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Approving a Request for Individual Study

A user guide for departmental administrators for approving or denying a request for individual study.

To view a pdf version of this user guide, including screenshots of YES, click here:  Individual Study User Guide - Departmental Approval.

The Kuali workflow application has been implemented for undergraduate students and graduate/professional students in the Divinity School, Graduate School, Law School, Owen Graduate School of Management, Peabody College, the School of Engineering, and the School of Nursing to request enrollment in individual study courses (e.g., independent study, directed research, etc.). A link to the individual study webform is available for undergraduate students in YES. Departmental administrators will utilize the Kuali workflow application to review individual study requests for their students.

Reviewing the Individual Study Enrollment Request

  1. Once a student has submitted a request for individual study in your department that has been approved by the instructor, you will receive an email with information about the student, the course, and the instructor. Click Begin Review to access the form.
  2. Information about the student is pre-populated in the Student Information section.
  3. Details about the course in which the student has requested to enroll will appear in the Course Information section. Course Description and Minimum/Maximum Credit Hours populate from data in the student information system.
  4. The Credit Hours Requested, Year, and Term reflect information provided by the student. In addition, if the student wishes to drop another class if enrolled in the individual study section, that information will also appear.
  5. Students must provide a title of their project, along with a detailed study description. If desired, you can make edits to the title or the information provided in the study description. (You will also have the option to return the request to the student or the instructor to make these changes themselves.)
  6. Any comments left by the instructor will be reflected in the Instructor Comments box.

Approval Workflow/Timeline

The departmental administrator is the second step for most individual study enrollment requests. Once the departmental administrator approves a request, it is routed to the student’s Office of Academic Services. 

Approving the Individual Study Request

  1. Leave a comment in the Department Comments box, if desired. Comments will be visible to administrators (Office of Academic Services, Office of the University Registrar, etc.), but not to the student.
  2. Click Approve.
  3. The request will now be routed to the student’s Office of Academic Services.

Denying the Individual Study Request

  1. Leave a comment in the Department Comments box, if desired. Comments will be visible to administrators (Office of Academic Services, Office of the University Registrar, etc.), but not to the student.
  2. Click Deny.
  3. The student will be notified via email that the request has been denied.

Sending the Individual Study Request Back to the Student

If, during the course of your review, you notice something that requires the student or the instructor to change the request (for example, the wrong number of credit hours was entered), you can send the request back to the student or to the instructor.

  1. Leave a comment in the Department Comments box, if desired. Comments will be visible to administrators (Office of Academic Services, Office of the University Registrar, etc.), but not to the student.
  2. Click Send Back.
  3. Select to whom the form should be returned: the student (Form Submission) or the instructor (Instructor Approval).
  4. The student or instructor will be notified via email that the request has been sent back for additional action.

Accessing Your Work Queue

In addition to clicking on the Begin Review button embedded in the notification emails, you can access your work queue at the following web address: https://vanderbilt.kualibuild.com/app/builder/#/actions.

Please contact the YES Help Line at yes@vanderbilt.edu or 615-343-4306 if you have questions or need additional assistance.