Independent Study

The purpose of an Independent Study (IS) in Honors is to pursue a topic or field of study beyond what you would be able to do in a regular Honors class. It is not intended to duplicate courses that are already offered but for which registration is not practicable. IS involve considerable effort on the part of both the faculty and the student and especially require independent motivation and work by the student. An IS is usually undertaken with a faculty member with whom you have already taken a course.

Ideally, Independent Studies will be planned a semester in advance so that students are able to take advantage of the full semester for their project. At the latest, submission and faculty director approval is required one week prior to the beginning of the semester (for an 8 week courses they are also due prior to the start of the course). 

Please note: you must attach a Proposal which provides a description of the IS and at a minimum includes: 

1. Potential student learning outcomes, 
2. A proposed schedule of activities (readings, deadlines, etc.)
3. A set of proposed deliverables and a description of their relevance to the study (papers, products, etc.)

Also note that credit varies in LoboWeb, so be sure to select the correct number of credit hours when you register. 

Once you submit this proposal, you will need to notify the faculty member you are potentially working with. They will review your proposal and work with you to revise anything necessary before their approval can be granted. Because we need to get you registered before the UNM add/drop deadline, this must be done by Wednesday of the first week of the term.

Next, the faculty member will ask the Honors College Chair of Curriculum to review the proposed IS. You and the faculty member will be notified via email from the Chair of Curriculum upon review. If your IS is accepted, the advising faculty member can directly create an "override" that allows the student to register for the IS. The student will also need to specify, in Banner, the credit hours in accordance with the proposal. 

If either the student or faculty member could use help interfacing with UNM's systems to get registered, please contact honors@unm.edu or ask the Honors College Curriculum Committee chair. 

Remember, the drop/add deadline is two weeks into the term for full semesters and less in shorter terms. If this deadline passes, nothing can be done to avoid the student paying fees to the Bursar for a late add.