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HONORS PROGRAM

Honors Program, an overview

All Students at Oglethorpe University are encouraged to attain academic and personal excellence through active engagement with and initiative in their education. the university offers an honors program for those students who demonstrate the potential and desire to further challenge themselves intellectually, both within and beyond the classroom setting. Students in the Honors Program will develop their own independent project, while learning how their interests relate to relevant disciplinary discourse, other academic disciplines and the world beyond academia. the Honors Program allows students to forge closer relations with peers and faculty from various disciplines who have different interests, but share a common enthusiasm for learning, while developing their own interests and initiative.

Students are invited to learn about the features and requirements of the Honors Program through the first-year, first-semester seminars as well as through other informational programs. Interested students should then apply for admission to the program as early as the end of their first year and no later than the end of their second semester sophomore year. A grade-point average of 3.3 is required to participate in the second phase (HON 201) seminars. For 300- and 400-level honors courses, students must maintain a grade-point average of 3.3, with a 3.5 grade-point average required in the academic field in which the honors research is to be conducted.

Students enrolled in the Honors Program receive priority registration as well as the possibility of applying for funds to facilitate thesis research the summer prior to their senior year. Academic honors earned through the Honors Program are recognized at commencement exercises, on the student's diploma and on the student's transcript of grades.

Honors Program Components and Timeline

The eight-semester program is organized in three phases, the first consisting of one-semester hour seminars (HON 101), graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis, for first year students introducing them to the Honors Program and the practice of collaborative learning.

The second phase focuses on scholarship in breadth and communication with people whose interests may be outside one's own area of interest and expertise. Students formally enrolled in the Honors Program participate in two one-semester hour seminars (HON 201), each overseen by two faculty members from substantively and conceptually different academic disciplines. (A freshman taking Honors Seminar in the spring immediately following Introduction to Honors in the fall must have permission of the honors program director.) These seminars are built around the interests of the students, who are equal partners in directing the content of the seminars and the central questions which inform them. Students carry out research relevant to the topic, writing and presenting thoughts, analysis and findings related to the seminar. Students practice and refine many of the skills and techniques necessary for the third phase of the Honors Program. Note that students who elect to enter the Honors Program later in their scholastic careers must still take these two seminars at some point.

The third phase focuses on in-depth scholarship and effective communication of the results of that scholarship to people in the field of study, as well as those outside it, through honors students pursuing an original independent research project under the close supervision of a faculty mentor. This phase begins with the drafting of a research prospectus in the student's third year and culminates in an honors thesis prospectus approved by one primary and two secondary faculty readers.

During the fall semester of the junior year, the student secures a thesis supervisor and enrolls in Honors I. Honors I carries one-semester hour graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis, with the grade to be determined by the Honors Program director in consultation with the faculty supervisor. Satisfactory completion of Honors I is required to continue the program. In the spring of the junior year the student enrolls in Honors II, a one-semester hour course, graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis, in which the honors project is further refined and researched, culminating in an honors thesis prospectus approved by one primary and two secondary faculty readers.

Upon successful completion of Honors II, the student enrolls in Honors III during the fall semester of the senior year. This is a four-semester hour course enabling intensive research of the thesis topic. A first draft of the thesis must be submitted to the student's reading committee by the end of this semester. The reading committee provides the student with feedback, including recommended revisions. After successful completion of Honors III, the student enrolls in Honors IV, a required course which carries no academic credit, during the spring semester of the senior year. Students are encouraged to submit their theses to appropriate competitions or for publication. Students are also required to present their thesis research/project at the annual Symposium in the Liberal Arts. The final draft of the thesis is presented to the reading committee at least one week prior to the end of classes. At the reading committee's discretion the student may be asked to make a formal defense of the thesis. The faculty supervisor, in consultation with the reading committee and the program director, determines whether honors is to be awarded by the first day of the final examination period.