Faculty Sponsor Supervisory Role

The faculty sponsor is responsible for supervising the student and determining at the end of the term whether the student should receive academic credit for the externship in light of the student's performance at the host agency and the student's research project. The faculty sponsor shall be responsible for maintaining regular and persisitent contact with the student during the course of the externship to ensure that the goals of the student's program are being met, that the externship functions as intended when approved, and that the student has not succumbed to inadequate or indifferent supervision. This is done in the following ways:

Speak to the Supervising Attorney: The faculty sponsor shall contact the supervising attorney at the host organization prior to the commencement of the externship to verify the quality of supervision and the host's commitment to the student's educational goals. This rule does not apply to faculty who are supervising externs in the Geneva or South Africa program, given that these work sites have been pre-approved by the Curricular, Co-curricular, and Pedagogic Issues Committee.

Prepare a Faculty Sponsor Statement: The statement should indicate that the attention, training, supervision, and work the student will receive are satisfactory; the qualifications and training of the supervising attorney at the host organization are acceptable; and that there will be a substantial educational component to the experience beyond simply doing legal work. This rule does not apply to faculty who are supervising externs in the Geneva or South Africa program, given that these work sites have been pre-approved by the Curricular, Co-curricular, and Pedagogic Issues Committee.

Review the student's biweekly journals and provide feedback: Faculty sponsors are required to provide feedback and resonses to student's biweekly journals and are encouraged to talk about any aspect of the externship experience. Insights about developments in substantive law, the culture of an organization, or future goals of the student are all acceptable topics. The objective is simply to get the sponsor and student to engage in a dialogue. The Office of Student Affairs should be copied on all correspondence with externs to build a record of guided reflection.

Review the student's formal written evaluations, as prepared by the supervising attorney: Depending on the program, students receive one or two evaluations during the course of a term. Virtually all of these are nice letters about our diligent and hardworking students.

Supervise and grade the student's research paper.