Graduate Independent Study - Overview
Every graduate student in the Department of Computing Sciences undertakes an Independent Study project. Typically this is one of the last courses a student takes, so that it can build upon the material of the other courses. During your IS course you will work independently, with guidance from an advisor, on a topic that you and your advisor have determined.
It is your responsibility to arrange for an advisor and a topic for your Independent Study project. Determining your IS topic is an interactive process. You narrow in on a topic by discussing various options with potential advisors. Feel free to contact potential advisors at any time to discuss their availability and potential topics. It is best NOT to wait until the last minute to approach potential advisors and to determine a topic. In fact it is a good idea from the very start of your course work at Villanova to begin to establish connections with potential advisors and to consider potential topics. Perhaps you'd like to expand on a topic covered in one of your classes, or investigate a related topic in more depth -- talk to your instructor about the possibility while you are taking the course. Perhaps there is a topic that particularly intrigues you -- look into it more now and start looking for an advisor that shares your interest.
By the time the semester of your Independent Study starts you should have some idea of your topic and advisor. To be considered "officially" registered for the course you must perform a sequence of steps: sign up, work with your advisor to create a topic description, post your topic description through the department web site, and have your advisor confirm the posted description is correct.
There are no scheduled class meetings for the Independent Study project, other than the specific arrangements that you make with your advisor. A project should be roughly equivalent to the work load of a three credit graduate course, but that is a very general guideline and is very difficult to gauge. Every Independent Study project requires that you produce a final report. Be sure to adhere to our academic integrity guidelines when creating your report and to follow our requirements with respect to the format of the report. Depending on the topic you work out with your advisor there may be other deliverables as well. Your advisor evaluates your work and assigns your grade for the course.
An Independent Study project is expected to be completed in one semester. These projects, however, sometimes have unforeseen obstacles that must be overcome. We don't want the strict semester boundaries to prevent you from addressing such problems. We prefer you to have a high-quality final result. Therefore, if the situation dictates and your advisor approves, we will grant an extension of your project into the following semester. In extremely rare cases we may grant a second extension. Please note that extensions are NOT granted because a student procrastenated or was "busy" doing other things. Your IS course is a unique opportunity for you to choose a specific topic you are interested in and study it under the guidance of one of our excellent professors. Be sure that you invest an appropriate amount of time into your Independent Study from the start.