Student-Designed Independent Study (SDIS)

Yeng finds himself  with a 1-credit shortfall just as graduation is looming. Yikes!

Anna is expecting a  baby during the semester. She figures that she’s going to miss too much class to even bother registering for courses. 

Aaliyah is making excellent progress toward her degree. She doesn’t don’t want to lose momentum over the summer, but the department isn’t offering much.

Carlos is interested in the literature of the Latino Diaspora, but the department doesn’t offer a course in the books he wants to read. 

Question: What do all of these English and Gender Studies majors have in common?

Answer: They’d all benefit from a Student-Designed Independent Study, or SDIS.

As the name suggests, the SDIS is all about helping students design and study their own original course topics outside of the classroom.  If you’re interested in developing your own SDIS, you’ll need  a faculty member agree to serve as your SDIS director.  Your SDIS director will take care of the university paperwork associated with registering an SDIS and then evaluate your work and submit your grade.

Click on the Quick Links in the top navigational bar and then click on the SDIS Instructions to learn more! You can then click on the SDIS Form link to start filling out the paperwork.

A well-designed SDIS can be an empowering and enriching learning experience. Many students considering graduate school complete an SDIS as a way of testing how well they like the scholarly life and to prepare a lengthy writing sample for their graduate school applications. Contact your program chair if you’d like to learn more!

Photo Credit and Copyright: Carolyn Whitson, 2017