Media Production Independent Study Requirements/Guidelines

The following requirements and guidelines apply to Independent Study projects that include the use of the Department of Communication Studies’ Checkout Room equipment and/or Multimedia Lab equipment:

1. A student must have successfully passed COMM 130, 230, and the upper-level class pertaining to his/her area of interest and area in which he/she wants to do an independent study in addition to an overall GPA of 3.0 & 3.5 GPA in Communication Studies courses.

2. A student needs to submit a proposal for the independent study that outlines the project and reason for undertaking the work. The student must submit the proposal two (2) weeks before the end of the preceding semester.

For example, if a student would like to do an Independent Study during the Spring 2010 semester, he/she must submit a proposal two weeks before the end of the Fall 2009 semester. If a student wants to do an Independent Study in the Fall 2010 semester, he/she must submit a proposal two weeks prior to the end of the Spring 2010 semester. If a student wants to do an Independent Study during either the first or second Summer session 2010, he/she must submit a proposal two weeks before the end of the Spring 2010 semester.

* The end of the semester is defined by the last day of exams.

3. A student must find a professor [not a TA] to sponsor and oversee the Independent Study. The acceptance or rejection of a proposal is determined by the entire media production faculty – not by the individual faculty sponsor. The student will know whether he or she has an Independent Study by the end of the semester after the media production faculty meet to discuss the independent study proposals .

4. Once approved for an Independent Study in Production, each student is required to provide his/her own external hard drive for editing and file storage. Recommendations and minimum requirements may be obtained through the Multimedia Lab Director, Mark Robinson.

Departmental Requirements for Independent Studies within Communication Studies.