Students

Hips on Your Transcript

Research on your Transcript

IDS 4914 is a course offering for undergraduate students engaging in a research and mentoring opportunity with a USF faculty member. This course does not match students with faculty mentors, so students must have already identified a mentor prior to requesting this course. Students must request permit to register for this course.

Successful completion of this pass or fail course [S/U grading] will be reflected on the academic transcript; if a student withdraws, the course will be documented on the transcript with a “W”. To be eligible for the course, the following criteria must be met:

  • A faculty mentor sponsors the research activity (faculty must have clinical, joint, regular, research, or visiting faculty appointment at USF).
  • Research activity occurs for minimum of 5 hours each week.
  • Research activity occurs in the semester the permit is requested.

Students are not required to complete IDS 2912 or any other course to be eligible for IDS 4914. This course is recommended for junior and senior classification; however, if a student receives approval from a faculty mentor, they are still eligible to take this course.

Sections of IDS 4914 are set-up on the alternate calendar schedule to allow students to continue to register for the course after drop-add week; however, this course will not be added to the schedule after the end of the term.

IDS 4914 can be repeated up to four (4) times.

Instructions for taking IDS 4914 as a zero credit course

  1. Students should start the process by requesting a permit for the class using this online form. This form requires the student to disclose the following:
    1. Student’s First and Last Name, Major, UID number, and USF email 
    2. Faculty Mentor’s First and Last Name and USF email
    3. Faculty Mentor’s Academic College
    4. The semester the course will be taken
    5. Report the expected number of hours of research activity per week

  2. Once submitted, the form is emailed to the Faculty Mentor for review and confirmation. The Faculty Mentor must confirm via email to complete the permit request.

  3. After approval, the student will receive an email explaining how to complete the registration process.
  1. If a student has a registration hold, it must be resolved before the student will be able to add this course.
  2. Students must be enrolled in a minimum of one (1) credit hour in order to be eligible to add a zero-credit hour course to their schedule.
  3. After receiving a permit, students can register themselves for the course online using OASIS until the end of drop/add week. After that, an email must be sent to AlternativeCalendar@usf.edu to register (again the student cannot have registration holds).

Instructions for taking IDS 4914 for credit

IDS 4914 can be taken for up to four (4) credit hours. This requires a completed undergraduate research contract signed by the student and faculty mentor.

This document is a resource to set clear expectations for both an undergraduate student and their faculty mentor as a guide for the student's research experience. It is comparable to a course syllabus or independent study contract. The student and mentor should complete most of this agreement together, using the template to facilitate your conversation as you establish and clarify expectations for communications, milestones, and outcomes.  

If an academic department or College has its own undergraduate research contract, it can be used to request a for-credit section of IDS 4914 as long as the contract documents the following:

  • The number of student hours of research activity each week
  • Performance expectations
  • An explanation on how the course will be graded

Once a signed contract is complete, it should be emailed to Dr. Melissa Irvin to complete the section set-up and registration process.

Instructions for faculty who want offer a zero-credit hour section of IDS 4914 to support another course

Faculty can request a zero-credit hour section of IDS4914 for students enrolled in a course they are teaching. In order to request this special section, faculty need to provide the following information via email to Dr. Melissa Irvin:

  • Their name (and the name of any graduate/instructional staff supporting the course)
  • UID (this is needed to assign as instructional staff for the course)
  • List of the student names and UIDs that need a permit for the course

Once this information has been provided, a section will be created and students will be assigned permits that allow them to register for the course.

GLOBAL Learning on your transcript

The Global Citizen Award is a fun and flexible way for USF undergraduate students to develop the qualities of a global citizen and be rewarded for their accomplishments. To earn the Global Citizen Award, you will create your own adventure that allows you to explore the global issues and regions of the world in which you are interested.

Upon completion of the Global Citizen Award, you will be receive an item of Global Citizens Project graduation medallion during the GCP Awards Ceremony, which you can wear during commencement when you graduate, not to mention that the achievement will also be noted on your official transcript.

Learn more.