, including during the period in which some jurisdictions administer the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) and others transition to the NextGen Bar Exam.
• Recruit, train, and supervise tutors, teaching assistants, and other academic support staff.
• Track, analyze, and report bar passage outcomes and academic support program metrics to the Dean's Office in support of ABA Standard 316 compliance and continuous improvement efforts.
• Assist in the design and delivery of first-year and upper-level academic success curricula, orientation programming, and study-skills workshops.
• Represent the Academic Success and Bar Preparation Program in School and University committees, accreditation reviews, and with external accrediting and licensing bodies as needed.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Dean or Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Teaching/Course delivery

• Design and teach a NextGen-aligned bar preparation course sequence that integrates the seven Foundational Skills (legal research, legal writing, issue spotting, investigation and analysis, negotiation, client counseling/advising, and client relationship management) with the eight Foundational Concepts and Principles subject areas.
• Teach integrated question-set workshops that train students to move fluidly between doctrine and skills within a single fact pattern, mirroring the NextGen item format.
• Develop and deliver performance-task workshops (e.g., memo drafting, client letters, negotiation planning) modeled on NextGen's skills-based task types.
• Create formative assessments and practice sets calibrated to NextGen's weighting (approximately 40% stand-alone multiple-choice, with the remainder in integrated sets and performance tasks).
• Teach a transition-year "bridge" course for students whose jurisdiction is moving from the UBE to NextGen, addressing gaps between legacy MBE/MEE/MPT prep and NextGen's skills-integrated format.

Supporting other Instructors/Faculty

• Train and calibrate adjunct instructors, teaching assistants, and tutors on NextGen content specifications and grading rubrics to ensure consistent instruction across sections.
• Serve as the School's subject-matter resource on NextGen Bar Exam design, providing faculty workshops on embedding Foundational Skills (e.g., negotiation, client counseling) into doctrinal courses.
• Review and update course materials, practice questions, and rubrics each testing cycle as the NCBE releases new NextGen sample items and scoring guidance.
• Coordinate with commercial bar prep providers to ensure their NextGen-specific coursework supplements, rather than duplicates or conflicts with, the School's in-house teaching.

CORE COMPETENCIES:   

• In-depth, current knowledge of bar examination content, format, and skills, including the NextGen Bar Exam's Foundational Concepts and Principles, Foundational Skills, and integrated question sets, as well as the legacy UBE components administered during the transition period.
• Demonstrated ability to teach, coach, and motivate law students, including those who are struggling academically.
• Skilled at analyzing academic and assessment data to identify trends and design targeted interventions.
• Strong program management and organizational skills, including the ability to manage vendor relationships and budgets.
• Ability to design and revise curricula, assessments, and programming in response to evolving bar exam requirements, including the ongoing transition to the NextGen Bar Exam.
• Excellent interpersonal and collaborative skills, with the ability to work effectively with faculty, staff, and students.
• Sound judgment, discretion, and cultural competence in working with a diverse and often high-stress student population.
• Strong written and oral communication and public-speaking skills.
• undefined

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school.
• Active license to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction, in good standing.
• A minimum of three to five years of experience in academic support, bar preparation instruction, or law teaching, with a demonstrated record of improving student bar passage outcomes.
• Experience teaching or coaching students in legal analysis, exam writing, and bar-tested subjects.
• Excellent written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to interpret academic performance data and design data-informed interventions.
• Working knowledge of, or demonstrated ability to quickly develop expertise in, the NextGen Bar Exam's content specifications and question formats, and their implications for law school curricula and bar preparation programming.
• Ability to work collaboratively with faculty, staff, and students, and to manage multiple priorities in a deadline-driven environment.

Compliance Salary Range Disclosure

$70,000-$80,000