Seattle University School of Law seeks to hire an Independent Contractor as a Program Administrator to manage and execute the Washington Law Schools-Heritage University Collaborative-An LSAC PLUS Program (The Collaborative).
Made possible by grant funding from the Law School Admission Council Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars (PLUS) Program, the Collaborative is an innovative collaboration among the three law schools in the state of Washington (Gonzaga University School of Law, Seattle University School of Law, and University of Washington School of Law), in partnership with Heritage University (located in Toppenish, WA). The Collaborative is focused on increasing access to legal education for students in Central Washington, a region whose residents and communities are underserved by lawyers, especially racially and ethnically diverse lawyers.
The three law schools are aiming to increase interest in legal education among diverse students at Heritage University by encouraging, educating, and supporting these students so that they see becoming a lawyer as a realistic and desirable career option. The ultimate and aspirational goal of the program is to help diverse students feel a strong sense of professional and personal belonging, community support, and purpose so that they will attend law school and then return home to Central Washington to practice law. If the Collaborative achieves this programmatic objective, it will both expand these students’ horizons by making a legal career an achievable goal, as well as address the critical shortage of diverse lawyers in the region.
The Collaborative has the backing and assistance of Northwest Justice Project, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project; Columbia Legal Services; TeamChild; and the Benefits Law Center. These legal services organizations will be involved in the design and implementation of this pipeline program.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The program will be hosted onsite at Heritage University, where participants will meet and gather in person for modules.
The Program Administrator will be onsite for the three week program period in June of 2022, as well as the follow-upmodules in October. Additional information on the Collaborative program structure is as follows:
• The program modules (approximately 52.5 hours total) will be offered over the course of three weeks in
June 2022 and one week in October 2022. The Collaborative will run in the afternoons and evenings to
accommodate students’ work schedules. There is also an optional law school field trip in July or October.
• The program will be delivered in a hybrid format, with the participating students being in-person and the program delivered primarily in-person, but with some synchronous online program components. Heritage University’s content learning management system will be used to house program content, and Zoom and other resources are available on campus to connect program participants.
• Each of the three law schools – Gonzaga, Seattle, and UW – will assist in designing and delivering
the Collaborative. Heritage University will advise and assist the law schools in developing and refining
programmatic strategies to reach the students, foster their academic success, and engage them in the program.
The participating legal services organization partners will provide the connection to the practicing bar, as well as insights on the access to justice gap in our state, particularly in rural communities, and the need for lawyers who are representative of their clients and communities.
Student participants (goal is 30 participants) will be required to be present for and actively participate in a minimum of 80% of the modules in order to qualify for a $1,000 stipend and receive a Certificate of Completion.
POSITION DESCRIPTION
At the direction of Seattle University, The Program Administrator will manage and execute the Collaborative according to the grant agreement, working with all three law schools, Heritage University, the partner legal service organizations, and Law School Admission Council representatives. The contract term will be January 1, 2022, through November 30, 2022, and involves all activities related to the development, implementation, execution, and evaluation of the program.
Preference will be given to applicants who
• have completed a J.D. degree
• are located in or have lived in the Central Washington area
• are fluent in Spanish
Specific duties include:
• Finalize order of modules and program schedule
• Work with law school representatives to invite speakers/faculty for each module
• Make instructional assignments for each module
• Create program description, promotional materials, and application
• Recruit participants
• Manage selection process and enroll selected participants using the LSAC UNITE platform
• Arrange for space and technology needs at Heritage University
• Plan meal catering/dining arrangements
• Coordinate any faculty and guest accommodations
• Create and manage program portal
• Create pre-program survey, interim assessment, and final program assessment instruments
• Manage on-site program delivery in June and October and administer assessment instruments
• Organize optional law school field trips for July or October
• Prepare final program report per LSAC requirements
CONTRACT COMPENSATION:
This contract is a part-time flexible work commitment, except during the program’s onsite periods at Heritage University in June and October, when the contractor’s full-time presence is required. Working remotely, the contractor will develop and complete contract tasks and deliverables in concert with the Collaborative partners at mutually scheduled times within the grant program timeline. Payment for this contract term will be $50,000.00, paid in monthly installments of $4,545.55, plus all pre-approved expenses for programmatic travel.
If interested, send a resume and letter of interest with description of qualifications to:
Annette E. Clark, Dean, Seattle University School of Law, at annclark@seattleu.edu; or Richard Bird, Associate Dean for Finance & Administration, Seattle University School of Law, at rbird@seattleu.edu
All finalists for the contract position will be provided with a written program description and copy of the approved program-specific Law School Admission Council Grant Agreement.
This project received funding from the Law School Admission Council, Inc. (LSAC). The opinions and conclusions contained in this document are the opinions and conclusions of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of LSAC.