College of Arts and Sciences Policy

The purpose of an independent study is to provide students with unique study opportunities with an individual faculty member. The guidelines with respect to independent studies are as follows:

• Students must gain authorization prior to registration through an approved Independent Study form.  A description of the independent study project must be approved by the individual faculty member, by the department chair, and the dean’s office of the respective school.
• Adjunct faculty are not eligible to supervise an independent study.
• Independent studies may be taken for variable credit; a single independent study cannot be taken for more than 4 credits.

Sawyer Business School Policy

The purpose of an independent study is to provide students with unique research opportunities to supplement the curriculum. This student-initiated work is done in conjunction with an individual faculty member. Students are responsible for developing a robust rigorous proposal, and for finding a full-time faculty member to supervise it. The faculty member may suggest readings/direction that helps further develop the research proposal. However, students must do preliminary work outlining their ideas (e.g., research questions, bibliography) before meeting the professor, so as to show their motivation and that they have foundational knowledge on the topic they are proposing to research. Independent studies may be proposed for 1 to 3 credits and are to be completed within one semester.

Proposals must detail the following: (1) a title for the project, which is unique to the student’s research; (2) the academic goals of the project including a list of the research questions the student will explore; (3) an explanation and detailed description of the activities the student will engage in to research these questions; (4) a list of assignments/deliverables, a timeline of due dates, and a description of the anticipated direct contact hours between faculty/student; (5) an explanation of how the independent study grade will be calculated (e.g., what % of the grade is allocated to each deliverable); and (6) a preliminary bibliography of articles and books that will be read.

The policies with respect to independent study credits are as follows:

• Undergraduates must have junior and senior standing and a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• Independent Study proposals cannot replace or duplicate an existing course. They allow students to research and study an area of interest not covered by Suffolk courses.
• The deadline to turn in a proposal to the Dean’s Office is FIVE business days before the end of the add/drop period for the semester you plan to complete an Independent Study. This requires both the faculty and Department Chairperson signatures on the proposal prior to the deadline. If the Dean’s Office denies the proposal and sufficient time remains within the deadline window, the student may submit a revised proposal with faculty approval.
• Only full-time faculty are allowed to supervise independent studies.

Please refer to the SBS Independent Study Agreement and Proposal form.