Directed Study and Non-Scheduled Courses

Directed Study Course

Directed Study courses are available in most disciplines. These are identified within this publication by course number 422. 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. Directed Study courses cannot be used for Liberal Arts Curriculum credit. For more information, refer to the UNC Catalog or contact the Office of the Registrar, (970) 351-4862. No faculty member will be authorized to supervise a Directed Study during a semester that they are 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 Study courses:

1. 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.
2. The student should apply through the program in which they are doing the study.
3. Permission to engage in a Directed Study for credit must be approved by 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. A rationale for course credit form should be completed and filed in the academic program office. Forms are available only through the school in which the study is supervised.

Non-Scheduled Course

Courses that were approved through the institutional curriculum approval process and reside in the academic catalog may be offered as non-scheduled courses.

Non-scheduled courses are offered in one of the following situations, either the course is not being offered during a particular term and the student needs the course to graduate or the course is offered at a time the student cannot attend and the student needs the course to graduate.

Permission to register for a non-scheduled course(s) must be approved by the faculty member and the school director/department chair of the major program. A Non-Scheduled Course form for each course must be submitted to the Office of the Registrar by the appropriate semester add deadlines.