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Students can earn course credit for working with a faculty mentor on a research or scholarly  project or creative investigation that is completed independently. The for-credit option may be especially attractive to students who are enrolled for less than 18 credit hours in a semester. 

Typically, students conduct an independent project under the guidance of a faculty mentor. They can also collaborate with faculty mentors on an ongoing faculty research project. This directed undergraduate research, scholarship or creative investigation will culminate in a conference presentation, journal article, or other creative/scholarly project. 

Uniform course names and numbers have been established to designate participation in independent undergraduate research/creative activities across all departments: 

  • Beginning Undergraduate Research, Scholarship or Creative Investigation—DEPT 195
  • Intermediate URSCI—DEPT 295
  • Advanced URSCI—DEPT 395
  • Senior Thesis Level URSCI—DEPT 495

Students must obtain prior approval from a faculty mentor before they can register for any of these independent research courses. Projects completed as part of a class assignment are not eligible for URSCI credit.



Each course can be completed for variable credit hours (1-3) and can be repeated for two semesters at each class level.



Students are strongly encouraged to present their independent scholarly and creative work at Dominican’s SI (Scholarship & Ideas) Expo held in April.

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Research for Credit Application (pdf)