Honors in Psychology

Members of the faculty of the Department of Psychology encourage students of exceptional academic accomplishment to pursue research with a departmental faculty sponsor that is of an in-depth, rigorous nature; this work will introduce the student to the quality of research one would normally experience in a graduate program. Because the level of involvement of the student and his or her faculty sponsor will be greater in Honors research than that in either a Tutorial or Directed Inquiry, the faculty of the Department of Psychology have established the following rules for student admission to and conduct in the Departmental Honors Program:

  1. The student must have cumulative and major GPAs of at least 3.5 at the time of application for Honors work and upon graduation from the College;
  2. The student must participate in the Honors project for a minimum time period of two academic semesters, during which the student will be enrolled in Psychology 495-6 for nine credit hours, three of which will be taken in the semester he or she is enrolled in Senior Seminar (Psychology 485);
  3. The student must have completed at least 40 hours in Psychology at Rhodes by the completion of the Honors project (typically at graduation);  
  4. Sponsorship by one faculty member in the Department (normally a faculty member will sponsor only one student at a time), one additional reader in the Department, and one reader outside the Department are required for the student’s Honors project;
  5. The Honors project must be initiated by a student-generated Honors proposal that explicitly states the question(s) to be addressed in the Honors project and describes, in general, the methodology to be used to answer the question(s);
  6. The student’s Honors proposal must be approved by the majority of the Department’s faculty;
  7. The student and faculty sponsor must seek separate approval of the Honors project by the Department Chairperson if the project will require dedicated laboratory space and/or equipment (e.g., a dedicated computer), purchase with Departmental funds of goods and/or services, use of the student research participant pool, or other potential Departmental obligations;
  8. The student must obtain IRB approval for use of human subjects in his or her research;
  9. The Honors project must include a written work that is approved by the Faculty sponsor and the project’s designated readers and conforms to the style guidelines presented in the current edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association;
  10. The student must give an oral presentation of the results of the Honors project that is open to the public, and this presentation must be approved by the Faculty sponsor and the project’s designated readers; and
  11. The student who wishes to apply for Honors in Psychology normally will enroll in the Junior Seminar (Psychology 399) for one hour during the Spring Semester of his or her Junior year; in so doing the student initiates the honors proposal process.  
  12. The student must complete each of stage of the honors process no later than the dates specified below:
  • by the end of first week of Fall classes, student notifies the Department Chairperson in writing of her/his intent to apply for the Honors program;  this notification must be co-signed by the faculty mentor who has agreed to supervise the project
  • by  the end of the second week of Fall classes, the student submits the Honors proposal to the faculty sponsor and both departmental and extradepartmental readers
  • by the end of third week of Fall classes, the student submits the revised Honors proposal (signed by supervisor and readers) to Department Chairperson
  • by the end of fourth week of Fall classes, the student and faculty sponsor learn of the Department’s approval or disapproval of the proposal
  • by the end of third week of March, student submits the Honors paper to the faculty sponsor and readers
  • by the end of first week of April, student learns whether paper is accepted, rejected, or accepted pending revisions
  • if revisions are required, by the end of the third week of April, the student must submit the revised draft of the Honors paper to the faculty sponsor and readers 
  • within two weeks of receipt of the revised Honors paper, the student will be notified by the department chair whether the paper is accepted and honors are received
  • by end of the exam period for the Spring semester, the student submits the approved draft of the Honors paper to the Registrar’s Office in preparation for its placement in the College Library
  • by the last day of classes, the student will make a public oral presentation of the research at a time scheduled in consultation with the Department