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Directed Studies and Special Topics Courses

Procedure Number
001
Policy Number
3310
Responsibility
VP Academic
Approved
Program Council
Effective Date
May 02, 2019
Procedure Statement

Scope

This procedure forms part of JIBC’s Directed Studies and Special Topics Courses Policy (the “Policy”) and should be followed and applied in relation to Directed Studies and Special Topics courses under the Policy. Terms are as defined in the Policy.

Procedural Guiding Principles

Directed Studies Courses
  1. A course outline for a directed studies course will follow the review expectations and timelines as identified in Course Development and Change Approval Policy and requires the approval of the relevant School Curriculum Committee and, if required, by Program Council.
    a. A general course code and name will be used on the course outline and a range of credits can be assigned e.g. LIBS-3900: Directed Studies (1-3 credits). The number of hours can be unspecified and are assigned at the section level. Credits will be calculated following the Establishing Credit Value for JIBC Courses procedure, and applied at the section level.
    b. A directed studies course can be used by students towards satisfying graduation requirements. Notification to the Registrar’s Office of the approval of an exception to standard graduation requirements will follow the established process.
  2. A directed studies section can be initiated by a program area, client, a student or group of students (maximum 4) who identify a topic of interest and obtain the agreement of a division or school and an instructor to act as a supervisor for the course.
  3. The program area is responsible for the development of a specific course syllabus, which details the course goals, learning outcomes, course topics/content, instructional method(s), evaluation profile, and credit value. The course syllabus will be approved by the Dean prior to completing each section request. The course syllabus will be kept on file in the program area, with a copy to the Registrar’s Office to be included in the Student Record.
  4. Directed studies courses cannot be used as a pre-requisite for another JIBC course.
  5. To be eligible to enroll in a directed studies course, a student must normally meet the following criteria:
    a. must be currently enrolled in a JIBC program;
    b. must have achieved successful completion of prior courses; and
    c. enrolment must not result in exceeding the normal course load for the student's program.
  6. A student cannot enroll in more than one directed studies course in a single semester without the Dean’s permission. A student cannot use more than two directed studies courses to fulfill program graduation requirements.
  7. The Dean must approve any exceptions to this policy, and approval must be obtained prior to the student enrolling in the course(s).
Special Topics Courses
  1. A course outline for a special topics course will follow the review expectations and timelines as identified in Course Development and Change Approval Policy and requires the approval of the relevant School Curriculum Committee and, if required, by Program Council.
    a. Each offering of a special topics course will be distinguished with the course number XXXX-1175 and, if necessary, a unique alphabetical identifier after the course number (e.g. PLCE-1175 – Special Topics: Fentanyl, PLCE-1175A – Special Topics: Cyber Crime). If the same version of a special topics course is offered more than once, the alphabetical identifier previously assigned to that version will be used.
    b. Special topics courses may or may not have credits assigned. Should credits be assigned, the maximum credits allowed for a special topics course is 3. Credits will be calculated following the Establishing Credit Value for JIBC Courses procedure.
  2. A special topics course can be initiated by a program area or client who identifies a specific topic of interest and obtains the agreement of a division or school and an instructor for the course. 
  3. If a particular special topics course is offered on a regular basis it may be required to be approved as a regular course reflecting the topic under study.
  4. Special topics courses cannot be used as a pre-requisite for another JIBC course.
  5. Credits obtained through special topics courses may count towards JIBC credentials as general electives.
  6. Departments or programs may limit the number of special topics courses a student can take, and/or limit the number of special topics courses a student can use for program credit.
  7. Special topics courses must not be a required course for completion of a program.

Related Policies and Procedures

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