JD Supervised Research
Application Deadlines
2013 Summer Semester: Thursday, May 23, 2013 by 5pm
2013 Fall Semester: Tuesday, September 3, 2013 by 5pm
2014 Spring Semester: Monday, January 13, 2014 by 5pm
Submit this completed form to: Louis Fine, Office of the Registrar
Phone 202-662-9224, Fax 202-662-9235
SUPERVISED RESEARCH
The Faculty augments the Law Center's seminar offerings by providing a Supervised Research option, which students may undertake under the supervision of a faculty member for 2 credits. Supervised Research projects provide faculty guidance to students in areas where there is no curricular offering or where a student wishes to explore a subject in greater depth than would be possible in an existing course. Supervised Research projects must meet the requirements of the upperclass legal writing requirement (see the Upperclass Legal Writing Requirement on p. 20 of the Georgetown Law Bulletin), and the professor and student must establish a calendar of meetings that allows for the kind of interaction contemplated for writing seminars.
To be eligible to apply to undertake a Supervised Research project while enrolled at the Center for Transnational Legal Studies, the project must first be approved by Scott Foster, Assistant Dean and Executive Director for the Center for Transnational Legal Studies.
To apply for a Supervised Research project, a student must complete an application form and submit it to the Office of the Registrar by the deadline for the relevant semester (see Application Deadlines above). All requests to undertake a Supervised Research project must be approved by the Associate Dean for the J.D. program. The Associate Dean for the J.D. Program will be receptive to proposals meeting the goals of Supervised Research Projects and expects to approve most proposals for supervision by full-time faculty; however, approval is not automatic. Students should consider the following rules applicable to Supervised Research projects when submitting a proposal:
- The student must have at least a "C" (2.00/4.00) grade point average.
- Students must demonstrate that they have a well-developed topic suitable for a substantive scholarly paper satisfying the upperclass legal writing requirement. Students must indicate the scheduled meeting dates with the professor, the due dates for submission of the outline, first draft, and final draft, and list the semester(s) in which the project is to be completed
- Because the time demanded of the professor is substantial, it is expected that students ordinarily will seek sponsorship from full-time faculty. Where a student makes a good-faith effort to obtain sponsorship by a full-time faculty member and is unable to do so, sponsorship by an adjunct faculty member may be approved by the Associate Dean for the J.D. Program.
- A student ordinarily may not undertake a Supervised Research project more than once. Students proposing to take Supervised Research for a second time must disclose this on their application. Similarly, a Supervised Research project will not be approved when the proposal repeats work for which credit previously has been granted in another course or for which the student has been compensated during employment.
- Proposals may call for research to be in completed in one semester or two; only 2 academic credits, however, will be awarded.
The final Supervised Research paper should be submitted either through the Georgetown Law Online Paper/Exam Management System, at http://apps.law.georgetown.edu/exams/, or in hard copy to the Office of the Registrar. Once a final paper has been submitted for grading, no amendments, revisions, or supplements, will be permitted or accepted. Credit for the upperclass legal writing requirement will be given for papers receiving a passing grade.
UPPERCLASS LEGAL WRITING REQUIREMENT
Students must complete the upperclass legal writing requirement as follows: (1) by successfully completing a seminar or clinic designated as meeting the upperclass legal writing requirement; or (2) by successfully completing a Supervised Research project that has been approved by the Associate Dean for the J.D. Program, described above.
The upperclass legal writing requirement is intended to provide students with the opportunity to refine research and writing skills learned in the first year, and to develop the skills necessary to undertake writing projects on their own following graduation from law school. Students choose topics, submit outlines, prepare and submit a first draft, and complete the final paper in consultation with faculty members in approved seminars, clinics and Supervised Research projects.
In the course of completing the upperclass legal writing requirement, the student shows his or her mastery of the in-depth research undertaken and demonstrates how the student has organized, clarified, or advanced this body of knowledge in resolving the issues raised by the paper. Final papers must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar, not to the professor, by the deadline announced by the professor. Final papers should be submitted either through the Georgetown Law Online Paper/Exam Management System, at http://apps.law.georgetown.edu/exams/, or in hard copy to the Office of the Registrar. Once a final paper has been submitted for grading, no amendments, revisions or supplements will be permitted or accepted.
The technical requirements for the upperclass legal writing requirement include: (1) use of legal forms of citation (when appropriate); (2) submission of an outline and a first draft, in accordance with the professor's instructions and schedule; (3) submission of a revised final paper based on the professor's comments; and (4) submission of both the first draft and the final paper of at least 6,000 words (excluding footnotes), which is approximately 25 typewritten pages using customary margins and spacing. All work must be that of the student in consultation with the professor or must be cited for attribution to others. Students will receive a grade for both the course and the paper portions of the course. Both grades will be reflected on the student's transcript; however, only the course grade is calculated in the student's overall grade point average.
Faculty members retain full discretion to request that a student be withdraw from a seminar designated as meeting the upperclass legal writing requirement if the professor determines that the student has not met the specified requirements.
Because a paper that meets the upperclass legal writing requirement should be a product of the student's own work in consultation with the supervising faculty member, students who are interested in using their final paper as a law journal note may do so only (1) after the paper has been submitted for grading and (2) to the extent the student has not received comments, edits, or other feedback on the paper from individuals other than their supervising faculty member (or in connection with classroom discussion as overseen by such faculty member) prior to the time it is submitted for grading.
ONE PAPER FOR TWO SEMINARS
Please click here for information about writing one paper for two seminars.
SUPERVISED RESEARCH APPLICATION
Submit this completed form to: Louis Fine, Office of the Registrar
Phone 202-662-9224, Fax 202-662-9235
TO: Associate Dean, J.D. Program
RE: Request for Authorization of Proposed Supervised Research
FROM:
Student: ______________________________
(Please print)
Professor :_____________________________
(Please print)
We have read the preceding Statement and Academic Policies on Supervised Research and the Upperclass Legal Writing Requirement and agree that the attached proposal satisfies the standards for authorizing Supervised Research. This Supervised Research will be done in the ______________________________ Semester(s) (insert 2013 Summer, 2013 Fall, 2014 Spring or a combination of two sequential semesters). It is understood by both the sponsoring professor and the student seeking to complete Supervised Research that only two (2) academic credits will be awarded for the completion of a successful project.
_____________________________ Date: _________________
Professor's signature
Daytime telephone number: ______________________________
Email address: _________________________________________
____________________________________ Date: ____________
Student's signature
Address: _____________________________________________
Daytime telephone number: ______________________________
Email address: ________________________________________
Go Card number: ______________________________________
Expected Graduation Date: _______________________________
Have you previously registered for Supervised Research? [ ] Yes [ ] No
Proposal Title: ____________________________________________________________
(Please print)
Description of the research topic and demonstration of why it will lead to an original paper satisfying the Upperclass Legal Writing Requirement; if this is a second Supervised Research project or if the student has completed a seminar paper in a similar topic area, also provide the topic and professor for the previous project:
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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(You may add a separate sheet of paper describing the project, if necessary.)
Outline due date: ______________________________
First draft due date: ______________________________
Final draft due date: ______________________________
Please provide a schedule of dates for meetings between the student and the professor. Please note that these are distinct from the due dates listed above. A minimum of four dates is required and, if you list fewer than four dates below, your application may be denied for that reason.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
About the Sponsoring Professor (check one):
[ ] Full-time
[ ] Adjunct (if adjunct, complete the rest of this form.)
Because the school's academic policy requires that "students ordinarily will seek sponsorship from full-time faculty", the Committee will not approve an adjunct faculty member for sponsorship unless the student has made a good-faith effort to obtain sponsorship by a full-time faculty member and has been unable to do so. (See the Georgetown Law Center Bulletin for the list of full-time faculty). The Committee therefore requests that you describe your efforts to obtain sponsorship by a full-time faculty member and the reasons why this was not successful. After doing so, please provide the requested additional information for the adjunct professor.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Adjunct professor's office address: _________________________________
Adjunct professor's telephone number: ______________________________
Adjunct professor's email address: _________________________________
Is the adjunct professor sponsoring any other student's Supervised Research project during the semesters indicated above?
[ ] Yes [ ] No
TO BE COMPLETED BY THE OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR
Verify that the student has the required "C" cumulative grade-point average:
[ ] Yes [ ] No
Indicate any seminar in a similar area:
Professor: ______________________________
Course: ________________________________
Semester : ______________________________
Grade : _________________________________
Credit-hours : ____________________________
Professor: ________________________________
Course: __________________________________
Semester : ________________________________
Grade : __________________________________
Credit-hours : _____________________________
[ ] Requirements satisfied [ ] Requirements not satisfied
_____________________________________ Date: ______________
Office of the Registrar's signature
TO BE COMPLETED BY THE ASSOCIATE DEAN, J.D. PROGRAM
[ ] Approved [ ] Declined
Other Actions or Comments:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
____________________________________Date: ____________________
Associate Dean, J.D. Program's signature
