ANT V9R Policies

V9R courses are intended to provide undergraduate students with research experience that helps prepare them for admission to graduate or professional schools, or for careers in industry. These are NOT intended as alternatives to regular coursework and will therefore not be counted towards degree requirements in Anthropology (majors or minors).

To standardize expectations, and create a system of accountability for student research activities through V9R coursework, the following policies and procedures were developed by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

• Prior to enrollment students are required to complete an application and contract (with the advanced knowledge and approval of a faculty mentor). These should be submitted by the student to the Undergraduate Program Director (UPD) at least one week prior to the add deadline set by the Registrar’s Office for the semester in which the course will be completed. Late adds may be possible dependent upon the circumstances surrounding the late request.
  • While students are allowed to take a maximum of 6 credit-hours of each V9R level (1000, 2000, 3000, 4000), it is strongly recommended that they register for 1 credit hour per semester. More than 1 credit hour may be allowed under exceptional circumstances. Credit hours should equate to research hours according to the following University guidelines:
    • 1 credit hour: 3 supervised research hours/week
    • 2 credit hours: 6 supervised research hours/week
    • 3 credit hours: 9 supervised research hours/week
    • *NOTE: 0 credit hours are possible in summer ONLY; the signed contract
      will specify the number of supervised research hours for summer
• V9R faculty mentors will create a course syllabus (separate from the student submitted application/contract) that will outline the expectations for the student throughout the semester in which the V9R is conducted. The syllabus will be provided to the student and to the Anthropology Department for archival purposes.
• V9R students are required to submit materials demonstrating their research participation through Canvas to ensure that course standards are being met. The course Canvas page will be monitored by the faculty mentor and the UPD (for nonlab-based research) or Lab Coordinator (for lab-based research). Examples of submittable work may include project summaries, updates, references, results, procedures, and discussion notes. There will be 2-5 submissions expected due throughout the semester. The faculty mentor is encouraged to use the submissions in determining the final course grade which they are solely responsible for submitting at the end of the term.
• V9R courses are available at four undergraduate levels. University guidelines recommend each level correspond to research development in the following ways:
  • 1V9R: Exploration of a research topic. Shadowing current research students.
    Lab technical training/orientation.
  • 2V9R: Continuation of 1V9R with developing independence. Learning new lab
    methods or techniques after completion of 1V9R.
  • 3V9R: Active research or scholarship with a specific data collection goal in
    mind. The project should have student input (independent student research
    questions or goals) and output (undergraduate presentation/publication).
  • 4V9R: Independent research leading to a publishable manuscript or thesis.
  • *NOTE: upper-level V9R will not be approved without at least 1 semester of
    lower-level V9R completed with the same faculty mentor.