Several changes occurred with independent work between faculty and undergraduate students as of Fall 2020. Both course numbers and course names changed, as did the processes for registration. The new course numbers and names are as follows:
- POL 3994: Directed Research: Distinguished Undergraduate Research Program (DURP)
- POL 4993: Honors Thesis: Directed Studies (SEE DETAILS BELOW)
- POL 4994: Directed Research: Individual
Alongside these changes, came a new online student/faculty contract form through WorkflowGen. The typical process can be found outlined in the Directed Activity Contract workflow guide.
The student should initiate the new online contract form to the faculty with whom they will be working. Before they begin, they will need to know the following information:
- Internet ID: (this will be the start of the email for the faculty mentor. For example, poladvis would be the Internet ID for [email protected]).
- Term: (Summer, Fall, Spring)
- Year:
- Course Subject: This will be “POL”
- Course Number: Choose from
- POL 3993-DURP (Previously POL 3070-DURIP)
- POL 4993-Honors Thesis (Previously POL 4900H-Honors Thesis)
- POL 4994-Directed Research (Previously POL 4970-Directed Research/Study)
- Section Number (optional): This will be “001”
- Number of Credits Desired: This will be agreed upon by the faculty
- Grading Basis: If students want this to count towards your major, they must choose A-F only!
- Project Title: This can be a working title
- Project Description: Help your student best define the project.
- Methods, Resources, Strategies to be used: Help your student to list the methods, resources, and/or strategies they will be using for this project.
- Additional Comments (optional): PLEASE BE AWARE - We will be looking for how the student will be graded, ie: paper (details on length), presentation, etc. Be sure that you define this for your student.
- HONORS: Students completing an Honors thesis have the choice to complete the thesis over 1-2 semesters for a total of 3-6 credits over these two semesters. Each time they register, they have the ability to register for 1-6 credits. For those students planning to complete an Honor Thesis over 2 semesters, a grade of “X” will be entered as a placeholder for the first semester. A second contract form must be submitted for the 2nd semester which will allow them to obtain the permission number for the 2nd semester.
- SUMMA: Students planning to complete a Summa Honors Thesis will need 2 additional faculty readers lined up before the form is passed on to Josie Kahlenbeck for approval. Therefore, if you are working with a Summa Honors Thesis student, be sure they have included the names and email addresses of the two additional faculty readers. Once this form reaches Josie, she will not be checking to verify additional readers.
Once the faculty has received and reviewed the form, it must be routed forward. For POL 3994 and 4993, route to the academic approver Josie Kahlenbeck ([email protected]). For POL 4994, route to the academic approver Teri Caraway ([email protected]). Josie is the final approver for all forms and will provide the student with the registration instructions and permission number at that time.