Independent study - SBA Undergraduate Students

Requirements for an Independent Study

Independent Studies are not courses in the usual sense. The purpose of an Independent Study is to provide highly motivated students the opportunity to construct a unique educational experience that goes beyond the courses contained in the existing course catalog. They usually involve in-depth research on some issue, are supervised by a SBA faculty member and are listed in the schedule of classes as a 490 (ACC 490, for example).

Please keep in mind that Independent Studies are not always available since individual faculty are under no obligation to supervise one. If you are interested in doing an independent study, you will need to contact a faculty member whose expertise most closely matches the topic you want to study. If the faculty member agrees, you will need to pick up an Independent Study Contract from the Advising office in 232 Elliott Hall and complete it with the faculty member.

You will then need signatures from the faculty member, the department chairperson, and the Advising Coordinator in order to register. Note that students must have a 3.0 GPA in order to take an independent study.

The general guidelines and criteria for obtaining permission to do an Independent Study are listed below. Again, please keep in mind that students cannot pursue and independent study without the written support of a full-time faculty member in the School of Business.

If you would like more information about pursuing an independent study, please contact the either the Chair of the Department for the area you are interested in exploring or a specific faculty member in the area.

The basic guidelines for pursuing an Independent Study are:

1. You must have at least a 3.00 cumulative overall GPA.

2. You must have achieved major standing.

3. Independent Study cannot be used in lieu of a required course.

4. It is the your responsibility to develop an appropriate area of Independent Study and to arrange for a full-time faculty member to direct the Independent Study.

5. Part-time SBA faculty members cannot supervise an Independent Study.

6. The Independent Study contract must be completed by the student and signed by the faculty adviser, department chair and the Coordinator of Undergraduate Advising prior to registering for the course.

7. Within the context of the Independent Study you will be expected to perform an amount of work equivalent to a regular course with the same amount of credits and produce a substantive tangible outputs (e.g., exam, written paper, computer program, etc.).

8. While interdisciplinary cooperation is permitted and a non-SBA faculty member may co-supervise the Independent Study, a SBA faculty member must be a supervisor and assume responsible for assigning a final grade.

9. You must be aware of the basis for grading [and agreed to this basis in writing] prior to registering for an Independent Study.

10. Undergraduate students cannot register for an Independent Study if they already have or are taking more than 8 cumulative credits of Independent Study unless an exception is agreed to by the SBA’s Committee on Exceptions.