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Externship Information for Employers
Thank you so much for your interest in working with our students.
We would be delighted to discuss the possibility of creating an externship at your organization. The guidelines explain the employers responsibility to the students. Please return the completed information form to Professor Marcia Glickman (). Professor Glickman will review your information and contact you as soon as possible.
At the end of each externship, we require placement supervisors to complete an evaluation of the student.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is an individual externship?
- Why do students register for individual externships?
- How many hours must students work in order to receive credit?
- How does an employer become an approved externship site?
- How are students supervised during their externship?
- What paperwork is required to formalize the externship?
- How do students get credit for externships?
- What are the deadlines to submit an externship application?
- Where can I find the official rules and instructions?
What is an individual externship?
An externship is a critical component of the University Of Connecticut School Of Law's experiential learning programs. Externships differ from internships or paid employment in that the focus is on the student and not the employer. Students are supervised in two different ways for their externship: by a placement supervisor and a faculty supervisor. An externship, unlike an internship, is work experience where you receive academic credit.
The placement provides students an opportunity to learn about working as a lawyer, while being closely supervised. Students are not expected to be expert in the law practiced in the placement setting. Placement supervisors plan projects and observation opportunities specifically designed to enhance the student's learning experience. The placement supervisor is expected to provide feedback to the student on all work product.
As part of the educational program, students are required to reflect on their experience with a faculty supervisor. Usually the reflection is in the form of an on-going journal. The faculty supervisor reviews the journal and comments on it. Additionally, students meet with their faculty supervisor periodically to ensure that the externship is meeting their goals and objectives.
Why do students register for individual externships?
An externship provides hands-on learning experience in contrast to the academic learning done in a typical classroom setting. The externship program at UConn allows students to tailor their experiential learning to their own goals and objectives. Students utilize their academic knowledge in a practical setting. Students learn the art of lawyering and then apply it back to their classroom studies. Externships enhance students' study of law, help students focus on an area of law or type of practice of particular interest to them, teach students about their strengths within the legal profession and provide a basis for discourse about their ethical and moral obligations in the legal profession.
How many hours must students work in order to receive credit?
During fall and spring terms, a student may earn a maximum of 3 credits for externship work. During the summer, students may earn 4 credits. Each credit translates into 56 placement hours. Therefore, for 3 credits, a student must work at least 168 hours: this equals 12 hours a week for 14 weeks. The schedule of hours is set by the student and the placement supervisor in consultation with the faculty supervisor. Students are not required to work the exact weeks that correspond to the semester. For example, a student could work 14 hours a week for 12 weeks instead. Students may work more than the required hours, but not less.
There are a few externships limited enough in scope to be worth only one credit hour, this is rare. Students should plan to spend at least 112 hours a semester at their worksite.
While students can complete the required amount of work in one long day, it is highly recommended that students spend at least 2 part days at their worksite. This enables them to become more integrated into the office structure and will allow more time for observation of all types of legal proceedings and meetings.
How does an employer become an approved externship site?
Employers interested in supervising an externship should contact the externship coordinator, Marcia Glickman, at 860-570-5080.
How are students supervised during their externship?
Currently, we require our students to have a faculty supervisor and a placement supervisor. The faculty supervisor's role is to help students reflect on their work experience and to insure that your experience is valuable.
The faculty supervisor is responsible for insuring that the individual placement will provide educational work assignments including significant writing and appropriate evaluation of student performance during the semester for which the student receives credit. . . . The faculty supervisor will meet periodically with the student extern to discuss her work and to review the student's work product. Each student extern will be required to keep a journal or log of her work at the placement and the faculty supervisor will review this periodically.
The placement supervisor is responsible for providing the extern with varied, interesting and challenging work and for giving the extern constructive feedback throughout the course of the work experience. Please see this detailed description of the placement supervisor's role.
What paperwork is required to formalize the externship?
There are two forms that must be completed prior to the application's approval.
- The Student Application Form requires general information, a student signature and the externship coordinator's signature.
- The Faculty and Placement Supervisor Application Approval Form requires the signatures of both faculty and placement supervisors and some basic information about the work to be done during the externship.
How do students get credit for externships?
At the completion of the externship, there are three evaluations that must be completed and submitted to the externship coordinator.
The placement supervisor evaluation and the student evaluation should be given the faculty supervisor to assist in his/her completion of the faculty evaluation. Once all three are completed, they must be submitted to the externship coordinator for approval. Once approved, the forms will be given to the registrar to record.
What are the deadlines to submit an externship application?
We strongly recommend that you secure your externship prior to the beginning of the term. Externship applications are due at the end of the second week of class for fall, spring and summer term. A late application may be accepted, at the discretion of the externship coordinator. However, credit for work done prior to the submission of the application may not be counted towards the required hours.
Where can I find the official rules and instructions?
The Individual Externship Application Materials contain the rules and instructions.