Special Studies Policy

In accordance with Department policies, students may register for special studies as described below. A Special Studies Request form, available in the ECE office, must be completed and approved before you register for the course.

• ECE 5950:  A professor and a student may be interested in doing a project on material not contained in any ECE class, but which is at a sufficiently high level to count as technical elective credit. The professor considers the student's academic record and the professor's own interests and work load in decided whether a special studies project is appropriate. In this case, the professor may authorize the student to register for ECE 5950 and work under the professor's direction. The number of credit hours to be earned is determined by the professor.
• ECE 4950:  A professor may decide that is appropriate for students in a Senior Thesis section (usually a Clinic) to continue work on their project during Summer semester, if the project is too complicated to complete by the end of Spring semester or if an additional task is specified. The credit hours given must represent additional significant work beyond the five credit hours normally earned for Senior Thesis.
• ECE 4990:  This number is used to register for Cooperative Education, one credit hour per semester for no more than two semesters, as described in the "Cooperative Education" section.

The following restrictions apply to special studies credit:

• No more than four total semester hours earned as described above (including co-op) may count toward the technical elective requirement.
• Special studies may not cover material taught in any class.
• Special studies credit may not be given for work done for your job except in accordance with Department policy in the co-op program (see "Cooperative Education" section).
• You may not use special studies to avoid class work.
• The professor requires that you spend at least as much time and effort to earn special studies credit as would be spent on a class with the same number of credit hours.