11.04.99.R0.25 Graduate Level Courses by Independent Study
Effective September 1, 1996
Supplements System Policy 11.04
Revised April 2004
Approved December 16, 2005

1.Individual study courses are offered at the graduate level when the student cannot obtain the course work, research or direction in an organized class. Approval to enroll in individually arranged '89' courses must be granted by the department head and instructor prior to registration for the class.

2. Each department will formulate a set of criteria to be met in all of its individually arranged '89' courses. Such criteria will include the purpose of the individual study and the departmental expectations of the student. A written syllabus of academic objectives or goals and an outline of planned student/instructor interaction will be established for each course.

3. Departments will maintain files containing evidence of work accomplished in each individual study course.

4. A graduate faculty member may offer no more than three different individually arranged '89' courses in a given fall or spring semester and no more than two in either summer term. Exceptions must be initiated in writing by the department head and approved by the appropriate academic dean and the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research.

5. The maximum number of individually arranged '89' hours permissible toward a graduate degree program will be as follows:
a. Master's program up to 25%,
b. Doctoral degree programs (excluding master’s credit)—twelve. Exceptions must be initiated in writing by the department head and approved by the appropriate academic dean and the Dean for Graduate Studies and Research.

References: Prior ETSU Policy B-70

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CONTACT FOR INTERPRETATION: Dean of Graduate Studies and Research