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Honors

Departmental Honors

Qualified Human Services, Public Health, and Sociology majors may receive honors in their major(s) by completing an honors project, which will consist of a program of independent study culminating in a paper, artistic creation, or performance. Students who meet the criteria given below will receive the designation “Honors in (field of study)” on their diplomas.

Students applying for major honors work must have at least a 3.4 grade point average in the major, calculated at the time of their application for honors work. In order to receive honors, students must have at least a 3.4 GPA in their major at graduation.

The honors project must be sponsored by a faculty member or members in the student’s major, who will serve as the primary advisor(s) for the project, and by a committee composed of the primary advisor(s) and not fewer than two additional faculty.

To apply, students should attach a 3-5 page, typed proposal with a preliminary list of references to this application. Honors students applying for honors in the major credit for their distinction project can attach their distinction project proposal. 

Specific Requirements

The student must complete an Honors Project that is the equivalent of one course credit and receive a grade of at least A- on the project. The Honors Project may be either a significant scholarly project (such as an extensive literature review, theoretical analysis, or empirical study) or a significant creative or organizational project (such as the establishment of a new program or service for an organization or agency or completion of a major specialized task on campus or in the community). While the project may be based on previous work (e.g., a seminar paper or independent study), it must represent a significant and original project over and above any past work.

The Honors Project must be undertaken in the senior year or in the summer prior to the senior year. It may be completed in one semester as one unit (HSRV/PHST/SOCI 496) or in two semesters as two 1/2 units. 

The Honors Project must be sponsored by a faculty member in the Department of Sociology and Public Health (the primary advisor for the project) and by a committee of at least two additional faculty members (one of whom must be from a discipline other than human services, public health, or sociology). Application for departmental honors should be made in the semester or summer prior to undertaking the project, but must be submitted no later than the third day of the term in which the project will begin.

The completed Honors Project will be evaluated by the committee both on the final product and on an oral examination. The student must present a summary of the work both at a public forum (e.g., a professional meeting or a campus symposium) and in a selected sociology class (e.g., in Sociology 454: Seminar). After consultation with other committee members, the project's primary advisor will assign a final grade.