The Department of Business Administration and Economics at Roanoke College encourages upper-level students with exceptional potential to pursue an Independent Study.

[Note: Such students have frequently completed (or will complete) all of their required Business courses by the end of the first semester of their senior year. They may also be participating or have participated in the Honors Program.]

Opportunities with an Independent Study:

• Students can extend their knowledge within the area of either Business, Economics or Computer Information Systems in which they have particular interest.
• Independent Studies are designed to be a flexible, yet intensive learning experience. It requires significant commitment on the part of both the student and the sponsoring faculty member.

Titles of past Independent Studies include:

• Impact of the Free Trade Promotion Agreement with the United States in the Peruvian Economy- Fierola Carlos '07
  An international student from Peru combines her background and interest in economics.

• Media Center Reservation System- Mike Treon '06, Matt Cleveland '06 and Richard Parkins '06
  Students designed a web-based database program to keep track of multimedia products that can be checked out online from the College's Media Center.

• The Essence and Reality of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act - Tomasz Jemczura '06
  Jemczura surveyed attorneys in the Roanoke Valley about the SOA, which states the ethical standards for corporate managers, and analyzed the Act in relation to the Enron scandal to see if the benefits really outweighed the costs.

The following guidelines have consequently been established to clarify the requirements for successful completion of an Independent Study. While either the student or faculty member may take the initiative in the design of the Independent Study, the student is responsible for developing a written proposal of 2-3 pages.

The written proposal is to include:

• The research question(s) and/or hypothesis(es) to be investigated.
• The importance of the study.
• An outline of the study.
• A preliminary bibliography.

The proposal must be submitted to the sponsoring faculty member at least three weeks prior to the end of the semester preceding the Independent Study.

The proposal must be approved by the sponsoring professor and the department chairperson (either as initially submitted or as modified by the sponsoring professor and/or department chairperson with student agreement) by the end of the semester preceding the independent study.

Evaluation of the Independent Study will be the primary responsibility of the sponsoring professor. However, a second faculty member chosen by the student (subject to the approval of the sponsoring professor) will be asked to review the project and to provide the sponsoring professor with a suggested grade. A final grade will be at the discretion of the sponsoring professor.

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