Guidelines for an Independent Study (REC 5337)

Purpose of the Independent Study

 The Independent Study is intended for the student to engage in self-directed study in an area to heighten the student’s desired expertise. The study should involve content beyond what is offered in the content courses offered within the curriculum.

Responsibilities of the Student 

Eligibility to enroll in REC 5337, the student must have:

  • 1) a minimum Graduate GPA of 3.0;
  • 2) completed at least 18 hours of graduate coursework; and
  • 3) successfully completed REC 5346.
  • 4) Gain the approval of a project and agreement by a faculty in the Recreation Administration program to supervise the project.

Project Approval:

To gain approval to register for REC 5337, the student must prepare a satisfactory prospectus. The prospectus is a 2-page proposal with a brief introduction, methodology and timeline, describing the scholarly project.

The Project should result in a scholarly product, representative of graduate level study.

In general you can estimate the time dedicated to this project as about 150 hours of work. This is a conservative estimate based upon a formula that a content class would meet for 45 hours in a semester and a student is expected to spend 2 – 3 hours outside of class for every hour spent in class. Time spent in a practicum/field placement type situation may not be used for the entirety of the time accumulated and would be considered at a rate of 2 hours of practicum experience credited as 1 hour of academic time, for a maximum of 75 hours. In short, a practicum might be used to ground your project but your academic credit is not based on accumulating hours but rather on developing an academic product.

Once the prospectus is written, the student must share with his/her faculty mentor. Each faculty has the academic freedom to require additional or specific aspects of this project. Upon receipt of the prospectus, the faculty will either agree to serve as the supervising faculty member or refer the student to a faculty member who may be a better fit based on the proposed research.

Once a supervising faculty member is identified and a plan is agreed upon, the supervising faculty will request permission to enroll in REC 5337. This process can take up to a week, AFTER the agreement is reached. Plan accordingly for your registration plans.

Responsibilities of the Project Supervisor

The project supervisor is responsible for guiding the student, providing feedback, and evaluating the final product.

The project supervisor will assign the final grade.