Special Problems Courses

ABE 49500 Select Topics in Agricultural and Biological Engineering

ABE 49800 Undergraduate Research in Agricultural and Biological Engineering

ABE 49900 Thesis Research

ABE 59000 Special Problems

 

Purpose of Special Problems Course Offerings

Special Problems course offerings should be designed to provide capable students the opportunity to work on carefully selected special problems which are not covered in regular course offerings.  The prob­lems should be closely related to the students’ field of study and be of mutual interest to both the individ­ual student and supervising faculty member.

The selected problem should be such that it will require the student to perform a combination of labora­tory, field, and/or library studies and result in a professionally written report of the activities relating to the project, findings if any, and other related documentation.

 

Student Eligibility

Students requesting enrollment in Special Problems courses should have a record of exhibiting a great deal of personal initiative and the ability to work toward a solution of problems with limited direct super­vision from instructors. 

 

Registration for the Special Problem

Due to the extensive time required to plan and complete a Special Problem course, instructor selection and completion of the contract should take place in the semester prior to the one in which the course is to be completed.  Registration for a Special Problems course after two weeks into the semester is not accepted.

 

Student/Faculty Contract for Special Problems

To provide documentation of the problem to be addressed and to ensure a clear understanding between the student and supervising faculty member of their respective expectations, a formal course contract must be completed and a kept on file by the faculty member.  An additional copy will be placed in the stu­dent’s permanent file, and a copy will be furnished to the student. 

 

Approval of the Special Problems Courses by the Department

In order to ensure that proposed courses meet the expectations of the department with respect to content, level of effort and credit hour distribution, each Special Problems course must be approved by the Agri­cultural & Biological Engineering Academic Programs Committee (or, in the case of a graduate student, the Graduate Committee).  Approval should be obtained by the end of the semester prior to the one dur­ing which the course will be completed or no later than the second week of the semester during which the course is to be completed.

 

Enrollment in ABE 49500/59000– In addition to the above, the student should fulfill the following requirements:

1. Be enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student at Purdue.

2. Be classified as a “Junior 06” or higher at the time the course begins.

3. Have a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.00.

 

Exceptions to the above requirements will be considered by the ABE Academic Programs Committee/ Graduate Committee upon request of the instructor.