External Studies Program

Under the external studies program a student may be authorized to spend one semester away from the Law School in a supervised setting combining academic legal research and work experience, for which the student will receive, upon satisfactory completion, 12 credits (3 graded and 9 graded on an S/U basis) and one semester of residence credit toward the J.D. degree. The program is administered by the Curriculum Committee, which has final authority to approve specific applications. The purpose of an external studies project is to enable a student to obtain an academic and research experience not otherwise available to him or her in Charlottesville.

The focus of the project is a substantial research paper on a topic of scholarly interest to the student and to a Law School faculty advisor who has agreed to supervise the student’s project and related to the student’s work at the host organization under the auspices of which the project is to be carried out. The paper topic must be thought out and a research plan designed before any external studies project will be approved. The best plan for a student who seeks approval is to independently research with his or her faculty advisor the chosen topic for the semester during which the student applies for an external studies project (or an earlier semester). In this way, the legal and policy issues presented by the student’s work at the host organization can be clarified, and the student can obtain enough background to design a workable research plan.

An external studies project is carried out under the auspices of a host organization that is outside the Law School and has an educational, charitable, governmental, or nonprofit nature. The program does not contemplate that credit will be awarded for activities similar to work normally performed in summer or postgraduation employment in practicing law. Thus, no project may be undertaken with an organization providing legal services for profit or with a court as a judicial clerkship. Host organizations approved in the past include the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Association for Water and Rural Development in South Africa, National Public Radio, the Center for Implementing Public Policies on Equity and Growth in Buenos Aires, and the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The student is responsible both to a supervisor at the host organization and to his or her faculty advisor. The student, faculty advisor, and host supervisor are expected to coordinate the day-to-day practical experience and the student’s work on his or her research project.

1) ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION A student in good academic standing may undertake an external studies project in his or her fourth or fifth semester of law school. Transfer students awarded two residency semesters at entrance may not undertake an external studies project. Applications for external studies projects to be undertaken in the spring must be submitted by November 1 to the assistant dean for academic services. Applications for projects in the fall must be submitted by April 1. Planning for a project must commence much earlier, however, because several necessary steps—such as applying to an appropriate host organization, writing a research proposal, and obtaining a faculty advisor—are time-consuming.

The application for an external studies project should include the following:

a. The student should compose or obtain from the host organization a description of the organization and the external studies program in which the student will be engaged. Moreover, the host institution should provide a statement that the student will be supervised by an identified attorney or group of attorneys. The purpose of the description is to demonstrate commitment of the host organization to assist the student in his or her research work and to encourage reflection on the intellectual lessons to be drawn from the experience. Professional training is not the main objective of this program. Formally structured seminars or similar discussion groups for student externs are not required, although an intellectual structure for the student’s learning experience is desirable. The supervising counsel is expected to assume responsibility for continuous evaluation of the student’s work, and the student must be given the opportunity to integrate this work experience with research on the paper.

b. A written description of the student’s research proposal. The description shall identify the research topic on which the student and the faculty advisor have agreed, indicate the sources and methodology through which the student plans to research the topic, and demonstrate the usefulness of the external studies opportunity for the type of research indicated. A proposal to examine a series of general questions about the topic without indicating a thesis or plan which shows how the research relates to the topic will not be accepted. The student should explore the structure of the research proposal with both the faculty advisor and the host organization before submitting the application. The length of this research proposal is usually 5 to 15 double-spaced typed pages.

In some cases, the students will not know the specific subject matters on which he or she will be working for the organization during the term of the project. This situation does not obviate the student’s responsibility and should not prevent forming an effective research plan. For example, the situation may require development of a project to examine the process by which certain decisions are taken, the impact of those decisions in an institutional sense, or other procedural questions by which to measure the effectiveness of the host organization in advancing legal or policy issues in its area.

The main justification for an external studies project is the opportunity for the student to do unusual types of research and to expand his or her intellectual base in a chosen area of law or policy. Thus the research paper ought to be one that cannot practically be researched in Charlottesville. An analysis of purely legal issues will not normally justify an external studies project. External studies research will often be directed at process questions. For example, a student might fruitfully explore case studies of litigation to determine the effects of litigation in a certain policy area on legislation or on executive enforcement efforts or even on the host organization itself.

c. A signed letter from a full-time resident law faculty member confirming that he or she has discussed the project with the student, will supervise the project, and will grade the research paper (see section VI.C).

d. A law school transcript and a current resume.

2) EVALUATION AND APPROVAL As soon after November 1 and April 1 as is practicable, the assistant dean will transmit all external studies applications to the Curriculum Committee for review. Each applicant will be given the opportunity to explain his or her proposal orally and to answer questions.

The Committee may disapprove the application, approve it as submitted, or request changes that would make the proposal acceptable. The burden remains on the student to persuade the Committee that the external studies project will enable the student to fulfill educational objectives that cannot be achieved at the Law School or in career opportunities normally available during or after law school.

Specifically, the Committee will approve an application for an external studies project if the Committee concludes that:

a. The student has sufficient subject matter background, including the completion of Law School courses germane to the paper topic.

b. The anticipated work experience during the project approximates the sophistication of law study generally engaged in by fourth- and fifth-semester students.

c. The student’s research involves questions of law or policy and has a strong academic focus, to which the work experience is relevant.

d. A comparable experience is not available as a practical matter within existing University curricula and programs.

e. The project is compatible with the goal of the Law School to provide rigorous academic training.

3) REQUIREMENTS The Curriculum Committee attaches conditions to its approval of the student’s application. Conditions include but are not limited to the following:

a. No student will be awarded more than 12 credits for successfully completing the external studies project. Three credits will be allocated to the proposed substantive research paper and will be graded by the faculty advisor. The remaining nine credits will be allocated to supervised activities at the host organization and will be graded on an S/U basis.

b. There will be periodic communications between the student and the faculty advisor throughout the external studies term to assist the student in making satisfactory progress toward completing the research project. The responsibility for communication rests with the student, who should report to his or her faculty advisor at least once a month. Additionally, the student should send the advisor copies of all substantial written work the student does for the host organization, together with any evaluations of that work.

c. Steady progress must be made on the research paper during the external studies term. Specifically, the student and the faculty advisor may agree to a schedule for completion of a detailed outline of the paper, a first draft, and subsequent drafts. The final version of the paper must be submitted to the faculty advisor (with a printed copy to the Student Records Office) no later than 30 days following the last day of final examinations for second- and third-year students for the semester in which the external studies project is undertaken.

d. When the student submits his or her research paper to the faculty advisor, the student will also submit to the faculty advisor (with a copy to the chairman of the Curriculum Committee) a written summary of his or her experience in the external studies program. The Committee may grant fewer than 12 credits if the student does not satisfy these conditions, an action which might prevent the student from meeting the residence credit required for graduation.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Student Records Office
434-924-7347
lawsro@virginia.edu