The ABA allows law schools to give students directed study credit for academic work product that a NUSL Professor, who is full-time faculty, oversees as the instructor of record. This can involve research, analysis, writing, or any other work or project that the student and professor devise together.
Work done through an directed study must be separate and distinct from any work done by a student at a co-op, internship, or placement. To receive credit for an directed study that relates, in any way, to work done for an outside organization, the student must devise an academic project that is separate and distinct from anything related to that work and that is supervised exclusively by a NUSL Professor. Examples include a research paper that is inspired by something the student encountered at the organization or that is a further academic exploration of some research that the student started at the organization.
The time that the student devotes toward researching and writing the paper and meeting with the NUSL Professor would count toward directed study credit. Any activities not directly connected to the research would not be considered in the credit calculation, learning objectives, or evaluations, such as time spent working at the organization. The supervising professor may not incorporate evaluation feedback from a placement supervising attorney.
An directed study is not the proper avenue for receiving credit for working at an outside organization.
Any credit calculation or evaluation that is based, even in part on a student’s performance working at an external organization, is governed instead by ABA policies and rules on “field placements” under Rule 304. Some schools refer to these as externships. Such field placements instead require, among other things, a memo of understanding with the employer, a reflection component, and regular contact among the relevant parties. For more information on field placements, see information related to credit for co-op, independent field placements, and the public externship seminar.