This page includes information and resources to help faculty create rigorous, engaging, and inclusive learning environments, with guidance on accessibility, classroom practices, AI, difficult conversations, and student feedback.
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
Columbia Law School is committed to an inclusive learning environment for students of all abilities. The University’s Office of Disability Services (DS) reviews requests for instructional accommodations and informs the Law School if and when such accommodations are approved. The Law School will implement the accommodations that DS enumerates, consistent with the requirement that such accommodations do not substantially modify essential requirements of their academic program; fundamentally alter the nature of a service, program, or activity; or result in an undue financial or administrative burden. Student Services will then notify and work with instructors to implement approved accommodations in their classes. The Law School’s Disability Liaison may block seats on a faculty member’s seating chart for students with a seating accommodation related to their disability, or for a captioner. For questions, please contact [email protected] and/or reach out to Lauren Levy, Associate Director of Academic Advising and Student Support
Some professors have found it useful to place language describing the University’s accommodation policy in their syllabus. Sample language can be found here. We encourage instructors to apply the policy flexibly to accommodate students who may have compelling medical and family issues.
Professor Liz Emens has prepared a guide with four simple ways that can make the Law School community more welcoming and inclusive for students with disabilities.
Teaching and Learning in the AI Age
The Law School has adopted a 2026–2027 Default Academic Policy on Student Use of Artificial Intelligence. Recognizing the rapid evolution of technology and the need to anchor our approach to the Law School’s educational purpose, the policy is centered on the principle that students must bear full intellectual responsibility for all work submitted for academic credit. It reflects thoughtful input from faculty members, senior administrators, and students, who have been deeply engaged in this work.
The policy establishes default rules. Faculty may adopt different rules for a particular course, assignment, or assessment, but any departure from the defaults must be communicated to students in writing, at a minimum in your syllabus and/or in written instructions for the relevant exam or assignment. We encourage every faculty member to address AI in your syllabus, even if just by linking to the default policy. Either way, faculty must inform students of their AI policy in their course syllabus. We encourage instructors to take advantage of the AI-related resources available through Columbia’s Center for Teaching and Learning.
Many faculty restrict laptop use in class, while seeking to ensure that students are well-supported in their note taking. Other faculty allow laptops but are concerned about distractions. This concise best-practices guide addresses both sets of concerns.
If you do plan to ban laptops and other technology, including for the purpose of eliminating use of AI during class time, we recommend you consider having a designated student or TA note-takers or otherwise make available lecture notes. (Note: There may be instances when disability accommodations require laptop use, alternative notes, or recordings; please work with Student Services to ensure that reasonable accommodations are provided).
The policy prohibits the use of AI on exams. If you are adopting this policy, we strongly recommend using “closed laptop mode” for your exams, rather than merely disabling internet access. Some AI tools can operate locally on a computer without an internet connection; as a result, “closed internet mode” can be insufficient to guarantee that access to AI is blocked. Please note, however, that if you do plan to use closed laptop mode, you should notify students in the syllabus and before they purchase course materials. With closed laptop mode, students will not have access to electronic textbooks when they take an exam. Some faculty may also wish to give closed book exams to eliminate use of AI-generated study materials during an exam. Again, if you choose that route, we recommend you make that policy clear in your syllabus. Many of you have already shifted toward in-class exams instead of take-home exams. Please note there is no effective way to monitor take home exams for AI use.
The policy prohibits AI use during class sessions and exams, but permits the use of AI in written work, such as seminar papers, subject to certain limitations. You should feel free to develop assignments or assessments that depart from this default, including by thoughtfully incorporating AI into class sessions and exams, or, conversely, by prohibiting AI use in written assignments.
The policy requires that work submitted for academic credit be student-composed, rather than AI-generated. You may, of course, depart from this default by providing different written instructions. However, whatever policy you adopt, you should know that unauthorized AI use is difficult to detect. (AI-detection software is notoriously unreliable). Accordingly, you may wish to design supplemental means of assessment that provide greater insight into each student’s research, reasoning, and writing process. Some examples include requiring an oral presentation of a written paper followed by questions; requiring an in-class writing exercise in which you ask students to apply or extend the argument developed in their written assignments; requiring students to submit transcripts of their AI chats; and combining a written paper with other forms of assessment, such as participation in classroom discussions or an oral exam.
If you believe that a student has violated the policy or your class-specific policy you should contact Andrea Saavedra, Associate Dean of Registration and Student Services.
Fostering an Inclusive Classroom Environment
Discussions among faculty, and faculty-student working groups, have led to a number of strategies and techniques that really work to help create and enhance the student learning experience. Please see the resources below for more information:
- Resource Guide: Inclusivity in the Lecture Classroom
- Difficult Conversations: A Step-by-Step Guide
- An Overview of Racial Literacy
- Race in the 1L Curriculum and Beyond: Strategies for Inclusive Teaching
Name Pronunciations
Students express deep appreciation for professors’ efforts to learn and correctly pronounce their names. Audio recordings of students pronouncing their names are available in LawNet. Faculty may also practice learning student names through the Pronunciation Slideshow feature in LawNet (accessed via LawNet>Registration Services>See Class List>View Class).
Career Assumptions
Students pay close attention to the explicit and implicit messages faculty send when discussing their potential careers, particularly the choice between public and private pathways. This memo provides useful insights on conveying the message that all career trajectories are equally valued at Columbia, along with tips for encouraging students to keep an open mind about alternative pathways.
Course Evaluations
Course evaluations are an important way for students to give feedback and for faculty to improve and make adjustments to their pedagogy. LawNet lets faculty adjust the evaluation questions to include. We have found that when class time is set aside to complete evaluations, response rates are significantly higher, making the information collected more meaningful. Faculty are strongly encouraged to designate 10-15 minutes at the beginning of a class session near the end of the semester specifically for completion of course evaluations.