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Prospective Students

Presenting to the Faculty Review Board

You are required to present and defend your unique, interdisciplinary proposal to the IVSP Faculty Review Board, which is made up of distinguished faculty members from across the university. This Board provides guidance and oversees students' academic proposals. All IVSP majors must be approved by the Faculty Review Board.

You will put together an oral presentation about ten minutes long describing your major's proposal, which will be followed by a discussion with the IVSP Faculty Review Board. You will have opportunities to rehearse your presentation beforehand with the IVSP assistant director, director, and a panel of current students.

The IVSP Faculty Review Board will use the following guidelines when considering student proposals:

  1. Proposals should have a clearly defined academic focus. You should identify a central set of concepts or issues and relevant courses that together create a coherent area of study.
  2. IVSP majors should be interdisciplinary in nature. You should not closely replicate or approach the goals of any existing academic major or combination of majors and minors at the university.
  3. Programs must identify an appropriate faculty mentor, preferably tenured or tenure track, who has significant undergraduate education experience related to the area of study.
  4. Proposals must be consistent with your academic record, be possible within the University's structure and offerings, and make good use of the available resources related to the area of study.

The Board has the option 1) to accept the proposals as they are written, 2) to accept them with itself, but you will be contacted within 48 hours. If the proposal is rejected, students may have the option to reapply after making appropriate changes to the proposal.contingent changes, or 3) to reject them. You will not learn of the Board's decision during the meeting.

Ten Students in the IVSP Office

Book Your Presentation Time

The Faculty Board meets six times during each of the fall and spring semesters. You should discuss a possible IVSP presentation date with the IVSP staff early in the process since presentation slots are on a first come, first served basis.