Section 400: Academic Affairs

Effective: February 1, 1980
Revised: August 2016; August 2025
Last Review: August 2025
Next Review: August 2027
Responsible Party: Provost/Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Policy

This policy provides MSU-Northern’s requirements and standards applied to the approval of independent study courses (i.e., courses numbered 192, 292, 392, 492, or 592).

Guidelines

An Independent Study course consists of a relevant and rigorous academic project taken on by a student who is working under the close supervision of a faculty member over the course of one semester. Such courses give students the opportunity to extend their learning through the directed but independent examination of material usually not covered in regularly offered curriculum. Students can seek approval to register for an independent study course until the last day to add classes for the semester.

No more than  six (6) and nine (9) independent study credit hours can be counted toward graduation, for a a two – year degree and a four-year degree, respectively. . Exceptions to this must be approved through an appeal to the Admissions and Standards Committee.

Independent Studies Undergraduate Courses.

  1. Under the 192, 292, 392, or 492 designation, a single student pursues independent work under the supervision of a faculty member.
  2. Credit for Independent Study will range from 1 to 6 credits for the semester. Design of the Independent Study must ensure that 1) the total credit hours earned through completion of the course is consistent with the Department of Education’s credit hour definition (See Policy 407), and 2) the Independent Study meets the relevant, required discipline-specific academic rigor for a comparable course of study.   
  3. Independent Study should be restricted to students who either major or minor in the department or program area in which it is taken. Under unusual circumstances, however, such as the necessity to complete a single credit of general education in order to graduate, general students may be accommodated.

Independent Studies Graduate Courses.

  1. Graduate courses with the 592 designation are intended for individual study or research - not for class type instruction or a comparable substitute. Permission for graduate students to enroll in 592 work presupposes prior approval by the supervising professor of the project or special study to be undertaken. Such approval should be based on a preliminary plan or proposal of the project’s intended nature, duration, and depth.
  2. Departmental graduate advisors are expected to maintain adequate records of 592 enrollments and credits.
  3. Earned credit for graduate courses with the 592 designation may range from 1 to 6 credits. Exceptions to this limitation should be requested by petition to the Dean of the College. As with Independent Study at the undergraduate level, design of the Independent Study as laid out in the project’s preliminary plan or proposal must ensure that the total credit hours earned through completion of the course is consistent with the scope, depth, and rigor of the material covered.