Directed Studies
Directed Studies are available in most disciplines. These are identified within this publication by course number 622. The Directed Study course provides a vehicle to allow a qualified student to receive University credit for an individualized investigation under the direct supervision of a UNC faculty member. For more information, refer to the UNC Catalog or contact the Office of the Registrar, (970) 351-2231.
Because Directed Studies with the number 622 are at the graduate level, the faculty member providing the supervision must be approved to teach graduate-level courses. No faculty member will be authorized to supervise a directed study during a semester that he/she is not actually employed on-campus at UNC.
The investigation must be on a specific topic that is not duplicated by an existing course within the University’s curriculum. The nature of the study must involve intensive use of relevant literature, materials, or techniques, and the study report must reflect a synthesis of the information or techniques acquired. The following policies apply for registration in Directed Studies courses:
- An individual Directed Study course may be for no more than 4 semester hours of credit per academic semester. Students enrolled in more than one Directed Study course may take no more than six credits in any semester. A study may be further limited to the maximum number of credits listed in this catalog.
- The student should apply through the program in which he or she is doing the study.
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Permission to engage in a directed study for credit must be approved by the student’s program advisor, the faculty member supervising the study, and the school director/department chair of the major program. The Directed Study form must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar at the time of enrollment and requires the signatures of the student, the supervising faculty member and the school director/department chair. A rationale for course credit form should be completed and filed in the academic program office. Forms are available only through the school/department in which the study is supervised.
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A maximum of nine semester hours, individually or in combination, of courses numbered 508, 513 or 622 may be counted toward a graduate degree.
Separate policies exist for distribution of critiqued and graded copies of a completed Directed Study, based on whether the study was completed at the graduate or undergraduate level. A student should consult with either the Graduate School or the dean of the college in which the Directed Study is to be undertaken for the appropriate policy.
Students receiving graduate credit for a 622-numbered course must submit two copies of a final report to the supervising faculty member. While the final report may be in the nature of a scholarly research paper, it may also take the form of a report or a summary of activities undertaken. The format and writing style of the final report must be in keeping with the style manual used by the discipline concerned. It is the student’s responsibility to acquire the appropriate style manual for reference. The faculty member must submit one copy of the final report to the appropriate office with the final grade assignment.