Independent Study
Student Eligibility
In order to register for independent study credit, you must demonstrate:
- An overall GPA of 3.0
- A GPA of 3.5 in Communication Studies courses (multiply the quality points of your grade by the hours of credit for each COMM course, add all quality points together and then divide by the total number of hours)
- Successful completion of all regular courses offered by the Department of Communication Studies that are relevant to the particular project being considered
Students who do not meet these eligibility requirements may present an appeal to a committee composed of: the Department Chair, the Director of Undergraduate Studies and the Department Adviser after they have completed the Student Learning Contract.
Application Process
You must find a faculty member (not a graduate student instructor) who is willing to be your adviser for the project. This is something that you will do on your own. Contact information for faculty members can be found here. You should pick faculty members with the same area of interest as you.
Before approaching faculty members about advising you on your project, you should write up a project proposal of what you wish to do. This will give the adviser a starting point from which to negotiate your requirements.
Please note that faculty members are not obligated to advise you on an independent study project. They may be unable to work with you due to other commitments, even if they are excited about your topic. You should seek out a faculty adviser as early as possible.
Student and supervising professor must complete a Student Learning Contract for the Independent Study. The supervising professor must also create a syllabus for the independent study that should be submitted with the learning contract. The syllabus for the Independent Study will specify the number of hours of work expected by the student in a Learning Contract: The number of hours of work expected of a student is the same as for any advanced or capstone course: Students should work for 9 hours for every three hours of course credit (three hours meeting with the supervising professor and two hours in study outside the classroom).
The Learning Contract and the syllabus will specify the number of required meetings between the instructor and student in the Learning Contract would, typically, be once a week or twice every two weeks.
The syllabus will specify the reading and writing assignments required to complete the independent study. Due dates will be specified for all assignments. As an independent study is an upper level course, there should be a substantial writing component to an Independent Study taken as a whole.
The student and the supervising teacher should reach a mutual understanding of how the student’s grade will be determined. The syllabus will describe this assessment procedure and criteria for determining the student’s grade.
Student and the supervising professor must submit a 100 word work plan. This might be analogous to the introductory purpose statement provided in the typical class syllabus.
Bring your completed form to the Student Services Assistant in Bingham 115 so that you can be enrolled in the appropriate course.
Enrollment Limitations
You may have a maximum of 12 hours of Independent Study credit. No more than 6 hours of Independent Study credit may be used to fulfill major requirements.
Also, if you are interested in pursuing an Independent Study that would involve use of the Swain Mulitmedia Lab, you must also read this webpage.