Honors Program
Honors Program Description/Application Procedures
Purpose
The purpose of the Communication Department Honors Program shall be to recognize
outstanding academic achievement and to encourage qualified students to undertake
research, scholarship and/or performance which is more challenging than that normally
included in departmental courses and programs. Successful completion of the Honors
Program shall be recognized by public notice and shall be recorded on the student's
permanent academic record.
Departmental Honors Committee
- The Department shall serve as a Committee of the Whole to act upon all matters
pertaining to the Program.
- The Department shall keep minutes of all decisions pertaining to its Honors
Program. Minutes should be made available to all Department members and to the
Director of the College Honors Program.
- All decisions of the Department concerning the Honors Program shall be made
by a majority vote. Decisions shall be final in all matters pertaining to student
evaluation, retention and dismissal.
Qualifications for Admission
- To qualify for admission to the Honors Program a candidate must:
- Be majoring in Communication
- Have completed at least five courses in the major, three at the 300 level
- Have earned an overall GPA of 3.0 or above and a GPA of 3.25 or above in the
major
- Present evidence of superior performance abilities if planning a public
performance or a media presentation (public speaking, debating, filming, videotaping,
producing, etc.)
- If admitted to the Honors Program, the candidate must maintain an overall GPA
of 3.0 or above and a GPA of 3.25 or above in the major.
Application Procedures
- A student may apply to the Honors Program after the end of his/her fourth
semester (60 credit hours) and before the end of his/her six semester (90 credit
hours).
- Application shall be made by personal letter to the Chair of the Department.
- The candidate's application must be supported by a faculty member who agrees
to serve as Honors Advisor.
- The application must include a description of the candidate's proposed Honors
Project, a statement of the objectives of the project, the methodologies to be used,
the projected dates for completion of various steps in the project, the relationship
between the project and the anticipated post-baccalaureate career and/or studies
and the names of project Faculty Advisor and Second Reader.
- The application must be approved by the Department before he/she embarks on
the Honors Project.
Honors Projects
- An Honors Project may be produced by independent work on the part of the student
over two or more semesters as supervised by his/her advisor or may be developed
in a regular course or courses (including independent study courses), if the
instructor agrees. The Honors Project should deal with a subject not treated in
Departmental courses or should treat in significantly greater depth a subject,
which is part of a regular course. The project should be scholarly or creative
with potential for application to a candidate's post-baccalaureate career or
studies.
- The candidate will consult regularly with the faculty advisor as the project
progresses. If the student is not making steady progress toward project completion,
the instructor must notify the Department at a regularly scheduled Department
Meeting.
- The project must be completed before the last scheduled Department Meeting of
that academic session so that the members may approve the project.
- Types of Projects
- All honors Projects must include significant scholarship; a performance alone
shall not be considered an Honors Project.
- Honors Projects might include some of the following possibilities:
- A lecture of 45-60 minutes which is focused on a single theme.
- A speech of 20-30 minutes which is presented before several different audiences
on different occasions.
- A media arts production which is written, directed and/or produced by the
student and is delivered to several different audiences.
- A 35-50 page research paper concerning a significant problem.
Evaluation
- If the Honors Project is submitted as part of a student's work for a particular
course, the instructor shall assign the grade the student will receive for his /
her work independent of any subsequent Departmental Honors Committee evaluation.
- Whether the project is developed independently or as part of a course, the
advisor should submit to the department an evaluation of the student's work.
- The approved project should be made available to all members the Department
three weeks prior to the end of the semester.
- Upon recommendation of the Project Advisor, an Honors candidate may be dismissed
from the Honors Program if he/she fails to demonstrate adequate progress in the
Honors Project. The candidate shall be notified of dismissal from the Honors Program
by letter.
- The Department by majority vote will decide to recommend or reject the Honors
designation.