Purpose and Intention: The level of involvement of fellows, interns, and volunteers (collectively referred to as “FIVs”) at the Law Center falls on a spectrum. This policy attempts to create clarity around what staff and non-staff should expect from FIVs, while balancing the following interests:

• 1. We value a radically inclusive atmosphere and want to meaningfully engage those who work with us;

  2. We value a certain level of stability and predictability in the Law Center’s operations and want to clarify how non-staff can participate in decisions and activities to that end;

  3. We value an honest accounting of systemic oppression and internalized bias at the Law Center and, by adopting this policy, we hope it will begin liberating us from unconscious bias and prejudice; and

  4. We do not want to inadvertently create employment relationships with fellows, interns, and volunteers who do work at the Law Center. 

  5. This policy is intended to capture most but not all situations. For situations not explicitly captured, the values and concerns laid out above should guide the process of defining the individualized relationship. 

1. Definitions: The terms Fellow, Intern, and Volunteer are used differently by different institutions. To provide clarity, we’ve defined these roles for internal purposes. So, regardless of what another institution or the law might mean by these terms, for purposes of this policy refer to the definitions below:

   1. Fellow - Someone will be considered a “Fellow” if they will work at the Law Center as part of a formal fellowship program for 2 or more years, such as through Equal Justice Works or Skadden Fellowship. (This policy regarding fellows isn’t intended to apply to people who participate in the Law Center’s Legal Fellowship Program. Yeah, it’s a little confusing.)

   2. Intern - Someone who is part of a formal, paid or unpaid, program and anticipated to be with the Law Center for less than 2 years is considered an intern. All interns are unpaid unless decided otherwise by the General Circle.

   3. Volunteer - Anyone who does unpaid work for the Law Center that does not fit into one of the above categories. Volunteers generally will not work with us as closely as an intern or fellow, so keep that in mind when thinking about how the rest of this policy applies.

2. Approving New People: Any FIV who may work with the Law Center should be approved using the following policy:

   1. Fellows - A proposal must be brought to the General Circle to approve a new fellow. The proposal must address (1) who will be the Project Point Person, (2) what projects/Circles the fellow will likely participate in, and (3) must offer an opportunity for all General Circle members to meet the prospective fellow before approving their fellowship.

   2. Interns/Volunteers - When a Core Staff member wants to have a new volunteer regularly in the office, that staff member will send an email with the subject line “RO” indicating that response is optional to all staff explaining who the volunteer is and how much the volunteer will likely be working in the office. They should also check in with the Office Manager to assess cost and impact. A staff member should accept volunteers according to the guidelines about what we look for in staff (see Hiring Policy). 

   3. To allow for candid conversations, prospective FIVs will not be discussed via Slack or Asana, which are sometimes visible to volunteers. Any discussion about bringing someone on board in one of these categories shall only take place in a Google document only accessible to Core Staff, to maintain confidentiality for the benefit of staff and the prospective worker.

3. Tracking: The Intern Steward Role will provide support for staff members tracking basic information about fellows and interns that is transparent and accessible to staff. Actually tracking this information is the responsibility of the Project Point Person or Supervisor. Each staff member that takes on a fellow or intern shall track all of the following: 

   1. Identifying the Project Point Person;

   2. Tracking time either through timesheets, an app, etc.; 

   3. Providing certain readings from our organizational syllabus; 

   4. Setting the expectations for support and workload between the Project Point Person or Supervisor and the fellow or intern;

   5. Tracking and communicating with the rest of the staff when the fellow or intern will be in the office; and

   6. Storing contact information.

4. Circle Membership and Roles: With the approval of their Project Point Person or Supervisor, a fellow, intern, or volunteer may be an official member of a Circle and be assigned Roles. The Project Point Person or Supervisor will make sure these statuses are tracked in Asana in the Circle description space.

   1. General Circle: As a rule, fellows are full members of the General Circle, while interns and volunteers are not.

5. Intern Development Budget: For interns, the Law Center will provide a personal and professional development budget which they may choose to spend on outside trainings, travel to conferences, purchasing books and materials, or other expenses related to their education. Since the amount budgeted should be somewhat dependent on how long this person works with us, we can use a formula that allocates approximately $1.50 to every hour of the internship/fellowship. Funds would need to be spent before the end of the internship/fellowship. So long as we don't expect to exceed the annual development budget, we can also allow for some wiggle room, since needs vary. The Project Point Person or Supervisor needs to approve these expenses and should consult with the Financial Circle before exceeding the budget for someone that he or she is supervising.

   1. Note: Fellows are eligible for the Law Center’s staff professional development budget policy.

6. Onboarding and Offboarding: It is important that fellows, interns, and volunteers are brought up to speed on our operations and communications tools so they can be effective contributors to our organization. The following resources are to be used by the Project Point Person or Supervisor working with a specific fellow, intern, or volunteer, and offer a minimum level of onboarding for each category:

   1. Volunteers - Volunteers should review the the Law Center Volunteer Agreement.

   2. Interns - Interns should review the the Law Center Intern Manual, which provides more formal training and orientation.

   3. Fellows - Fellows should be onboarded through our staff onboarding process, though it may not be 6 months long depending on the length of the fellowship. Fellows should have an Onboarding Coordinator, Project Point Person, and Peer Support Person to help them integrate into their roles at the Law Center. Use this Staff Onboarding and Orientation Checklist.

   4. Offboarding - Fellows will go through an exit interview. Interns and Volunteers will fill out a questionnaire at the end of their term.

7. Meetings and Proposals: In general, Circles have the autonomy to decide how, if at all, to integrate FIVs into their work. Supervisors and Project Point Persons play an important role in helping facilitate this process and ensuring that an FIV has an appropriate workload.

   1. Meeting attendance: 

      1. General Circle - Generally, fellows will participate in General Circle meetings. Interns and Volunteers will not participate in General Circle meetings unless invited by their Supervisor or Project Point Person with the prior consent of the rest of the General Circle.

      2. Other Circles - FIVs may attend any other Circle meeting if invited by a member of that Circle. However, any staff member may object to a FIV’s attendance at a particular meeting or during a particular discussion item during a meeting, on the basis that there will be discussion of sensitive information. 

      3. Fellows may be required by their Circles to regularly attend meetings of any Circle they are a part of, including Program and Operations Circle meetings.

   2. Meeting Participation: Anyone attending a meeting may offer questions and reactions in the proposal process. Fellows will have the additional ability to object to proposals.

   3. Bringing Proposals: A fellow, intern, or volunteer may bring a proposal in any Circle that he or she is an official member of, so long as the proposal is relevant to their roles and work.

8. Providing an @theselc.org Email: In order to keep our organization’s data as secure as possible, we try to limit access to domain protected documents. Therefore, the following protocol shall be followed when providing FIVs with an @theselc.org email address. 

   1. Fellows shall be provided an @theselc.org email address and should use it as their primary email regarding our organization’s work for the duration of their Fellowship. 

   2. Interns are offered an @theselc.org email address by their supervising staff member on a case by case basis. Typically, interns committing to work at the Law Center for at least 240 total hours (approximately 20 hours per week for three months) are provided an @theselc.org email address. If you are unsure whether to request an @theselc.org email address for your intern, please use the following criteria as a guide:

      1. The amount of communications they will be having with others outside of the Law Center on behalf of the Law Center;

      2. Whether their work requires access to a number of existing shared folders and documents within our internal shared drive;

      3. Expectations on the length of their involvement at the Law Center;

      4. The intern’s weekly time commitment at the Law Center;

      5. Whether the Law Center is reaching the maximum number of accounts it is able to create.

   3. Volunteers should not be offered an @theselc.org email address. If a supervising staff member believes it is in the best interest of the organization to provide the volunteer an @theselc.org email, please use the above criteria as a guide. 

9. Participation in All-Staff Activities: The following is list of all-staff activities that FIVs may participate in if invited by their Project Point Person or Supervisor.

   1. Fellows - Collective Inquiry, Staff Retreat, REDs/RATs, SIMs, Policy Forums, Conflict Engagement Trainings

   2. Interns - REDs/RATs, Policy Forums

   3. Volunteers - REDs/RATs, Policy Forums

10. Policies applicable to each category: Fellows, interns, and volunteers should read and follow the applicable internal policies we’ve adopted at the Law Center. For each category, there is a specific document to refer to and read. If any occasion should arise where an intern is paid by SELC, the General Circle can determine whether the volunteer manual applies to this intern or if any other rules apply.

    1. Fellows - the Law Center Official Internal Policies

    2. Interns - the Law Center Intern Manual

    3. Volunteers - the Law Center Volunteer Agreement

PROPOSED REWRITE BY SIMON:

Defining Staff, Fellows, Interns, & Volunteers 

Background: Full text of the FIV policy.

• Core Staff refers to any person who we intend will work 20 hours or more per week at SELC for at least six months.

• Temporary staff refers to anyone who we intend will work at SELC for less than six months. 

• A fellow is someone who works at the Law Center as part of a formal fellowship program for 2 or more years, such as through Equal Justice Works or Skadden Fellowship. 

• An intern is who is part of a formal, paid or unpaid, program and anticipated to be with the Law Center for less than 2 years. 

• A volunteer is anyone who does unpaid work for the Law Center that does not fit into “fellow” or “intern” categories; they tend to not work with us as closely.

How to bring on a FIV

Bringing on Fellows:

1. Review hiring policy guidelines about what we look for in staff 

2. Write proposal that  (1) names who will be the Project Point Person, (2) describes what projects/Circles the fellow will likely participate in, and (3) creates an opportunity for all General Circle members to meet the prospective fellow before approving their fellowship.

3. Bring Proposal to GC

4. If the proposal is accepted, staff meet with potential fellow

5. After opportunity to meet, send RO email to all staff offering a final opportunity to object 

6. Remember- do not discuss on Slack or Asana

Bringing on Interns/Volunteers:

1. Review hiring policy guidelines about what we look for in staff 

2. Send RO email to all SELC staff explaining who the intern/volunteer is and how much the volunteer will likely be working in the office

3. Check in with the Intern Steward (currently filled by XXX)  to make sure you track the necessary information. For details see Point 4 on the full FIV Policy 

4. Remember- do not discuss on Slack or Asana