Psychology’s hands-on learning allows students both the choice and responsibility to learn through real experience, outside the classroom. Our undergraduate students can dive deeper into areas of interest in psychology through research, teaching, and internships. These courses may also be referenced as Individual Work (IW).
Independent Work (IW) Courses, PSY4905, 4911, 4940, 4949, and 4970 have credit limits set in the Psychology Department, College, and University Academic Compact.
These are outlined below and are nonnegotiable for policy and protocol reasons and likely implications as described below.
Combine IW Credit Limitation (Overall IW Credit)
Students can only take a maximum of 9 credits when combining all IW courses.
- Under no circumstances will students be able to exceed this amount.
- When the 9-credit max is reached, students can only enroll in 0 credits. These will still show on your transcript!
- If students plan to defend their thesis (PSY4970 Honors Thesis), they MUST preserve at least 1 of the 9 overall credits allowed. This credit MUST apply to the psychology major.
Single Course Credit Limit
In addition to the overall IW 9 credit limit, EACH IW course has a maximum credit students can enroll in.
4 Credit MAX enrollment is allowed for the following:
- PSY4940: Teaching Assistant
- PSY4905: Independent Research
- PSY4949: Internship Experience
- PSY4970 Honor Thesis
There is only ONE exception to this 4-credit rule with PSY4911 Research Assistant. Students can use all 9 allotted IW credits ONLY if no other IW course has been taken.
Note: IW courses cannot satisfy the 4k electives. These credits can only apply to the 3k additional psych electives requirement.