Independent study provides students with an opportunity to work in specialized areas of their disciplines or professional fields when no formal courses are offered or when the independent study will provide a richer and more productive experience than a comparable advanced course. A clear determination should be made in advance by the student, academic advisor, and instructor that it is in the best interest of the student to undertake an independent study. It should make a positive contribution to their program, scholarly development, and intellectual maturity. Ordinarily students should not take independent study courses early in their program, nor use these courses for dissertation work.

Prior to registering for an 890 course, the student should prepare a proposal for the approval of the instructor and the academic advisor. This proposal must indicate what the expected end product will be (for example, a paper, annotated bibliography, abstract, research proposal, etc.), and number of credits to be assigned. The proposal must be signed by the student, the academic advisor, and the instructor. Copies are to be distributed as follows: student, instructor, advisor, and department. Independent studies are graded S/U. An independent study can be taken for 2-6 credits. A student is limited to 6 Independent Studies or 36 credit hours.

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