Independent Study

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Independent Study

• The Heart of A Wooster Education

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History and Philosophy

• Established in 1948 by President Howard Lowry
• Requirement of all graduating seniors
• Linked with faculty research and study leaves
  program

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A college that changes lives

• Graduates
• are independent and creative scholars
• develop and express complex ideas
• have excellent communication skills
• have the tools and confidence for a
• lifetime of intellectual discovery and change

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Junior and Senior Independent Study

• Three semester requirement of all students
• Junior I.S.
• 1 course of 8 during junior year
• seminar or one-on-one research experience with a
  faculty mentor (or combination)
• Junior I.S. may or may not lead to work on Senior
  I.S.
• It provides the tools methods of the discipline

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Senior Independent Study

• One-on-one mentoring by faculty member
• 1 course of 4 each semester
• Thesis or artistic product (with written
  component)

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Senior Independent Study

• First semester grade
• Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory Progress
• Grade for I.S. given at end of Year
• Honors, Good, Satisfactory, No Credit

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Evaluation of I.S.

• Some departments use grading rubrics
• Components of evaluation
• Independence of work
• Creativity
• Sound methodology
• Results/findings
• Quality of written thesis
• Oral or poster presentations
• Oral Exam/Defense

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Preparation for Independent Study

• First Year Seminar in Critical Inquiry
• Writing Across the Curriculum
• Introduction to Independent Study
• Inquiry-based teaching
• Sophomore research program
• Additional summer research opportunities
• Grounding in the discipline or major

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Institutional Commitment

• Faculty teaching credit
• 0.1/student in 1 credit/course calculation
• Departmental budgets and Departmental endowments
  reflect I.S. needs
• Generous Sabbatical Leave program
• One full year, fully paid after 4 years (tenured
  faculty)
• One semester leaves common for untenured faculty
• Faculty Development funds
• Conference travel (one meeting)
• Additional faculty development funds available
• Luce Fund for Distinguished Scholarship (course
  release to begin or complete major project)

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Institutional Commitment - II

• Student travel benefit for conference
  presentations 15,000 annually
• Copeland Fund for Independent Study
• 90,000 annually to fund student proposals

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Benefits to Students

• Institutional culture of research
• Sophomore Research Program
• Summer research 100 students involved annually
• Grant-funded programs for additional research
  opportunities
• In-house research showcase
• Frequent presentation/publication with faculty
  members

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Alumni Outcomes

• Head start in grad school
• Wooster ranks 18th in baccalaureate institutions
  as producers of Ph.D.s
• Between 1995-2004 13.8 of STEM grads went on to
  receive Ph.D.s
• Compare to 19.3 at the top 11 US institutions
  Wooster entering scores c. 1220 SAT 3.55 HS GPA

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Benefits to Faculty

• Engagement with student researchers
• Stimulus to new research projects
• Leaves program
• Annual influx of visiting faculty
• Peer pressure

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Benefits to Institution

• Provides powerful source of identity and master
  narrative shapes/is shaped by mission
• Structures campus academic life
• Facilitates branding and market differentiation
• Provides focused opportunities for Development

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Unintended Consequences

• Focused branding can be a negative
• Very resource-intensive faculty workload
  leaves leave replacement hiring and
  assimilation cost of support
• Potential tension between commitment to faculty
  work and faculty-student work
• Reduction of course work in the major
• Privatization of student experience

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Future Direction

• Entrepreneurship
• Assessment
• Presidential transition
• Collaborative projects
• Independent Study conference

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