Introduction

This handbook is intended for all students interested in or involved in the University Honors Program at Texas A&M University-Commerce. Please read it carefully because not all the handbook applies to every student at every moment, but the handbook does contain specific information about what a student must do during various phases of his or her pursuit of an Honors degree.  The handbook concludes with appendices on the most important materials associated with the Honors Program.

The key to the Honors Program is flexibility. The Program is specifically designed to allow freshmen to start Honors courses right away, to accommodate transfer students who enter the university as juniors, and to permit working students to plan classes around their work schedules. 

OVERVIEW and FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1.      Why Should I Enroll in Honors?  

It sets you apart from the average undergraduate. Even if you take only one Honors course, it is listed on your transcript with an H designation. If you pursue and acquire an Honors degree, you stand apart from the ordinary Texas A & M University-Commerce graduate, and you are immediately attractive to a graduate school or potential employer.

2.      Who Is Eligible to Take Honors Courses?

Ordinarily, an ACT of 26 or above and/or a composite SAT of 1100 or above qualifies an incoming student to take Honors courses, and a GPA of 3.25 or above qualifies transfer students to take Honors courses.  However, student desire is also important. Thus, a student who does not meet the qualifications can enroll in Honors courses with the approval of the Honors Director or the individual instructor in the course. In fact, any student who can demonstrate a GPA of 3.25 or higher can enroll in Honors courses.

Honors classes are offered at the 100 and 200-level University Studies courses each semester. (Please check the Schedule of Classes for a given semester to see which Honors classes are offered.) In addition, an Honors Capstone course is usually offered each semester on a select topic. Look for he Honors Capstone for a given semester in the online Schedule of Classes.

3.      What Are Some of the Benefits Involved in Being Part of the Honors Program?

There is no formal admittance policy into the Honors Program. Enrollment begins when a student decides to participate by signing up for a full Honors course or registering for Honors Colloquium.  The benefits of honors classes include:

a)      Small classes. Each Honors course is usually limited to 25 students. The course is taught by a seasoned, full-time faculty member. Students can thus expect a letter of recommendation in the future because the instructor will remember the student.

b)      Mentoring. Students who elect to pursue graduation with Honors have the unique opportunity to work one-on-one with a faculty member while completing their Honors thesis. Undergraduates are rarely afforded access to the excitement and personal fulfillment generated by such scholarly endeavors.

4.      What Will Graduation with Honors Do for Me?

All students who graduate with Honors have their names, thesis titles, and advisors listed in the commencement program, and each Honors graduate receives a blue and gold fourragere from his or her advisor during the commencement ceremony. More importantly, an Honors degree follows a student for the rest of his or her life. Recent Honors graduates have confirmed that they had an advantage in getting a job, winning a scholarship, being hired in an ISD, etc., because they graduated with Honors.

5.      What Can I Do for the Honors Program?

Promote the Honors Program up on campus. All the advertising in the world does not match word-of-mouth praise for an instructor or a valuable Honors experience.

Honors Program

The Honors Program is deliberately designed with flexibility in mind to accommodate the needs of a diverse student population at a regional university.  There is no Honors Program, per se, where students are identified prior to enrollment in the university and urged to enter a four-year Honors Program.  Instead, because some 60% of students here are transfer students and because many students work and commute and many are non-traditional students, entry into the Honors Program can occur at various points. For example, a beginning freshman may elect to take two 100-level courses during his or her first year; at the opposite extreme, a transfer student might opt for an Honors Capstone course or earn Honors credit in a non-Honors course.

To graduate with Honors, each student:

1.      Must have at least a cumulative 3.25 GPA at the time of graduation.

2.      Take at least TWO Honors Classes offered in the regular schedule of classes that are designated with an H, such as University Studies and Capstones, or work with an individual instructor to earn Honors credit in a non-Honors designated course. To earn Honors credit in a non-designated Honors course, you will need to complete an Honors contract.  A sample Honors contract is included in this handbook.  The Honors secretary will assist you with completing the Honors contract.

3.      Must take one semester of the Honors Colloquium (200-level, sophomores; or 300-level, juniors; or 400-level, seniors) for one credit hour. The method of evaluation will be two reactions papers written on any two of the required Colloquia during a given semester. The Honors director will grade the reaction papers and determine the student’s grade, which will also be based on attendance.

4.      Must successfully complete Honors Readings (491) and Honors Thesis (490).

a)      Honors Readings (491)

·        Students enroll in Honors Readings to prepare the Honors thesis proposal, which must be approved by the University Honors Committee prior to enrolling in Honors Thesis (490).  Students enroll in Honors Readings (491) in the department in which they are planning to research and write an Honors thesis.  Each student works with an academic advisor who must approve the Honors thesis proposal prior to submission for University Honors Committee approval.  The University Honors Committee meets twice during the fall and spring semesters.  Each semester, the Honors office posts a key dates and deadlines handout with proposal submission deadlines. 

·        The Honors office will provide a handbook, Guidelines for Writing the Honors Thesis Proposal, to each student enrolled in Honors Readings and the student’s advisor.  It is the student’s responsibility to come by the Honors office and obtain a copy of the guidelines.

·        The student must submit the Honors thesis proposal to the Honors director in the Honors office.  Please see the key dates and deadlines document for the format for submitting the proposal.

·      Failure to Complete the Honors Thesis Proposal.  Occasionally, personal or professional commitments prevent the student from completing the Honors thesis proposal.  If a student registers for Honors Readings 491 and fails to submit the written proposal to the University Honors Committee, and does not withdraw from the course, a grade of I (incomplete) will be entered on the transcript and will remain unchanged.

b)      Honors Thesis (490)

·        Once the Honors thesis proposal has been accepted by the University Honors Committee, the student, under the direction of his/her Honors advisor, completes the Honors thesis.  The student must successfully defend the Honors thesis prior to graduation.  

·        For December and May Honors graduates, the Honors thesis defense must take place prior to the last meeting of the University Honors Committee meeting in the fall and spring semesters, respectively.  For August commencement, please see the Honors director for deadline defense dates. To schedule the Honors thesis defense, the student must meet with the Honors director who will work with the student and the advisor to set up a mutually agreed upon date and time.  The Honors office will provide you with more details about the Honors thesis defense, binding your Honors thesis, and final preparations for graduation with Honors.

·        Failure to Complete the Honors Thesis.  Occasionally, personal or professional commitments prevent the student from completing Honors Thesis 490 even after the Honors thesis proposal has been approved.  If a student registers for Honors Thesis 490 and fails to complete the Honors Thesis and does not withdraw from the course, a grade of I (incomplete) will be entered on the transcript and will remain unchanged.

Honors Organizations

There are many Honors organizations at Texas A&M University-Commerce.  Generally speaking, each academic department of specialized area has an affiliation with an Honors organization at the national level.  For example, Sigma Tau Delta is the international Honors Society for English Majors and Minors, and Pi Sigma Alpha is the national Political Science Honors Society.  However, these and other specialized honors societies are not technically part of the Honors Program.

1.      Student Organizations:  Three Honors organizations come under the supervision of the director of the Honors Program:

a)      Student Honors Council (SHC).  Application for membership is open to any student who is currently or has been actively involved in some phase of the Honors Program; a member of the Honors Student Association (HSA); or someone who has completed an Honors course, or a person who is taking or has taken Honors Colloquium, or a student who is actively engaged in some phase of the Honors Thesis.  The SHC can accommodate up to 13 members (one or more of whom may be a member of the Society of Alpha Chi which is described below).  Members elect a president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary for each academic year.  Duties of the SHC include:

·      Proposing changes or modification to the Honors Program.

·      Recruiting members for the Honors Student Association.

·      Publicizing the Honors Program through flyers, visits to Honors classes, etc.

·      Selecting the Honors Professor of the Year.

·      Recognizing contributions made by faculty and staff involved in the Honors Program.

·      Promoting the Honors Program on a formal and informal basis (flyers on courses, occasional luncheons, annual Open House, etc.

·      Assisting with Honors Day

b)      Honors Student Association (HSA).  The purpose of the Honors Student Association is to strive to promote academic excellence in all fields of study; to provide programs and opportunities for honors students in which they can readily develop scholastic as well as social interaction with administrators, faculty, and peers; and to encourage personal growth and development through academic success.

c)      The Society of Alpha Chi (AX).  Alpha Chi is the largest and most significant Honors organization at Texas A&M University-Commerce.  In the fall semester, the Honors office conducts an induction of new members at a formal ceremony in the Memorial Student Center.  The local Texas Lambda Chapter is affiliated with the National organization at Harding University, Searcy, AR.  Each fall, the Honors director will send a letter to eligible students inviting them to join Alpha Chi.

The requirements for membership are a composite 3.5 GPA or higher who have completed 60 hours of credit, 24 of which are from TAMU-C.  Additionally, the actual number of students who are invited to join will not exceed 10% of the entire junior class and 10% of the entire senior class.  The local chapter does not have formal meetings, but the Texas Lambda Chapter does participate in Honors service activities.  Membership in Alpha Chi is a valuable addition to any student’s résumé.  In addition, graduating seniors who belong to Alpha Chi are listed in a separate section in the commencement program, and each student receives an Alpha Chi seal on his or her diploma.  For graduating seniors, the Honors office handles the traditional Alpha Chi honors cords.  Cords are available for purchase after the Honors office receives the list of graduating seniors from the Registrar’s office.

2.      Faculty Organization: The supervisory body for the Honors Program is the University Honors Committee which consists of faculty members from across the university.  The University Honors Committee is appointed by and serves at the discretion of the President and CEO of the University.  The Honors Director chairs the University Honors Committee.  The group meets twice in the fall and spring semesters.  The duties of the committee include:

a)      Approving or suggesting modifications in all student Honors Thesis proposals

b)      Voting on the level of Honors for each student graduating with Honors in a given semester

c)      Approving or disapproving initiatives forwarded by the SHC

d)      Instituting changes or modifications in the Honors Program.

Other Information

The Honors Program hosts and coordinates a number of activities throughout the year such as the annual fall Alpha Chi induction and the annual spring Honors Day Luncheon.  Each fall semester, the Honors Program hosts an Open House which gives current and prospective Honors students an opportunity to meet with Honors faculty and other Honors students.

It is important that you keep the Honors office apprised of your current contact information and your progress as you complete the Honors Program. 

Dr. Raymond Green

Director, University Honors Program

Raymond_Green@tamu-commerce.edu

Mrs. Kay Hatfield
 

Administrative Secretary, University Honors Program

Kay_Hatfield@tamu-commerce.edu

Phone: 903.886.3033