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Students normally take Independent Study Courses (IDS) to earn credit for their extra-curricular research activities and IDS courses may not satisfy ANY of the requirements that you need to take for your degree. However, some students want the IDS Course to appear on their transcripts, particularly those going on to graduate school or for post-professional education. You are STRONGLY advised to discuss this with your academic advisor to determine if taking an IDS Course is the best option for you.

Some programs have variable credit courses for research experiences for which you can register, so check with your academic advisor to find out if such a course is available. If no such course is available, you can create an Independent Study/Directed Study (IDS) course that is supervised by the Research Advisor.

Independent Study/Directed Study courses are designed to meet your unique needs if you want to learn about a topic for which a formal course is not available. IDS Courses are designed by you and faculty mentor, and approved by the Chair of the Department in which you are enrolled and by an Academic Dean of your College. IDS Courses are given course numbers by the Office of the Registrar and are subject to the same rules and regulations as any course with regard to registration and add-drop period, etc. The process for creating an IDS course is as follows:

1. Work with the faculty member who will be the Instructor for the course to develop a list of learning objectives and activities in which you will participate in the IDS course. Among the activities will be methods by which your performance will be evaluated by the instructor.
2. The course will be numbered according to the program in which you are enrolled and your year in the program.
   • For example, if you are a sophomore Nursing student, your IDS Course might have the designation NSG 2XX (the actual number is assigned by the Registrar). "NSG" because you are a Nursing student and the course will be given a 200 level number because you are in your second year of the program. If you have successfully completed your sophomore year and you are creating an IDS course that you will take over the summer between your sophomore and junior years, you would use the number of the year you will be starting in the next academic year, in this case, 300 level.  If you are a graduate student in your the 2nd year of a program, your course would probably be given a number at the 600 level.
3. The IDS Contract is approved by the following:
   • Chair of your Department
   • Academic Dean of your College
4. The office of the Registrar assigns a course number
5. You register for the course

Absolutely not! The earlier you get involved in research the better! Faculty often work with students throughout their academic education. Your autonomy and opportunity will likely grow with each year of research experience. Early participation also allows you to explore different career option and topics of future graduate study early enough that any change in major or minor will have less impact on your graduation.

Yes. At this time, no funding is available through WCHP to allow graduate students the opportunity to be paid to assist with research but you are encouraged to go through the same process of finding a research mentor and getting involved in research during your graduate studies.

No. You are encouraged to explore any and all opportunities for research, including those offered by faculty from other colleges at É«ÏãÊÓƵ.

Yes. You are encouraged to explore any and all opportunities for research offered by faculty in WCHP.