Please note: Application forms must be typed. Handwritten forms will not be accepted.
The Departmental Academic Honors Program is designed to challenge students with superior academic abilities. The program provides an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of an academic area through independent study and close faculty-student association. Students who complete the requirements outlined below graduate with the distinction of "With Departmental Academic Honors" noted on their transcript.
Departmental Academic Honors are awarded to students who:
1. Maintain a cumulative 3.5000 GPA.
2. Complete a minimum of nine semester hours of credit designated as taken for honors in the student's major department.
Students usually complete three courses to accrue the minimum of nine semester hours credit. In no case will a student receive honors credit for completing fewer than two courses.
Students must formally elect to take a course for honors within the first one-fourth of the length of the course by completing the Enrollment For Departmental Academic Honors form and submitting it to the Registrar's Office, Room 103 Russ Hall. The application deadline for fall 2009 semester is Friday, September 11, 2009. Please utilize the above linked form. The Departmental Academic Honors Committee requires that the application be typed. (You may type on the above linked form prior to printing). Handwritten forms will not be accepted. The following link provides an example of an approved honors project Sample Honors Application. Note the completeness of the answers.
Departmental faculty designate upper-division and senior-graduate courses which may be taken for honors and determine the nature of the honors work to be completed by the student. Eligible courses are designated by the notation "May be taken for honors" in the course description of the University Catalog. Independent Studies and/or Readings courses are not allowed to be taken for departmental academic honors.
A student may not enroll for departmental academic honors unless the student has at least a 3.5000 cumulative GPA.
Students enrolling in courses for honors will be expected to complete all of the regularly assigned course work and additional assigned work demonstrating scholarship, research, and/or creative endeavor.
The student and the instructor will develop a statement that will define the work to be completed in the designated courses.
Students are limited to one honors course per semester or summer session.
No project/paper and/or course shall be accepted with a grade less than B. Students must earn a letter grade of "A" or "B" in a class taken for honors to receive honors credit.
It is recommended that a grade of incomplete be allowed for the honors project of a course for a period not to exceed one semester and only under extenuating circumstances.
Any exceptions to the above guidelines must be approved by the Honors Committee of the Pittsburg State University Faculty Senate.
If you have questions concerning the Departmental Academic Honors Program, please contact your instructor, advisor, or Jeanine Van Becelaere, Registrar Secretary, 235-4206 or email jvanbece@pittstate.edu