If you are interested in continuing your project next semester, there are some credit options (see details below) that could be helpful for you. Fill out this form if interested. It should take about 10 minutes. This form does not obligate you to register, but lets me know to keep you in the loop. I will follow up with you during the week before the next semester starts to finalize any details. 

You should sign up for ARE if you are passionate about continuing work on your Inventors Program project. This is not a "course" in the traditional sense, there is no curriculum nor class activities. You are receiving credit for doing independent research. Dr. Riedel will be your accountability manager and will make sure you are actually doing research and meeting the basic expectations of the experience (and as the instructor of record he will eventually assign your grade). But you must make the research happen. Research can include prototype development, and/or market validation, and/or customer discovery -- anything that can move your project forward in a measurable way. 

There is the possibility to take 3 credit hours for a grade for research activities. Dr. Riedel is typically authorized to offer the following credit options: BIO 377, CH 369K, and UGS 320L . Most departments offer some kind of upper-division research credit option (talk to your academic advisor). Riedel can sometimes offer other department credit such as PHY 371C, ME 377K, or CS 370, but this must be verified by that department. Some of these courses can be repeated for a grade but after two times they must be pass/fail (talk to your advisor for details). Keep in mind most of these courses don't directly apply to degree plans. They do help with your upper-division GPA and give you an accountability structure to continue your project.

Once you determine if a credit option is useful to you, begin the process of understanding how to get authorization from the department and to get registered. Sometimes we need to fill out a PDF form together. Sometimes you need to bring me a paper sheet to sign. It all depends on how the particular department wants to handle things. 

Third, review and understand the ARE expectations:
• You are expected to work, on average, 9 hours a week on your project.

• You are expected to attend regularly scheduled check-in meetings with your faculty mentors. These meetings will be weekly unless other arrangements have been made with your faculty advisor. These meetings do count towards your 9- hour requirement above. Dr. Riedel is happy to be your faculty mentor, but other arrangements are possible too.

• You are expected to maintain any previous project mentor relationships that have been established. Finding additional mentors during the semester is OK, but cannot take up the majority of the time (rather you should be making progress on your research). You cannot assume that Dr. Riedel is a content expert in your project area. 
• You must keep careful and extensive records of all of your work. Something like a digital lab notebook is required where you document your 9 hours of effort per week.
• You are required to make and share weekly summary notes on the Inventors Slack workspace of your progress along with a record of total hours worked that week.
• You are expected to produce a final summary report of your project by the end of the semester. The details of this report can be worked out with your faculty mentors mid-semester.
• You are required to make a short (2-slide) presentation of your team and project for sharing your iTeam experience with the public.
• You are expected to present your effort in a public forum such as the Undergraduate Research Forum or a pitch event (if appropriate).