Directed Study courses are designed to provide an educational opportunity for students when they are unable to schedule a required course within a time frame suitable for graduation in four years. Other circumstances may also be considered.

 

A request for a Directed Study course can only be made when other options have been exhausted.

 

Permission for a Directed Study course will not be granted if the course is currently being offered or if it is scheduled to be offered the following semester. Consideration will be given when two required courses are offered in the same time slot and neither course is scheduled for the next semester.

 

Permission for a Directed Study course will not be granted if a suitable substitute is available.

 

Directed Study courses may not be used to repeat a course in which an unsatisfactory grade was previously earned.

 

A maximum of nine (9) credit hours of Directed Study may be earned toward any degree offered by Cumberland University.

 

Consideration for Directed Study courses will only be given for courses that are required for the General Education Core and the student’s declared major.

 

Students with less than thirty (30) hours of earned credit may not apply for a Directed Study course.

 

A student must have a minimum cumulative Cumberland University Grade Point Average of 2.0 to apply for a Directed Study course.

 

A student can only register for and take one Directed Study course at a time.

 

Each faculty member is limited to a maximum of two (2) Directed Study courses per semester.

 

Under extenuating circumstances, the above General Rules may be modified or waived by the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

 

When it has been determined by the faculty advisor that a Directed Study course is the only option, the student must do the following:

·	Compose a letter explaining why the Directed Study course is necessary.

·	Obtain a letter of agreement from the faculty member that would teach the course.

·	Complete an Academic Appeal Form, attach the letters described above, and obtain all necessary signatures. (The student must not, under any circumstances, leave this form with any faculty or staff member, Dean, or student for processing).

·	The student must state on the form the specific course and semester for which the request is being made.

·	Requests for Directed Study courses for a particular semester will not be accepted nor considered after the “last day to add a class” for the semester. Requests submitted after this cut-off date will apply to the next semester as long as the course is not being offered that semester.

·	The application will be considered “accepted” after the School Dean responsible for the course discipline affixes his/her signature and after the student properly files the form with the Registrar.

·	The Registrar will notify the instructor of record that the course may begin.

 

All Directed Study courses must be comparable to standard full semester versions of the same course. Therefore, before the course begins, the instructor must provide to the Registrar two documents.

·	A standard, Full Semester syllabus with a schedule. The syllabus must detail all work assignments required during the semester.

·	A modified Directed Study syllabus with a schedule. This syllabus must detail all assignments required for the course in the Directed Study format. The amount of work and the number of assignments and exams must be comparable to a standard full semester course.

 

Instructors offering courses not previously taught under a standard format such as Special Topics course at the 498 level must have their syllabus approved by the School Dean responsible for the discipline.

 

After the student has completed all assignments, the instructor will file an appropriate grade with the Registrar. In order for this grade to be accepted by the Registrar, copies of all graded work must be attached to the grade report. The Registrar will retain the documents for three years.

 

The student is responsible for completing all work as scheduled by the instructor.

If the Directed Study is not completed, but reasonable progress has been demonstrated by the end of the semester for which the course was requested, the instructor may report a grade of “Incomplete”. “Incomplete” grades must be removed through satisfactory work within one additional academic semester (May through August counts as one semester) or a failing grade will be applied.