Honors Program in Psychology
Students will receive a B.A. or B.S. with Honors in
Psychology if they fulfill the following requirements:
1. Acceptance into Honors Program - Entry into the program will be through a formal application reviewed
and approved by the Psychology Department. The application will include the
student's course work, grade point average and letter of nomination from
a faculty member. Psychology majors may apply to the program if they have
at least sophomore status and at least 3 credit hours in Psychology at the
200 level and above.
2. APSY 499 - Research Seminar (1 credit hour--Prereq or coreq:
APSY 22S; or consent of instructor). This course will be offered at one meeting
time per week. During these meetings, Psychology faculty will present their
research/theoretical ideas in a seminar format. Students will be required
to read assigned materials to prepare for lectures. Students will also be
required to present material in class. Students may take this course for
credit a maximum of three times. Students not accepted into the Honors Program
may take APSY 499 as long as they have at least sophomore status and at least
3 credit hours in Psychology at the 200 level and above. It will be recommended
that honors students take the seminar course no later than their junior year
to allow time to complete the research thesis (see below).
3. APSY 599 - Honors Research Thesis. (3 credit hours - Prereq: consent of Honors Supervisor, APSY 499, and project approval by Honors Committee). In addition to attending the research seminar (APSY 499), honors students will be required to conduct a laboratory/practicum research project under the supervision and direction of any psychology faculty member At the end of the course, each student will be required to prepare a paper in the form of an Honors Thesis. These projects may be conducted individually, or several students may elect to work on a single project, depending upon student interest and faculty availability. Thesis preparation and eventual defense (see below) must be conducted individually. Each research project must receive approval by a committee composed of three Psychology Department faculty members prior to registration in APSY 599. Honors Thesis Defense - each honors student will be required to successfully "defend" the thesis, with the honors defense committee comprised of the faculty director of the project and two additional psychology faculty. The honors committee must approve the defense in order for the student to graduate with honors.
4. Course requirements for a bachelor's degree in Psychology plus at least 3-6 additional credit hours in Psychology at the 300 level and above, depending on credit earned for APSY 599.
5. Grade point average of 3.0 in Psychology and grade point average of 2.85 overall at time of graduation
