Policies

Independent Studies

Students may register for Independent Studies courses at any time, unless they are using financial aid or are enrolling to fulfill their academic status requirements.

Studies are pursued independent of other students and may be completed at the students' own pace within the unit deadlines established by the I-Studies Office.

Independent Studies courses provide learning experience through assignments that require the student to synthesize knowledge acquired through the course text(s), research projects, papers, assessments and other learning methodologies.

 

Courses

Courses are divided into 4 units.  The only exception is the Introduction to Biblical Counseling course which has 5 units.

Units are comprised of one or more assignments including textbook reading, answering questions over the text, taking notes on reading, creating outlines, researching topics, writing exams or any other type of assignment the instructor finds helpful to the study.  Typically, the final unit includes in-depth research on a subject related to the course and the composition of a written assignment presenting these findings.

Each assignment is designed to meet one or more of the course objectives.

Each assignment includes detailed instructions.

 

Course Duration

Independent Studies course registration is open year round.

Students have 16 weeks from the registration date to complete the course. These 16 weeks include individual unit deadlines.

Course durations are not cumulative.  If two or more courses are taken concurrently, all must be completed within 16 weeks from the start date.

The I-Studies office will include unit due dates in a welcome letter sent to the student once the registration has been processed.

 

Instruction

Course syllabus, assignments, announcements, etc. are found on my.graceu.edu.

If the student does not already possess a user name and password for my.graceu.edu, a call should be made to the Grace Helpdesk at (402) 449-2904.

Before beginning assignments for an I-Studies course:

1. An Introduction Letter must be submitted to IStudies@graceu.edu.  The letter is to include why the student has registered for the course and a study plan for completing each unit on schedule.  A separate Introduction Letter is to be sent for each course.
2. The student must sign and return to the I-Studies Office an Academics Policies form mailed to him/her upon registration.

Textbooks may be purchased through the University Online Bookstore.

All assignments within a unit are to be completed and submitted together in one Word document.

Completed units are submitted via email attachment to IStudies@graceu.edu.

Units must be posted before or by their due dates.  (Unit due dates are given via a Welcome Letter upon registration.)  Anything posted after its due date will receive a score lowered by one letter grade.  The score will continue to go down an additional letter grade with each week that the unit is not turned in.

Graded units will be returned to students via their Grace email account.

When all units have been submitted and graded, the student's final grade for the course will be posted on I.Q.Web.

It is important for I-Studies students to routinely check their Grace email account for correspondence from the instructor and/or I-Studies Office.

 

Course Inactivity

If no units are completed by the 2nd deadline, the student is automatically withdrawn from the course and no refund is given.

 

Financial Policy

A student will be charged for the I-Studies course according to the tuition rate that is established in the catalog for the college in which he/she is admitted.

Payment must be arranged prior to enrolling in the course.

Withdrawal from an I-Studies course prior to completion will be subject to the following refund policy:

	Start date - Unit 1 deadline	90%*
	After Unit 1 - Unit 2 deadline	50%**
	After Unit 2 - Unit 3 deadline	25%**
	After Unit 3	0%**
	CODE:
	* = No grade penalty.
	** = Grade will be "W" (does not affect GPA) if course requirements have been met to date. Grade will be "F" if course requirements have not been met to date.

 

Extension

A student who is unable to complete their course by the final due date may contact the I-Studies Office and request a one month extension.  The extension fee is $25.00.  No more than one extension is available.