Honors Program in Communication

To qualify for admission to the honors program a candidate must:

• major 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.)

Please Note: 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.

1. A student may apply to the honors program after the end of their fourth semester (60 credit hours) and before the end of their sixth semester (90 credit hours).
2. An application shall be made by a student (if supported by a faculty member who agrees to serve as honors advisor) by personal letter to the chair of the department and include the following: 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.
3. The application must be approved by the department before the student embarks on the honors project.

An honors project may be produced by independent work on the part of the student over two or more semesters as supervised by their 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. Some Honors Projects possibilities, not a comprehensive list, are:

• 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

1. 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 their work, independent of any subsequent Departmental Honors Committee evaluation.
2. 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.
3. The approved project should be made available to all members the department three weeks prior to the end of the semester.
4. The department by majority vote will decide to recommend or reject the Honors designation.

Please Note: Upon recommendation of the project advisor, an honors candidate may be dismissed from the honors program if they fail to demonstrate adequate progress in the honors project. The candidate shall be notified of dismissal from the honors program by letter.

• 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.