This guideline outlines expectations and procedures for Undergraduate Independent Studies at VinUniversity. Independent studies at the undergraduate level must conform to the following parameters:
| Nr. | Items | Standards/Specifications |
| 1 |
Standards/Specifications |
An Independent Study is a course for academic credit that offers a student an individualized educational experience, offered up to 1 to 3 credit hours per semester; and may be repeated. |
| 2 |
Authority |
a) Colleges and Faculties have wide latitude in determining the objectives of independent studies and the amount of credit awarded.
b) In all cases, credit is commensurate with the hours involved and the quality of the learning experience and is determined by the credit awarding Colleges or academic departments. c) Academic credit is awarded when the student fulfills the objectives set by the College/Faculty. |
| 3 |
Approval |
Each independent study requires the approval of the supervising instructor along with that of the relevant College/Faculty and University Registrar. |
| 4 |
Faculty |
a) Work must be accomplished under the supervision of a faculty member with appropriate experience related to the topic. b) The supervising faculty member should be within the College/Faculty or academic department sponsoring the independent study. |
| 5 |
Course Content/Quality |
a) An independent study will not typically duplicate available course offerings in the semester taken or be used as a replacement for required courses but instead consist of work done by the student that explores new material or clearly advances the student’s knowledge beyond previous experience.
b) Each independent study must provide a rigorous academic experience with learning objectives and scope comparable to any other undergraduate course |
| 6 |
Time required/meeting schedule |
a) In addition to a minimum requirement of individual effort, the student is expected to meet with the instructor on a regular basis.
b) Total effort should approximate that required for a typical undergraduate course. For each credit hour per semester, students should be required to complete a minimum of 45 hours of work during a 15-week semester (the equivalent of 3 hours/week). |
| 7 |
Final product |
The student must be expected to produce a final academic product (or series of academic work) to be completed during the semester for which he/she is registered for the course. |
| 8 |
Grading |
The student must be expected to produce a final academic product (or series of academic work) to be completed during the semester for which he/she is registered for the course. |
| 9 |
Credits |
Each College will determine whether an independent study course successfully completed will count toward the major or minor. The Registrar will configure on Student Information System for recording |
| 10 |
Registration Procedures |
Step 1: Students contact with Faculty to register for Independent Study
Step 2: Students complete the Application Form Step 3: Students bring the completed form to the supervising instructor for approval. Step 4: Students submit the signed form to the Registrar Office for final approval and processing on the system. Step 5 (*): Faculty submits the final grade by the end of the semester to the Office of Registrar (*) By the end of the semester, the Faculty must submit to us (i) the gradebook sheet (which includes grades and performance evaluations), and (ii) any final works created as a result of the study for the archive (i.e reports, papers, presentation file, etc). |
| 11 |
Course Code Numbering for Independent Study |
Registrar Office will be responsible for configuring the course code for the Independent Study Course on Student Information System. |