Externship Approval Process

Once you have lined up a field placement, it's time to get it approved and register for the course.

1. Read the Externship Program Overview and make sure you understand the requirements of the program.

2. Pre-approval Counseling Meeting (Required for all Fully Remote, Law Firm, or Paid Externships)

All law firm and paid externships (that involve direct payment from the field placement to the student) require a pre-approval meeting with the Director or Assistant Director of Externships at least 4 weeks before the start of the semester. Pre-approval is not required for third party grants/stipends. You may self-schedule an advising appointment with Neha Lall or Liz Solar on UB Law Connect. 

Please bring the following materials to your paid externship pre-approval meeting:

• Current resume
• Position description/posting or a detailed description of the types of work you will be doing at the placement
• Completed proposed weekly schedule
• Paid Externship Supervisor Rider Agreement (signed by supervisor, if placement is paying student directly)

If you are seeking approval to extern at a current or past employer, you and your supervisor must also review and sign:

• Externship Approval Policy for Paid Placements at an Existing Employer
• Completed Educational Plan

If you are granted pre-approval of your externship, you may proceed to the next step.

3. Submitting for Approval on UB Law Connect

Submission Deadlines: 1 week before the start of classes for unpaid placements, and 3 weeks before the start of classes for paid placements

• Once you have received an offer from the field placement, and pre-approval where necessary, you must submit your externship for approval on UB Law Connect.
• To submit your externship for approval, go to the Field Placements section and click "Add Experience."
  • You will need to type the employer name to see if the employer is already in the system. Please try a couple of versions of the employer's name if it does not auto-populate.
  • If it's a common placement, it will be in the system and we want to avoid duplicate employer entries (e.g. use Maryland Office of the Attorney General, instead of creating a new employer labeled Attorney General of Maryland. Specific divisions of the office will auto-populate, and you can pick the most appropriate one).
  • If the employer's name doesn't come up at all, and it's likely they have not hosted UBalt externs lately, you can add the employer into the system. Please use the full name of the office and its contacts.
• Complete the entire form and hit "Submit" for approval once the form is complete.
• After you save or submit the placement for approval, you will be able to upload all of your completed forms to the Documents & Forms tab.

** You are responsible for uploading all completed forms to the "Documents and Forms" tab of your Field Placement profile.** You must only upload the forms relevant to your situation.

• Educational Plan -- only if externing with a previous employer/ placement (paid or unpaid)
• Paid Externship Supervisor Rider Agreement --  directly paid placements only
• Proposed Schedule Form - all placements
• Externship Approval Policy for Paid Placements at an Existing Employer -- directly paid placements only

4. Supervisor and Externship Director Approval

• After an initial review for application completeness, your supervisor will be emailed a copy of your externship application and will be asked to electronically sign the supervisor agreement.
• After your supervisor signs off on the placement, the Director of Externships will review your placement request. If approved, you will be given a permission number to enroll in the course.
• You are responsible for self-enrolling in the course once permission is issued
  
  DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR PLACEMENT FOR FINAL APPROVAL UNTIL THE END OF THE SEMESTER