What is Directed or Independent Study?
Directed Study and Independent Study are the same thing (sometimes even called Directed Reading), and it is an agreement between a student and his/her instructor. The deadlines of Directy Study courses are arranged between the faculty member and the students. Please note that many departments have specific guidelines and criteria as agreed up by the faculty of these departments (e.g., how often a student and instructor will meet, the amount of work required to complete the directed study, how a student will be graded, etc.).
Campus-wide, the expectation is that the amount of work for each credit is equivalent to the credit earned in a group instruction. In other words, the amount of work for a directed study should be roughly equivalent to the per-credit expcetation of 15 hours of direct instructional contact and 2-3 hours of homework students complete for the regular 15-week semester.
Students must first work with a faculty member to get permission to enroll in a directed study. Students are not able to enroll in a directed study course without the consent of the instructor.
Directed Study courses ending in 99 (e.g., 299, 699) are letter graded and do count in the GPA. Students are not permitted to take directed study courses on a pass/fail basis.
Directed Study courses with a number ending in 98 (e.g., 198, 698) are carried on a Credit/No Credit (Cr/N) basis. No grades are awarded for these courses but the student earns degree credit. Not all departments offer Directed Study courses on a Cr/N basis.
For more information on directed study, refer to Who May Teach Directed/Independent Study Courses in L&S and L&S Undergraduate Directed/Independent Study Course Guidelines.