AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
STUDENT AND
AGENCY AND
THE INDIANA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW - INDIANAPOLIS
FOR THE
PROGRAM ON LAW AND STATE GOVERNMENT
ADVANCED GOVERNMENT EXTERNSHIP
SPRING 2014
I.
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
The educational objectives of the Advanced Government Externship include offering
students the opportunity to [AGE student to edit as applicable to proposed AGE]:
a. Continue to build on knowledge, skills, and experience gained during prior,
successful completion of Program on Law and State Government course and
placement, [AGE student to describe prior PLSG placement here] ;
b. Continue to learn about the practice of law with [AGE student to describe current or
prospective PLSG placement here and how the externship experience should advance
his or her learning about the law, governing, or governance];
c. Use and test skills of legal research, legal writing, case analysis, and statutory
construction in the context of a government legal office;
d. Communicate legal conclusions and recommendations of legal work to supervising
attorneys and policymakers;
e. Observe how various agencies carry out statutory mandates, create regulations, defend
agency actions in administrative hearings, and comment to drafted legislation;
f. Experience how the ethical, policy, and legal issues of the governmental process
entwine to affect government and the practice of law within government; and,
g. Continue to develop their ability to learn from experience and to manage their own
education.
h. [AGE student to add 2-4 more specific educational objectives here]
II.
ADVANCED GOVERNMENT EXTERNSHIP FORMAT
To reach the educational objectives, the two-credit Government Externship has four
components:
a. A required number of hours at the externship placement or doing externship activities
and related work (60 hours per credit hour sought, therefore, 120 hours per semester);
b. At least three individual meetings between the externship student and the faculty
advisor during the course of the semester;
c. Time logs accounting for student time at the externship placement and working on
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externship activities and related work; and
d. Successfully completing reflective learning assignment developed in conjunction with
faculty advisor.
III.
PARTICIPANT RESPONSIBILITIES
The three main participants in the Advanced Government Externship are: the supervising
attorney, the PLSG student, and the faculty advisor. Success in reaching the educational
objectives of the advanced externship depends on the main participants and the interrelationship
among them. Outlined below are the responsibilities of the participants.
a.
Supervising Attorney is responsible for:
1. Orienting the externship student to the office during the first week of the
externship;
2. Assisting in the skills training of the externship student by assigning
challenging and appropriate legal projects to the externship student;
3. Providing to the student a variety of challenging tasks that draw on the
student’s legal skills throughout the course of the externship;
4. Meeting regularly with the externship student to discuss matters pertinent to
the student’s work and understanding of the legal process; at least one of
these meetings should include the faculty advisor (this meeting to be
arranged by the externship student);
5. Giving specific constructive feedback to the student regarding the quality of
their legal work, their professionalism, and their professional development;
6. Allowing the student, when feasible, to participate in, and not merely
observe, the strategic decision-making process; and,
7. Evaluating the externship student’s performance and work product in
writing at the end of the semester.
b.
Student is responsible for:
1. Drafting this agreement and submitting signed original with the Faculty
advisor.
2. Spending one hundred and twenty (120) hours, sixty (60) hours-per-credit
sought, during the semester in externship activities and related work.
Externship activities and related work include, e.g., being present at the
assigned field placement, addressing the legal assignments from the
supervising attorney, preparing for and attending individual meetings with
the faculty advisor, and completing the reflective learning assignment;
3. Completing the reflective learning assignment developed in conjunction
with the faculty advisor;
4. Preparing for and attending three (3) individual meetings with the faculty
advisor during the course of the semester; at least one of these meetings
should include the supervising lawyer.
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5. Submitting accurate time logs accounting for time devoted to working on
externship activities and related work to the faculty; and,
6. Coordinating time to review supervising attorney’s written evaluation with
supervising attorney and submitting completed written evaluation to faculty
advisor at conclusion of externship.
c.
V.
Faculty Advisor is responsible for:
1. Overall coordination and administration of the advanced government
externship, including the development, monitoring, and maintenance of the
agreement between the law school and the field placement;
2. Coordinating individual tutorials;
3. Maintaining communication among the law school, the PLSG externship
student, and the supervising attorney;
4. Reviewing the student’s time logs;
5. Meeting with the student on an individual basis at least three (3) times
during the course of the semester; and,
6. Assessing whether the student earns a passing or failing grade (based on
doing satisfactory work at the placement, providing accurate time logs,
preparedness and participation in three (3) individual tutorial meetings, and
satisfactory completion of reflective learning assignment).
EVALUATION OF GOVERNMENT EXTERNSHIP STUDENT
PERFORMANCE
a. Pass/Fail grade -- 2 credits. A grade of S (satisfactory) or F (failing) will be given
by the faculty advisor based on whether the advanced government externship
student satisfied all of the requirements of the externship, including whether the
student met or failed to meet the number of hours required to be spent at the field
office and doing externship activities and related work.
__________________________
Attorney’s Name
Agency
Title
and Supervising Attorney
__________________________
Date
__________________________
Cynthia A. Baker, Director,
Program on Law and State Government,
Clinical Professor of Law, and
Faculty Advisor
__________________________
Date
__________________________
Student’s name
PLSG Advanced Government
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Externship Student
__________________________
Date
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