2008 Requirements
EPIC 2008 Grant Requirements
Each summer, the Emory Public Interest Committee provides grants for
students who choose to spend a summer exploring public interest law. Full EPIC grants of $5,000 are available for unpaid legal work with a public interest organization that lasts 10, full-time (40-hour) weeks
during the summer. If the public interest organization offers a stipend, less than $5,000, for 10, full-time weeks of legal work, partial EPIC grants are available. Partial grants are worth the difference between $5,000 and the organization's stipend.
EPIC defines "public interest organization" to include nonprofit organizations,
federal and state government agencies (including federal and state defenders and prosecutors offices), and judicial clerkships.
Grant recipients' work must be supervised by an attorney.
To see a list of past grant recipients' summer experiences, click here
[link to list of past EPIC grant recipients and their organizations].
For Summer 2008, EPIC will begin accepting applications in the
spring with a final due date of March 31, 2008.
In order to apply for a grant, students must satisfy four requirements:
(1) Complete 30 EPIC Hours.
These are essentially community-service hours. Almost any volunteer,
public service, or pro bono work counts towards your EPIC hours.
At least 3 of your 30 hours must be spent volunteering with EPIC for the
Inspiration Awards.
Please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Joanna Steiner [link to
email address] with any questions.
(2) Attend and Volunteer for the Inspiration Awards (Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008).
Grant applicants must attend the Inspiration Awards. Each grant
applicant must also volunteer 3 hours, which may be included in the EPIC-hour
total, to assist with Inspiration Awards preparation. Check the website and your
email for opportunities to complete this 3-hour requirement.
Please contact our Inspiration Awards Co-Chairs, Terri Porter [link to
email address] and Steve Weyer [link to email address] with any questions.
(3) Attend a Public Interest Conference.
EPIC encourages you to attend EPIC's Public Interest Law Conference on
Saturday, Oct. 13, 2007, to satisfy this requirement.
Please contact our Conference Coordinator, Linus Chen [link to email
address] with any questions.
(4) Be a Returning Student for Fall 2008.
The grant application itself will be available Jan. 7, 2008. Scroll down to see the 2007 Application.
We look forward to reading your application this spring!
2008 Grant Requirements and Application
Emory Public Interest Committee
2008 Grant Proposal Guidelines
EPIC summer grants are awarded for 10 weeks of full-time work in the field of public interest law. The EPIC Board will determine how many grants we can distribute based on the amount of money we have raised this year. While we won’t know how many people will apply for grants, you should expect that the application process will be competitive.
EPIC GRANT APPLICANTS ARE BOUND BY THE PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT CODE.
Eligibility Requirements
- You must have a public interest job. EPIC defines a public interest job as work for a public interest, government, or not-for-profit organization. We define the program broadly to include as many opportunities as possible. Work in federal, state, and local government and with not-for-profit organizations qualifies.
- You must be a non-graduating law student who is returning to Emory in the fall. Any grant recipient who transfers to a different law school, withdraws from Emory, or fails to return to Emory the following fall for any other reason will be required to repay their grant in full. Exceptions include study abroad programs through Emory, maternity leave, etc. All exceptions must be expressly approved by the EPIC Board. Joint degree students are eligible for EPIC grants for any summer prior to graduation.
- You must have a job that involves at least 10 weeks of full-time work.
- You must report funding from any other source. The amount of your supplementary funding will be deducted from your grant, or you will be asked to repay that portion.
- You must work under the supervision of an attorney.
- You must ALREADY have a letter from your employer confirming your job offer.
- Your position must be unpaid or compensated by less than $5,000. The amount of funding you request must be equal to the amount of a full grant minus compensation.
- You must earn 30 EPIC hours BEFORE the application deadline, including attendance at a public interest conference and at least 3 hours for the 2007 Inspiration Awards.
- All grant recipients MUST submit a 3-5 page written summary of the summer experience prior to the start of the Fall 2007 semester. Each grant recipient must also submit a quote to be used for publicity purposes. Grant recipients will receive more information about this over the summer. Failure to complete this requirement will constitute a violation of the Professional Conduct Code, and EPIC will pursue disciplinary action.
- You must submit SIX (6) TYPED COPIES of your application on or before the deadline – March 31, 2008 at 5:00pm.
The Grant Selection Process
Timeline
March 31 SIX (6) COPIES of your TYPED proposal are due by 5:00pm. When you hand in your proposal at the Career Services office, you will sign up for an interview time. Second-time grant applicants MUST sign up for an interview for April 7.
April 7-11 Interviews with Grant Selection Committee @ 5-9pm
April 7 Interviews for second-time grant applicants @ 5-9pm
April 16 Applicants are personally notified of the Committee’s decision.
The Grant Selection Committee will interview all applicants during the evenings of April 7-11. We ask that you try to keep those evenings open. Generally the interviews run 20-30 minutes.
The interview is your opportunity to show enthusiasm about your summer work and explain in a less formal way how your job is in the public interest. You should look nice for your interview, but it is not necessary to wear a suit.
The Grant Selection Committee for first-time grant applicants consists of the members of the EPIC Board who are not applying for grants, members of EPIC’s Advisory Board, and past EPIC grant recipients, faculty members of the Public Interest Working Group, and Emory alumni. The Committee will make determinations using the attached rubric. Committee members will keep all information related to proposals and interviews confidential.
The application process for people who have previously received grants will be entirely separate from the process for first-time applicants and will take place on Monday, April 7. Previous grant recipients will be interviewed by a separate panel of graduating EPIC Board members, EPIC Advisory Board members, and alumni. Because the funds for second-time grants are limited, the application process for these funds will be highly competitive.
All grants will be awarded based on total funds available. Grants for unpaid internships will be awarded in the amount of $5,000. For positions that are paid, applicants’ employer letters should specify the amount of compensation. Grants will be awarded to supplement the student’s compensation to the amount of $5,000. The amount of funding requested will NOT be a factor in the ranking of applicants.
The EPIC Board makes the final determinations on all grant applications, and the Board's decisions are final.
PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
- COVER PAGE
· Your name
· Organization’s name, address, phone number and web address (if possible)
· Name, title and phone number of your contact person at the organization
· Amount of funding requested, e.g. $5,000 or $1,250, listed in bottom left corner.
- ESSAYS
Must be double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 point font, one-inch margins on each side.
· Personal Statement (2 pages maximum)
This should explain why you wish to practice public interest law, including past experiences you might have had that have encouraged you to pursue public interest work and anything else you think is relevant.
· Project Description (3 pages maximum)
Describe the work you will be doing over the summer and what you hope to achieve through this work. Articulate as clearly as possible why you believe this job is “in the public interest.” You should include some background information on the organization or agency, but this should not be the bulk of your project description. Split summers must demonstrate that both jobs are in the same issue area.
- RESUME
· Do NOT include your law school GPA, rank, or academic honors. You can simply white-out grades and academic honors. DO include other honors and achievements.
· Your resume does not have to be on resume paper.
- EMPLOYER’S LETTER
You should include a letter from your potential employer verifying that:
· You have been offered a legal internship there for the summer.
· This is a full time commitment for at least 10 weeks.
· You will be supervised by an attorney.
· Your position will be unpaid OR less than $5,000 total. If the position is paid, then the employer letter MUST specify the amount of compensation.
- EPIC VOLUNTEER HOURS
Please include a sheet listing the hours of volunteer work you have completed, including dates and brief descriptions of the work performed.
· Specify which public interest law conference you have attended.
· Specify what you did for Inspiration Awards hours – 3 hours required.
· List additional volunteer work that you did throughout the school year.
· Be specific when listing your hours. For example, instead of writing “Inspiration Awards – 4 hours”, specify “Inspiration Awards – ticket sales Feb. 6 – 1 hour.”
· If you have volunteered for an organization outside of the law school, make sure you have filled out and submitted a volunteer record form. You can download that form from the EPIC website by clicking on the “volunteer” tab.
Tips and Final Points
- Winning proposals and written reports from past years have been compiled in a series of binders in the Career Services office. We recommend that you look at them to get a sense of the quality of winning proposals from the past. Please keep in mind that some requirements for eligibility and the proposals have changed.
- The Public Interest Job Search Guide and The Public Service Employer Directory can be helpful for project ideas. They are in the Career Services office and on reserve at the library.
- EMPLOYER LETTERS may be faxed to the career services office at 404.727.2531.
- Someone may have received a grant to work at a given place in the past. This does not make it more or less likely that you will receive a grant if you are working in that place.
- EPIC Board members are eligible for grant consideration. They will receive no special consideration, with the exception that their EPIC volunteer hours will be considered met through their active participation as a Board member. They will recuse themselves from any discussion of grant applications and from the selection process.
- Grants will be paid to recipients in three monthly installments. Federal taxes will be withheld. Each of last year’s three checks totaled approximately $1,333.
- Students may apply for SPLIT SUMMER positions between two organizations that meet all other criteria. In order to qualify, applicants must demonstrate that both jobs are in a related issue area. The project description and interview must articulate how the two jobs are connected.
- Equal Justice Works grants will NOT be deducted from EPIC Grants. EJW grants are given in the form of educational stipends. EPIC grants are given to pay living expenses. All students working in public interest law positions are encouraged to apply for EJW grants.
- Any questions may be directed to Currey Hitchens at chitche(at)emory.edu or any EPIC board member.
Grant Proposal Evaluation Sheet
Applicant__________________________________ Date ___________________
Does the proposal meet the PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS? _______________
yes/no
*If these requirements are not met, the application will not be considered further.
Unsatisfactory Meets Standard Exceeds Standard Exceptional
Written Application (circle one)
Quality of writing
1 2 3 4 5
Personal statement
1 2 3 4 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Project description
1 2 3 4 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Commitment to public interest (Past and/or present involvement with public service? Demonstrated commitment to future work in the public interest?)
1 2 3 4 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Interview (circle one)
Ability to express how this job is in public interest
1 2 3 4 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Ability to express passion and excitement about job
1 2 3 4 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Commitment to public interest (Sincere interest in and commitment to this particular project and area of law?)
1 2 3 4 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Will this person serve as a strong representative of both EPIC and Emory Law School? (includes
characteristics such as maturity, responsibility and professionalism)
1 2 3 4 5
TOTAL POINT SCORE _______________
Requested Grant Amount ($5,000 less employer compensation) $________________