Former Sen. Russ Feingold will join the faculty at Marquette University’s law school this semester.

According to a statement released by Marquette, Feingold will serve as a visiting professor of law for the spring semester and will teach an elective course, Current Legal Issues: The U.S. Senate, to upper-level law students.

The course will analyze the role of the U.S. Senate and the constitutional and legal aspects of its position, the statement said.

Joseph Kearney, dean of Marquette University Law School, said Feingold was granted the temporary professorship because he is well-versed in the subject matter of the course.

“Sen. Feingold has extraordinary academic credentials and expertise with respect to a number of significant issues of law and public policy,” Kearney said. “These attributes, together with his experience in the U.S. Senate, make him almost uniquely qualified to contribute to our law school.”

Edward Fallone, associate professor of law at Marquette, said he believes having Feingold as a visiting professor will add value to the law school at Marquette.

Feingold’s experience in the legislature and his conviction to take on the role as professor with the utmost seriousness will make him a valuable asset, Fallone said.

Fallone confirmed not everybody on campus and in the community is as pleased as he is about Feingold’s appointment at Marquette, a Jesuit school, because of some of his political views.

“I think there are people that would have preferred Sen. Feingold had not been appointed as a visiting professor, but I don’t think that their opinions are representative of the majority,” Fallone said.

Fallone added Marquette has a law school that is fairly diverse in its representation of ideologies and welcomes all different viewpoints.

Kearney said the law school at Marquette is not interested in advocating a single way of thinking.

“It is true that (Feingold) has views that are at odds with the teachings of the Catholic Church,” Kearney said. “But Marquette Law School has never sought to hire only individuals who are Catholic or whose views conform in all particulars to the church’s teachings. …”

Kearney said he believes all students and faculty members will appropriately welcome the former senator when he arrives on campus in the spring.