Yes, the IAPP’s Privacy Pathways program continues to expand. But it’s interesting to look at the first pilot partnership with the University of Maine School of Law’s Center for Law + Innovation as a model for future growth.

The Privacy Pathways goal hasn’t changed: The IAPP aims to give students access to privacy training and discounts on exams, publication opportunities and connections to the IAPP member community through internships and externships. And, as the University of Maine Law School’s Rita Heimes explains, “A program like Privacy Pathways can provide tremendous opportunities for law students who would not otherwise be aware of the profession.”

Maine Law’s program includes an annual three-credit survey course in Introduction to Information Privacy; a more intensive, six-credit Summer Institute involving leading privacy law faculty and practitioners, and a series of externships and/or paid internships with privacy or compliance counsel at for-profit and nonprofit enterprises including the IAPP, but also InterMed, Elsevier, Mercy Hospital, Monster.com, TD Bank, IDEXX, UNUM and CVS.

Immediately following the Summer Institute, Maine Law students have the opportunity to take one or two CIPP exams.

“Many of our students therefore graduate with a JD, a broad introduction to privacy law in the classroom, applied experience in the field and CIPP certification,” Heimes said, adding, “They’ve found jobs with Ernst & Young, PwC, KPMG and a variety of other firms throughout the U.S.”

So, as one of the pioneers in this program, what are the ingredients at Maine Law that make the program work?

“It requires leadership at the law school level,” Heimes said. “The associate dean for academic affairs must be committed to offering the courses and working with faculty or adjunct faculty to ensure quality and relevance. The career services office and/or the externship director must be willing to arrange for externship and internship opportunities with privacy attorneys. Faculty must be willing to recommend the program to students and give over class time for personal appearances to recruit and educate students about the field.”

Heimes shared a bit about the history of the IAPP-Maine Law partnership, and how IAPP President and CEO Trevor Hughes, CIPP, a Maine Law alum who also teaches a course at the school, helped introduce Maine Law graduates to the privacy profession. Many of those students, including “Justin Weiss at Yahoo, Ginny Lee at Intel, Kyle Friedman at Accenture and Anthony Matyjaszewski at NAI, to name just a few, can point to opportunities Trevor gave them at IAPP and connections he helped make as a key part of their early professional success,” she said.

Maine Law’s faculty, staff and administration are committed to their IAPP partnership and students’ success in the privacy profession, she said, adding“the IAPP has found ‘true believers’ at Maine Law who are willing to implement these ideas at our law school.”