ENS/NUTR 499/798 Special Studies Application
Special Study Application process for Graduate and Undergraduate Students
Overview
ENS 499, NUTR 499, ENS 798, and NUTR 798 Special Studies courses provide hands-on experience to students as they progress towards their degrees in the School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences (ENS).
These courses require special approval from the School of ENS before a schedule number is obtained. Students must meet with a faculty member (and Graduate Advisor for ENS 798 and NUTR 798) and receive approval from the School of ENS before registering for Special Study courses.
Directions for ENS/NUTR 499/798 Special Studies Application
- Meet with an ENS faculty member who will be overseeing your Special Studies course for the semester. Graduate students wanting to enroll in ENS/NUTR 798 need to meet with the ENS Graduate Advisor either before or after meeting with the ENS faculty member.
- Once the faculty member and student have discussed the project to be done, the faculty member will start the online Adobe Sign process to request approval for a schedule number from the Director of the School of ENS.
- Once your electronic application has been reviewed, you will receive an e-mail with the completed form attached. The schedule number will be located on the completed form.
- Register for the course using the schedule number.
Questions
- Contact Cathryn Chavez in the in the School of ENS ([email protected]) if you are having trouble with the online process or have not received a schedule number.
- Contact your faculty supervisor if you have questions or concerns about your special studies project.
FAQs
- Learn one faculty member’s research area – check out the faculty member’s primary research facility, read a few of the faculty member’s published articles (citations can be found on the School of ENS’ website), ask other students, and/or meet with the faculty member in person. E-mail the faculty member approximately one semester in advance of when you would like to register for an ENS/NUTR 499 course to ask him/her if you could become involved in some aspect of a project they are working on. Try to demonstrate your understanding of the faculty member’s specific research.
- If the faculty member agrees to work with you, the faculty member will initiate the ENS/NUTR 499 form process.
- Send a follow-up email to the faculty member a couple weeks before the semester starts to state your enthusiasm for the project, and summarize your understanding of what exactly you will be doing during the semester. This also helps to remind them of the agreement.
Yes. A student can earn ENS/NUTR 499 credit if the position is paid. ENS/NUTR 798 is not paid.
You will enroll in ENS/NUTR 499/798 like any other course once you obtain a schedule number. A schedule number is generated when the School Director approves the project and signs the form. Your schedule number will be sent once all parties have signed the Adobe Sign form. You will need to open the attached PDF to get the schedule number. Register for the course as you would any other with an add code through my.sdsu.edu. Complete the work. The faculty member will assign a letter grade to you based on the evaluation described in the signed ENS/NUTR 499/798 form. For ENS/NUTR 798 you will earn a credit/no credit grade.
No. Faculty members may only accept a student if the student has completed a certain course with a high grade. Mentoring students who are earning ENS/NUTR 499/798 credit is time-consuming, so faculty members can only work with a limited number of students each semester.
Find out exactly what will be expected of you. Will you be trained by someone first? Will you have keys to be able to come and go at any time? What if you need some extra time to study for a midterm during one particular week? What is the exact product that you are expected to produce? When is it due? How will your grade be determined? Consider carefully how the time spent on this project will balance with your other coursework, job, and extracurricular activities.
Students are allowed to earn up to 3 units. Each unit is approximately 45 hours per semester, or approximately 3 hours per week in a regular semester. More hours per week are required in summer sessions.
No, the work needs to be approved in advance and overseen by an ENS faculty member throughout.
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