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Faculty Information Guide

Chapter 1: Honors Advisers

Section 1.1: What Every Honors Adviser Should Know About the Schreyer Honors College (SHC) in a Nutshell

• SHC Mission
• SHC Contact Information
• Important SHC Resources
• Current Requirements for Schreyer Scholars
• A Scholar’s Area of Honors: What Do the Diploma and Transcript Really Say?
• Academic Unit-Specific Requirements
• Nontraditional Scholars
• Commonwealth Campus Scholars
• Emergency Change of Assignment
• Admission of Students into the SHC
• Warnings, Dismissals, and Other Sanctions

Section 1.2: New Honors Advisers

• Orientation for New Honors Advisers
• Getting on the System as an Adviser and Being Assigned Advisees: eLion and ISIS
• Getting Activated to Use SHC Adviser Web Site

Section 1.3: Honors Advisers’ Typical (and Tricky) Tasks and Responsibilities

• Substitutions and Waivers
• Variations for Meeting Honors Course and Credit Requirements
• Advising Scholars with Multiple Majors
• Role of the Honors Adviser in Thesis Preparation
• Advising Students Doing Their Thesis Work Out of Major
• Evaluating and Approving SHC Forms
• Coordination Among Penn State Campuses
• Advising an Integrated Undergraduate/Graduate (IUG) Scholar

Section 1.4: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) From Honors Advisers

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Section 1.1: What Every Honors Adviser Should Know About
the Schreyer Honors College (SHC) in a Nutshell

SHC Mission

The SHC mission is unique and drives both in-class and out-of-class programs, commitments, and activities.

• Achieving academic excellence with integrity
• Building a global perspective
• Creating opportunities for leadership and civic engagement

SHC Contact Information

The SHC office main number is 814-863-2635; the general e-mail address is scholars@psu.edu. If you are not sure where to direct your questions, please use these methods to contact the SHC. We will help in directing your inquiry. A full listing of key SHC contacts is provided here: http://shc.psu.edu/about/staff.

Important SHC Resources

This faculty information guide will frequently refer to the following SHC information resources:

SHC Student Handbook

The SHC provides every entering Scholar with a student handbook. It is available on the Web in PDF format: http://shc.psu.edu/students/handbook.pdf. Please familiarize yourself with the handbook and encourage your advisee to keep it and consult it for necessary information. If you would like to receive a hardcopy of this manual, please contact the SHC associate dean.

SHC Facts and Figures

The SHC produces an annual report of facts and figures regarding the college. It is available in PDF format here: http://shc.psu.edu/about/2006FactsandFigures.pdf. The report includes key information about the SHC, including admissions details, special initiatives, academic profiles, and alumni profiles. If you would like to receive a hardcopy of this report, please contact the SHC coordinator of college relations.

SHC Web Sites

The SHC maintains a public Web site at http:// shc.psu.edu with a great deal of information, as well as a secure forms Web site for Scholars and honors advisers. The secure Web site is used for various activities related to forms and approvals. If you are an honors adviser, you should have access to the honors adviser’s secure Web site at https://forms.shc.psu.edu. Your SHC advisee list should be the same as your e-Lion advisee list. If you have difficulties accessing the secure Web site, contact the SHC associate dean.

The SHC Web site also features SHC blogs and podcasts at http://shc.psu.edu/blogs. It is an interactive site for information and conversation among the students, alumni, and various staff of the Honors College.

SHC Listservs

The SHC sends periodic e-mail announcements in the form of listservs to Scholars, honors faculty (advisers and coordinators), and academic administrators. Students receive listserv information three times per week. The honors faculty listserv comes out approximately every other week. If you are not receiving the listserv messages and want to receive them, please subscribe by contacting the SHC associate dean. If you wish to have something added to the student listserv, please contact the SHC main office.

Current Requirements for Schreyer Scholars

Semester and Cumulative GPA Requirements

Every Schreyer Scholar must maintain a semester GPA of 3.33 and an overall cumulative GPA of 3.33. (PLEASE NOTE: Scholars admitted to the SHC before fall 2003 must maintain a semester GPA of 3.20 and an overall GPA of 3.20.)

Annual SHC Honors Course Requirements

First year: Each Scholar must take a minimum of three (3) honors courses for nine (9) credits (including English 030).

By the end of the second year: Each Scholar must complete a minimum of six (6) honors courses for 18 credits, counting all honors credits taken in the first or second years. (PLEASE NOTE: Sophomores admitted in the academic year 2005-2006 and before must have taken a minimum of three (3) courses for seven (7) credits.)

Third year and beyond (also called the “Junior/Senior block”): Each Scholar must take a minimum of 14 credits of honors coursework. No more than six (6) of these credits can be earned in the preparation of a single honors thesis.

Students staying longer than four years are not required to take more honors credits beyond what is required for the Junior/Senior block. Students completing their degree program in seven semesters must still meet the Junior/Senior block. Students completing their degree program and graduating a year early (in six or fewer semesters) can use their final four semesters as their Junior/Senior block.

Honors Thesis Requirement

Every Schreyer Scholar must complete an honors thesis project and submit a faculty approved honors thesis document to the Schreyer Honors College prior to his/her graduation with honors.

A Scholar’s Area of Honors: What Do the Diploma and Transcript Really Say?

The SHC uses the term “area of honors” to identify the academic area in which a Schreyer Scholar’s honors thesis work is done. The honors thesis is supposed to be extensive work culminating in-depth study in a specific area, therefore the honors notation for the transcript and diploma are in the area of honors. Because of the connection between the area of honors and the honors thesis, all honors advisers in a specific area of honors must assure that a student completing a thesis in that area has demonstrated appropriate expertise (see Academic Unit-Specific Requirements.)

A majority of Scholars do their thesis work in their major. In these instances, the area of honors will be the same as the degree. For example: Scholar Sarah Abdul began in the Schreyer Honors College in the fall of 2002 and graduated in spring 2006 with a BA degree in English. Her adviser-approved honors thesis in English carries with it an implicit certification from the honors adviser in English that she has demonstrated appropriate expertise in the study of English.

Sarah’s diploma reads:

The notation at the end of Sarah's transcript reads:

In this case, Sarah’s area of honors is English.

If the thesis is completed and approved in an area outside of the major(s), the student will have an area of honors indicated by the degree earned in the area in which his or her thesis work is done. The area of honors must be the name of a minor, major, or graduate degree offered at Penn State. For example: Robert Rizzo began in the Schreyer Honors College in fall 2002 and graduated in spring 2006 with a BS degree in Kinesiology. His adviser-approved honors thesis in Meteorology carries with it an implicit certification from the honors adviser in Meteorology that Robert has demonstrated appropriate expertise in the study of Meteorology.

Robert’s diploma reads:

The notation at the end of Robert's transcript reads:

In this example, Robert’s area of honors is Meteorology.

Sometimes a student’s work spans more than one area of honors. In this case, the student’s area of honors is best described as interdisciplinary between two or more areas. The interdisciplinary honors thesis requires the approval of an honors adviser in each area. For example: Matthew Hardy began in the Schreyer Honors College in fall 2002 and graduated in spring 2006 with a BS degree in Engineering Science. His adviser-approved interdisciplinary honors thesis in Engineering Science and Mechanical Engineering carries with it an implicit certification from honors advisers in both Engineering Science and Mechanical Engineering that Matthew has demonstrated appropriate expertise in the study of these two areas.

Matthew’s diploma reads:

The notation at the end of Matthew's transcript reads:

Academic Unit-Specific Requirements

Many academic units (colleges, departments, schools, divisions, programs, etc.) have established additional specific requirements for students earning honors in their discipline. Students planning to earn honors in your area need to be informed about any requirements imposed by your area. These can include the completion of specific honors courses, such as thesis preparation or honors seminar courses, or the completion of a major or a minor in the area. The documentation provided by the SHC administration does not systematically inform the students of unit-specific requirements. If your academic unit has such requirements, please see that every Scholar planning to do thesis work with faculty in your academic unit knows these other requirements for completing their honors work in this area.

Some examples are:

www.bmb.psu.edu/undergrad/honors-thesis-policy.html

www.hhdev.psu.edu/hdfs/undergrad/honors.html

psych.la.psu.edu/undergrad/HonorsPSY.htm

fenske.che.psu.edu/ugrad/Honors/ThesisGuide2.htm

www3.la.psu.edu/histrlst/undergrad18.htm

If your academic unit elects to initiate or change the unit-specific requirements for students earning honors, please inform the SHC associate dean.

Nontraditional Scholars

Adult and part-time students may be part of the SHC. Their progress in a major and their schedule for meeting honors requirements is adapted on an individual basis in consultation with the SHC associate dean.

Commonwealth Campus Scholars

As with all Penn State students, Schreyer Scholars may start at any Penn State campus location. The Commonwealth Campuses all have honors curriculum for the first two years for many majors; however, some Scholars at campus locations will need to get a change of assignment prior to their fourth semester in order to make appropriate progress in their major and in their honors requirements. These Scholars are asked to contact honors advisers at the campus where they intend to graduate to make appropriate transition and scheduling plans. That means faculty honors advisers may receive some of these inquiries. Please feel free to communicate with the Honors Coordinator or other members of the faculty and administration at the campus when working out the details of a Scholar’s change of assignment. Contact information for the current honors coordinators is provided here: http://shc.psu.edu/students/advising/coordinators.cfm.

As of the beginning of fall 2006, three Penn State campuses have four-year SHC diploma programs: University Park, Behrend, and Abington. Scholars at these locations can graduate with honors in majors at those campuses. Scholars at all other locations are required to transition to one of these three campuses for their Junior/Senior block. If a student chooses to remain at another campus through graduation, they give up their membership in the SHC and cannot graduate with honors.

Emergency Change of Assignment

Occasionally it is necessary, due to health, personal, or financial reasons, for a Scholar to enroll temporarily at a campus without an SHC diploma program. In these instances, the Scholar is required to work closely with his or her honors adviser, the campus honors coordinator, and the SHC associate dean’s office on planning the details of an emergency change of assignment.

Admission of Students into the SHC

First-Year Scholars

First-year students applying to Penn State submit a separate application for entry into the SHC. The SHC application can be accessed online with the Penn State application. It requires that the student provide academic and biographical information, letters of recommendation, and writing samples in the form of several essays. First-year applications undergo a qualitative evaluation by a group of honors faculty in the university. Their assessment aids in the SHC’s decision about which students receive offers. Qualified students are generally sent offers of admission to the SHC in mid-February.

Approximately 300 First-Year Scholars are admitted annually. Students admitted to the SHC as first-year students receive the Schreyer Honors College Academic Excellence Scholarship for up to eight semesters, as long as they remain in good standing. Many first-year Scholars will also receive additional scholarship support from their academic colleges and other scholarship funds, university-wide.

Junior Gate Scholars

Fourth-semester students may be nominated for entry into the SHC by their major academic unit. The student’s “semester standing” is not relevant to this entry, only the amount of time they have been in college. The student prepares an SHC nomination packet including biographical and academic information, contact information of a faculty member willing to serve as a reference, and an appropriate writing sample. The Junior Gate application form will be available online in early 2008.

The writing sample is completely at the discretion of the academic unit. That means you, as an honors adviser, may be called upon to decide what it will be. The intent of the required writing sample is to give you a chance to ascertain the student’s ability to write an honors thesis in your area. Remember, they will need to be able to write a thesis within a couple of semesters, so their ability to write with some degree of sophistication at this point is critical. The writing sample can be something the student composed for a recent, relevant course, or you can ask the student for an original response to a case-study question or some other discipline-specific essay question provided by you. Please refrain from asking vague questions like, “Why do you want to be in the Honors College?” Past experience shows that little can be discerned from the answers to such questions. Please do your best to assure that the writing sample is a recent composition and demonstrates suitable sophistication.

The packet is evaluated academically by the nominator – an honors adviser and/or an academic administrator from the student’s major. Nominator-approved nomination packets are submitted to the SHC by late spring or early summer deadlines. The SHC reviews the nominations, as well, but the SHC administration intervenes with the nominator’s decisions only if the student’s GPA is lower than expected or if the SHC reaches maximum capacity for admissions. Students are offered fall admission into the Schreyer Honors College and are typically notified in late spring or early summer. Some students offered admission are subject to contingencies imposed by the SHC or by the academic unit, as designated in their nomination packet. Junior Gate Scholars begin in the SHC the following fall semester and are required to meet the honors GPA and honors course requirements of the Junior/Senior Block.

Approximately 150-200 Junior Gate Scholars are admitted annually. Students admitted to the SHC as Junior Gate Scholars are not eligible to receive the Schreyer Honors College Academic Excellence Scholarship.

Special Admissions Petitions

There are two types of petitions for students who are already students at Penn State: one that allows for consideration prior to the Junior Gate (called the Sophomore Gate Admission Petition), and one that allows for the consideration after the Junior Gate (called the Post-Junior Gate Admission Petition). The petition must be supported by an honors adviser and/or an academic administrator from the student’s major before being considered by the SHC for final approval. Petitions must demonstrate explicit reasons for not using the standard entry points. Exception petitions may be submitted to the SHC at any time. Approximately 15-25 Special Admission Petition Scholars are admitted annually. Almost all petitioners are second- to fifth-semester students.

The two petitions described above may also be used for students who are transferring to Penn State, but only after a full transcript from their former institution is available. Such information is often not available until after the student is required to complete the general admissions process and received an offer of admission. All grades for prior work must be available before the SHC petition evaluation will be conducted. Occasionally, a transfer student will be required to complete a full semester of course work at Penn State before a petition for entry into the SHC will be permitted.

For more information regarding Sophomore Gate Admission Petitions, please contact Dr. Richard Stoller, Coordinator of Selection. For information regarding the Post-Junior Gate Petition, please contact Dr. Judy Ozment, Associate Dean.

Students offered entry into the SHC by petition begin in the semester their petition is approved. Students entering by petition as sophomores must complete three honors courses for nine (9) honors credits during the sophomore year. Students entering after the Junior Gate, must still meet the 14 honors credits requirements of the Junior/Senior block. All students entering by petition must follow all other requirements of the SHC.

Warnings, Dismissals, and Other Sanctions

Failing to Maintain Appropriate Grades

If a student’s GPA drops below the minimum required GPA, the SHC automatically puts them in what is called “warning” status as described in the student handbook when outlining academic requirements. (Please note: We are careful to distinguish between the term "warning" and the term "probation" which is used by the university to describe students who are in jeopardy of failing out altogether) The Scholar is sent a letter warning them that they have fallen below the required minimum GPA and given one semester to return to good standing. The letter specifically asks them to consult their honors adviser for assistance and will be carbon copied to the adviser.

Scholars on “warning” are not eligible for travel grants and research grants, nor are they allowed to be involved with special leadership opportunities in the SHC such as serving on student council or participating in the peer mentorship program. Scholars receiving the Academic Excellence Scholarship will continue to receive their scholarship during the warning semester.

If a student’s GPA does not improve sufficiently and either the semester GPA or the cumulative GPA remain below the required minimum 3.33 after the “warning” semester, the student is dismissed from the Schreyer Honors College, and if they are receiving it, the Academic Excellence Scholarship is revoked.

Issuing an early warning helps us alert students to pay closer attention to what caused their lower grades and encourages them to make adjustments accordingly. Sometimes, lower grades can immediately be attributed to an isolated incident or problem. In those instances, most Scholars rebound with a good GPA in their next semester. Sometimes the drop in semester GPA is related to unwise academic and/or non-academic choices (e.g., taking too many credits, poor choice of major, too many majors, too many extracurricular activities, poor adjustment to advanced coursework, etc.), which may continue to affect their grades if left unattended. The warning letters ask the students to evaluate the reasons for their lower grades and determine if there is anything that ought to be corrected or adjusted. 

Sometimes, a student’s academic performance suffers if they are experiencing unusual personal or health-related problems. If you know that a student’s performance was adversely affected by non-academic issues, please alert the associate dean of the SHC or encourage the student to visit the SHC office and make an appointment. Scholars experiencing such difficulties may be granted a reversal of dismissal and extensions in their time in the SHC upon review of the specific details of the circumstances by the Dean’s office. To initiate an appeal of a dismissal, students must submit a letter in writing to the Dean of the SHC.

Dean Christian Brady
10 Schreyer Honors College
University Park, PA 16802-3905

Failing to Complete Annual Honors Course Requirements

A Scholar who does not complete the annual requirements for honors courses will be contacted by the SHC Coordinator of Student Records. The sanction and remediation of deficiencies are handled on a case-by-case basis by the associate dean’s office. At this time, however, there are no unilateral sanctions for students not in compliance with this requirement.

Failing to File an Approved AAP Form

A Scholar must submit the required AAP form to the SHC. Students not complying with the forms deadline are contacted (repeatedly, if necessary) by the SHC coordinator of student records. Beginning in Fall 2005, first-year students not in compliance with this requirement after the September deadline were sent letters indicating their AES scholarship would be withheld for the spring semester unless they complied with the submission of the online form. As a result, all students in the 2005 entry class did submit their AES forms, though some of those forms remain unapproved or disapproved by the honors advisers. There are currently no unilateral sanctions for students not in compliance with this requirement who do not receive AES funding.

Failing to File an Approved TPR Form

A Scholar must submit the required TPR form to the SHC one year prior to his or her intended graduation. Students not complying with this deadline will be contacted (repeatedly, if necessary) by the SHC coordinator of student records. The TPR form is used by the SHC to activate the SHC graduation checking. A student must submit the TPR form in a timely fashion or they risk not having appropriate information from the SHC for thesis submission, they will not be checked for graduation in a timely fashion, and they risk not being included in the SHC’s Medals Ceremony. Students out of compliance with this requirement will be notified (repeatedly, if necessary) by the SHC coordinator of student records.

Students who fail to file a TPR by a specified time early in the semester before their intended graduation are dismissed from the Schreyer Honors College. Please note: Even if the graduating student is working on the completion of an honors thesis and subsequently defers graduation to complete the thesis, the student will remain dismissed until a TPR is submitted and all other requirements for graduating with honors are completed (or in progress, in the case of registered honors courses).

Failing to Submit an Approved Thesis

A Scholar cannot graduate with honors without submitting an approved honors thesis. There are no exceptions to this rule. A student who graduates without submitting an approved honors thesis does not graduate with honors. It is not possible to receive honors at some time later. A student with an incomplete thesis who wishes to graduate with honors must defer their undergraduate graduation to a later semester if they wish more time to complete their thesis.

Section 1.2: New Honors Advisers

Orientation for New Honors Advisers

The SHC associate dean’s office offers periodic orientation for newly assigned honors advisers designed to give you key information and answer specific questions about being an honors adviser. Please take advantage of these sessions if you are new to honors. If you are assigned to advise honors students, please contact the SHC associate dean.

Getting on the System as an Adviser and Being Assigned Advisees: eLion and ISIS

The SHC does not assign honors advisers nor does it assign your advisees. These things must be done in your academic unit. You will need to locate the staff member in your academic unit with access to ISIS system. They will use ARUSAA and ARUSAB in ISIS to get you added to the system as an honors adviser and to assign your advisees. The SHC staff uses ARUSSU in ISIS to manage your advisees’ honors status, including information about the receipt of approved documents, entry status, and warning status.

There is no need for you to have access to the ISIS system because almost everything in ISIS is also in eLion. Once you are assigned as an adviser with advisees, check out the features of eLion. The left-side bar shows all the features. Some of the most useful ones are the Academic Summary, the Degree Audit, the Student Schedule, and the Transcript. The SHC does not maintain the eLion site, so if you have questions or problems, see http://elion.oas.psu.edu/advising/arusab.html or send e-mail to AIS-Support@psu.edu.

Getting Activated to Use SHC Adviser Web Site

The SHC maintains a secure Web site for honors advisers. It is used for various activities related to forms and approvals. Once you are assigned advisees, alert the administrative assistant to the SHC associate dean to initiate your access to that site. Your access account and password also get you into that site. Your eLion honors advisees should match the list of SHC advisees. If they do not, check with the staff member in your department who assigned your advisees to make sure that they were assigned correctly. If you continue to have difficulties, contact the administrative assistant to the SHC associate dean.

Section 1.3: Honors Advisers’ Typical (and Tricky) Tasks and Responsibilities

Substitutions and Waivers

Honors advisers have been granted broad authority to approve waivers and substitutions for degree requirements, university requirements, and general education requirements for your honors advisees. By university policy, you have been charged with sole capacity to approve waivers and substitutions and the sole responsibility to assure that the intent of the requirements for graduation have been met. The mechanism to get these waivers and exceptions added to the student’s degree audit varies from college to college. It will generally involve the academic college’s associate dean’s office staff. Contact the SHC coordinator of student records office if you need more information.

Variations for Meeting Honors Course and Credit Requirements

There are five ways to complete honors course and credit requirements. A Scholar may:

1. take regularly scheduled honors courses or sections
   (designated with the suffix H, M, or T)
2. do honors option (HO) courses
3. do honors independent study (HI) courses.
4. Advanced Level courses may also be used to fulfill honors credit requirements. In particular, 400-level courses count as advanced courses for meeting a Scholar's honors requirements during any of the first four (4) semesters at Penn State; 500-level courses always count as advanced courses for meeting a Scholars honors requirements.
5. Study abroad can be used to fulfill honors credit requirements according to the following equivalence chart:
   • Full academic year study abroad – equivalent of six (6) H-credits,
   • Full semester study abroad – equivalent of three (3) H-credits, 
   • 4-14 weeks study abroad – equivalent of two (2) H-credits,
   • 1-3 weeks study abroad – equivalent of one (1) H-credit.

Advising Scholars with Multiple Majors

A student with multiple majors will have multiple honors advisers. The student’s academic planning must be coordinated. All exceptions and waivers must be approved by all advisers. ISIS and eLion will only list one person as the adviser. That is the adviser from the student’s first declared major. That “adviser on record” is the only one who can make online approvals in the SHC system. The limitations of the Penn State student records system often prevents the “switching” of the advisers without direct coordination between the two departments involved. Assigned honors advisers who are not “advisers on record” may approve SHC forms, but they must be submitted in paper form to the SHC office.

Role of the Honors Adviser in Thesis Preparation

Students earning honors in your area will require the approval of an honors adviser on the thesis. In contrast to the thesis supervisor, who is selected by the student, the honors adviser is selected by the department and reads the thesis to judge the honors quality of the work. You should count on reading the thesis of any senior Schreyer Scholar you advise who is earning honors in a major in your area. In addition, you will be called upon to read the theses of any Scholar who has included you as honors adviser on their approved Thesis Proposal Report; they are completing their honors work in your area. See other important information provided in earlier sections: A Scholar’s Area of Honors and Academic Unit-Specific Requirements.

Thesis reading generally takes up time near the end of the semester when everyone is very busy, so instruct students about the appropriate timeline necessary for you to read and approve their theses. Also, alert any seniors of pending sabbatical plans or other times during their senior year when you expect to be out of town for an extended period of time.

Advising Students Doing Their Thesis Work Out of Major

Scholar doing their thesis work outside of their major or doing interdisciplinary thesis work will require an honors adviser in the appropriate area(s) of honors to agree to read his/her thesis. Such students should consult and negotiate with you any details required to complete their honors work in your area. Please review important information provided in earlier sections of the Faculty Information Guide: A Scholar’s Area of Honors and Unit-Specific Requirements. Negotiations should include information about specific and general expertise required to earn honors in your area. These discussions ought to happen in (or before) their junior year. You must be satisfied with the student’s plan to complete the thesis in your area before the student submits his/her approved Thesis Proposal Report. These students will not be added to your advising roster. Aside from expert advice related to the approval of their honors thesis, you are not responsible for any other SHC or university advising functions.

Because major advising is generally more complex than honors advising, a student’s official assigned honors adviser remains his/her major adviser, even if the student is doing her/his honors thesis work outside of major. In such instance, the student’s assigned honors adviser has no signatory role in the production of the thesis done outside of the major. The honors adviser in major is still the one who evaluates and approves all required SHC forms (see next section). The student’s assigned honors adviser should work closely with the honors adviser in the student’s thesis area(s) to coordinate the completion of appropriate honors courses – especially those related to the production of the honors thesis.

Evaluating and Approving SHC Forms

Annual Academic Plan (AAP)

Every Scholar submits an Annual Academic Plan. New Scholars have a filing deadline of the third week of classes in September and returning Scholars file their plan in early April. An AAP must be reviewed and approved by the student’s academic adviser. The SHC expects you to:

1. check to see that the student is making appropriate progress in major,
2. affirm progress toward completion of general education and other university requirements,
3. check to make sure that the student is meeting their honors requirements,
4. evaluate and approve all appropriate substitutions and waivers, and
5. discuss other relevant opportunities, plans, and problems.

While face-to-face appointments are often necessary for such advising, some routine communications can readily be done through e-mail or by phone. The AAP form is available online for the students to submit. Once the student completes the AAP, the adviser of record receives an e-mail alert. An AAP filed by a student but not approved by you is considered incomplete.

Honors Option (HO) Forms

If a student plans to complete an honors option for a non-honors course, an Honors Option form must be filed by the third week of the semester in which the course is being taken. When your advisee seeks your approval on an Honors Option form, the SHC expects you to:

1. review the plan for completing honors-quality work,
2. review the plan for honors appropriate assessment of alternative work, and
3. confirm the appropriateness of the credentials of the instructor.

Instructors for honors options should be tenure-line faculty. (See honors courses for details.) If you believe that the expert credentials for the faculty member teaching the course warrant an exception, please include a short explanation of your conclusion.

Honors Independent Study/Research (HI) forms

If a student plans to do honors work in an independent study course or a research course, an Honors Independent Study/Research form must be filed by the sixth week of the semester in which the course is being taken. When your advisee seeks your approval on an HI form, the SHC expects you to:

1. review the plan for completing honors-quality work
2. review the plan for honors appropriate assessment of the work, and
3. confirm the appropriateness of the credentials of the instructor.

Instructors for honors independent study or honors research should be tenure-line faculty. If you believe that the expert credentials for the faculty member teaching the course warrant an exception, please include a short explanation of your conclusion.

Thesis Proposal Report (TPR)

By the end of the sixth semester, all of your advisees must submit a Thesis Proposal Report (TPR). This is an extremely important document that shows:

1. what honors credentials a student is seeking,
2. which faculty members will be serving as thesis supervisor(s) and honors adviser(s) for the student’s thesis project,
3. when the student intends to graduate, and
4. a summary of the student’s thesis project plan.

Any honors adviser signing the TPR form must

1. review the thesis project plan for completing honors-quality thesis work,
2. review the student’s academic credentials required to prepare him/her for the thesis project, and
3. confirm the appropriateness of the credentials of the thesis supervisor.

Coordination Among Penn State Campuses

Change-of-Assignment Scholars

Some Scholars change their campus assignment during their time at Penn State. In some instances, that means you will be preparing a Scholar to go to a new campus location. In other instances, that means you will be orienting a change-of-assignment Scholar from another location to your campus, college, and academic area. Most change-of-assignment Scholars need some special attention before, during, and after the transition. The honors advisers and honors coordinators should work together to make this a seamless transition.

Junior Gate, Change-of-Assignment Scholars

Some students will change their campus assignment and enter the SHC simultaneously. In some instances, that means you will be preparing a Scholar’s Junior Gate nomination in coordination with the student’s new campus and college honors advisers/coordinators. In other instances, that means you will be reviewing the credentials of a change-of-assignment student from another location for Junior Gate admission to become a Scholar in your academic area. Most change-of-assignment students need to get information about earning honors in your academic area in order to complete the nomination packet. The honors advisers, honors coordinators, and other appropriate faculty should work together to make the evaluation of the student’s credentials and the student’s change of assignment a seamless transition.

Advising an Integrated Undergraduate/Graduate (IUG) Scholar

The honors adviser must:

1. write a letter of endorsement for the Scholar’s plan to enter the IUG program, focusing attention on the student’s ability to achieve a satisfactorily rich and meaningful honors undergraduate education while accelerating into an appropriate masters program,
2. review and approve the Scholar’s IUG plan of study, and
3. review and sign the Scholar’s Semester Reports used by the graduate school to build the Scholar’s graduate transcript.

Section 1.4: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) From Honors Advisers

What are the specific deadlines for forms?

Imminent deadlines will be listed on the full SHC calendar of events online. If you are unable to find the deadline you are seeking, contact the SHC main office.

How do I approve an AAP online?

Access the SHC Online Forms server at http://forms.shc.psu.edu. Log in using your Penn State access account. Locate the menu item “Adviser Forms.” Select “View/Approve Annual Academic Plan” and follow the instructions.

What if I don’t approve of what my advisee put in his/her AAP?

Provide feedback in the text box provided for necessary corrections or additions, then disapprove the AAP. An e-mail will be sent to the student with that information.

What if my advisee doesn’t show up in the advisee list on the SHC Web site?

Check the student’s adviser information in eLion to see if he/she is assigned as your advisee. Alert your department office if your advisee has not been properly assigned to you. (See Getting on the System for information about how to access eLion.)

My advisee has missed several appointments with me and has not answered my calls or e-mails. What do I do about this?

Alert the SHC coordinator of student records and, if appropriate, ask your department to have the student assigned a different adviser.

My advisee is insisting that I approve a very unusual waiver for a university requirement. How do I know whether it is okay or not?

Senate Policy gives honors advisers broad authority and responsibility to grant waivers and substitutions, with very few exemptions. Ask yourself, does this meet the spirit of this requirement for this student? (See Senate policy for details.) If the student is insisting on getting waivers and substitutions that you believe are not appropriate, you may refer him to your college’s advising center or the office of the administrator who approves waivers for your college. Contact the SHC associate dean if you would like to discuss a particular substitution or waiver.

My advisee is asking questions I don’t know the answers to. Is there someone else he can talk to?

Yes. If the student is asking about other majors or programs in the university, you can give him/her the names and contact information for an honors adviser in those academic areas. (See http://shc.psu.edu/students/advising/advisers for honors adviser contact information.) If the student is asking about scholarships, study abroad, SHC co-curricular programs, or other SHC opportunities, you may refer the student to the SHC main office. If the student is asking academic questions, you may refer him/her to the SHC associate dean.

I met with an outstanding student who just started his fourth semester at Penn State but because of AP credits he has fifth semester standing. Do I nominate him as a Junior Gate Scholar or use a Special Admissions Petition?

As long as the student plans to be at Penn State for three or more semesters, nominate him as a Junior Gate Scholar.

I just received Junior Gate nomination materials for a student I don’t know. What am I supposed to do with them?

The materials may have been sent to you from another campus. If the materials include a nomination form that names your academic area as the student’s intended major, you may have received them for review. The best person to contact to get further information is the nominator, listed on the nomination form. If you are still not clear that these materials should have been received by you, then forward them to the SHC coordinator of selection.

A brand-new Junior Gate Scholar is studying abroad the summer before her junior year starts. Can she get honors credit for that international travel?

No, Junior Gate Scholars start in the SHC in the fall. International experiences in the summer cannot be counted to meet her Junior/Senior block requirements.

How many credits must a student earn for doing their thesis?

The SHC's only rule about thesis credits is a maximum rule: "Up to six (6) honors credits can be devoted to thesis research and writing." Most of the time, a student will choose to register for six (6) honors thesis credits total (often three (3) in Fall, three (3) in Spring). However, in some cases, especially when the work is done as part of a project that precludes the easy production of a significant number of undergraduate honors credits (such as a summer project, as part of a co-op or internship, or as part of an IUG masters program), then the student may end up earning fewer than six (6) honors credits specifically related to the production of the thesis. In those cases, the student must still complete the full complement of honors credit requirements.

Does a general research methods course count toward a student’s six thesis credits?

Many departments provide (and some require) a “research methods” course. Most permanent courses of this type have the course number 300H, though some are also offered at the 400-level, such as B A 412H. Such “methods” courses are designed to help prepare students, in general, for research in an academic area. Such "methods" credits are not counted against the student’s maximum of six (6). If you are unsure about whether a course will be counted toward the student’s thesis credits or not, please consult the SHC associate dean for clarification.

If a student does an honors thesis outside of their major how will the thesis credits count toward their degree?

How thesis credits count toward the completion of a student's major requirements really depends greatly on what major the student is doing and what thesis the student is doing. In some extreme cases, they will not count at all. For example, a biochemistry student doing his honors thesis in music may not be able to use his music thesis credits to meet any of his major requirements, though they will still be used to meet the SHC undergraduate honors requirements.  In many majors, there are secondary requirements, sometimes called “supporting and related areas ” or “electives.” Thesis coursework may be used to meet those requirements on a Scholar's degree audit. Case by case, a Scholar can request substitutions of thesis credits for any suitable degree requirement; those substitutions are granted if the student's major honors adviser is satisfied that the proposed substitution meets the spirit of the requirement. That gives a lot of individual flexibility to the student, with concurrence from her/his adviser, to use the thesis credits toward meeting certain degree requirements when the thesis area overlaps with the major area. In all affected areas, external accreditation requirements and requirements based on state or federal laws must also be met before a substitution is approved.

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