Course Description
This course focuses on what it means to be a lawyer working in policy development. To examine the lawyer's role in the policy development context, this course will first explore the intersection of law and policy, focusing on the Federal government and higher education. The course will then analyze the role of an attorney in developing policies generally and in these institutions specifically. Building on these discussions, the course will conclude by examining, and providing an opportunity to develop or strengthen, the skills used to navigate the relationship between law and policy in order to create and implement effective policies. There are two central purposes of this class. The first is to enrich students' understanding of how policies are developed in the Federal government and in higher education. To do this, the course will provide an opportunity to talk with practitioners, who are experts in these fields and have been actively engaged in shaping policy, as well as read and discuss publications by those who have studied or are currently studying policy development and articles describing contemporary examples illustrating why policy and process are important. The second central purpose of the class is to develop and strengthen the students' skills that lawyers use when creating and implementing policy. These skills will be practiced and examined through case studies, group exercises, and writing assignments. These assignments will allow students to practice the skills they learned through the course readings and guest presentations.