14 Independent Study

Independent Study (form linked) courses are available in most academic disciplines. If you are planning on supervising an
Independent Study, please read and follow the guidelines listed below.

• Independent Study courses may be sophomore-level or upper-level in content, but all Independent Study courses are designated by the course number 299.
• Independent Study courses may include a variety of activities which must be related to a specific discipline or program. The activities will be based upon a mutually written agreement between the student and the supervising instructor. The activities, the outcomes, and the assessments must be outlined on the Independent Study form. NOTE: Independent Study forms are available online or from the appropriate division chair. The following must be attached to the Independent Studies form, 1. Course Title, description, and specific requirements, 2. The basis of student evaluation.
• Independent Study courses cannot be used to fulfill A.A., A.S. or A.A.S. degree core requirements.
• Independent Study courses cannot replace a course requiring in-class participation.
• Independent Study courses are open to students who have completed 30 semester credits with a cumulative 3.0 GPA. NOTE: Attach an unofficial transcript to the Independent Study form.
• Independent Studies courses are subject to the approval of appropriate division chair, the appropriate dean, and the Vice President for Instruction or his/her designee.
• Students can take no more than four (4) credits of independent study each semester or summer session. Students can take no more than twelve (12) credits per year including the summer session.
• Students must register for an Independent Study course by the end of the scheduled add/drop period of each semester or summer session.
• Students must register for an Independent Study course before they begin their course work. A student must complete thirty (30) hours of independent work per credit. They should have weekly meetings or must meet a minimum of fifteen (15) meetings (once a week) with the supervising instructor. NOTE: These meetings can be face-to-face, online, etc.
• The supervising instructor may supervise no more than a combined total of four (4) directed study and/or independent study students during a given semester or summer session.
• Instructors cannot use independent study courses to replace normal contract obligations / workloads. Independent Study courses are paid as a stipend above the instructors contracted salary. The stipend is paid according to credit equivalents. The credit equivalents is determined by the total number of students enrolled in the independent study course times the credit equivalents for the course. NOTE: The current rate is $125.00 per credit.
  • Formula for credit equivalents
    • • Lecture: Every hour (50 minute period) = 1 credit equivalent
        (1) Example: 3 hours of lecture per week = 3 credit equivalents
      • Laboratory: The 1st hour = 1 credit equivalent; every hour after that = 0.5 credit
        equivalents.
        (1) Example: 3 hours of lab per week = 2 credit equivalents.
  • Stipend Payment: Number of students x number of credit equivalents = the total credit
    equivalents x $125.00
    • • Example: 4 students x 3 credit equivalents = 12 total credit equivalents x $125.00 =
        $1,500.00
• Because stipends for independent study courses are paid as an overload to an instructor’s normal contract, participation by the instructor cannot be required by NIC.