COURSES OF STUDY
253
Birmingham-Southern College Catalog 2014-2015
INDIVIDUALIZED STUDY - CONTRACT LEARNING
Katy E. Leonard, Director of Office for Exploration Term and Contract Learning
The Office for Exploration Term and Contract Learning provides
counseling and assistance for students interested in individualized study.
Students may design learning experiences that reflect their individual
needs and career interests. These learning experiences can range in scope
from independent study courses to an entire major; all individual learning
experiences require a written proposal from the student. Information about
individualized majors can be found in the Academic Majors section of this
catalog.
Students initiate individualized learning experiences. However,
individualized study opportunities are supervised by a faculty sponsor.
Before approving a contract for an individualized study project, the faculty
sponsor may request a written proposal detailing the objectives of the
project, the procedure to be used, a timetable for work to be completed,
a bibliography (if applicable), and the means by which the project will
be evaluated. Individual faculty members have the option of refusing
to accept the responsibility of supervising a particular contract. Prior to
registration for the term, individualized study should be approved by the
faculty sponsor and faculty advisor. Contracts must be signed by the add
date for regular courses. Contracts are not to be considered an alternative
for existing courses in the curriculum. Non-degree-seeking students are not
allowed to design and contract individualized learning experiences.
Individualized courses usually carry the designation of the supervising
discipline. The college-wide designations “IND,” “GEN,” and other
interdisciplinary designations are also available as alternatives for courses
that are not clearly in a single discipline. Courses with non-disciplinary
designations do not satisfy general education requirements. Course
numbers for individualized study projects are listed below.
(1) 299 or 499 EXPLORATION TERM PROJECT (1 unit). If required
for the major, the senior Exploration term project (499) must be in
the student’s major discipline and must receive a letter grade. All other
Exploration term projects (299) may receive “S”/”U” or a letter grade.
Off-campus Exploration term projects receive “S”/”U” unless designated
otherwise by the discipline. (See the Exploration Term section of this
catalog for additional information.)
(2) 293, 393, 493 INDEPENDENT STUDY COURSES, AND SPECIAL
TOPICS (½ or 1 unit). The amount of credit to be given is determined by
the faculty sponsor. In order to register for independent study and special
topics courses, a student must obtain approval from the faculty sponsor, the
faculty advisor, and the chairperson of the department in which the course
is offered. Should the faculty sponsor be a department chairperson, the
course should also be approved by another member of the department or
