Hutton Honors College

Contact:
Undergraduate Advisor
Lindley 225
855-1502

1. How is your honors degree program administered? Is there a specific person who acts as coordinator? Is there a faculty committee?

The undergraduate advisor acts as the departmental program coordinator. The departmental honors committee provides approval to students who wish to participate in the program.

2. What are the requirements for admission into your honors program? How are students recruited for your program? May students recommend themselves?

Any student may apply, and at any time. We announce the availability of the program on degree requirement sheets and occasionally in the monthly undergraduate newsletter. Students new to the major are sent a welcome letter, and those students with a 3.3 cumulative GPA are asked to consider the honors program. Prospective majors in the honors college are sent a letter from the honors chair announcing the availability of the program.

3. How does a student graduate with honors from your department?

A candidate for a honors degree is expected to complete 11 hours of honors courses ("H" prefix), which parallel courses required of all majors. Students in the honors program must maintain 3.3 GPA in all their courses and in courses used to satisfy computer science concentration requirements. An additional advanced computer science course is required as specified in the B.S. and B.A. honors requirements.

4. What courses do students take as juniors and before in order to prepare for working on the senior project? How are these honors seminars and courses typically conducted? What are the usual requirements in such courses?

The honors (H) courses may be either small independent courses or combined with a parallel non-honors course, but with a laboratory section restricted to honors students. In either case, honors sections present added challenges, learning opportunities and expectations.

5. What is the nature of the senior project and what are the requirements for completing it?

Very few students have chosen to do the Y499 honors research project. They choose to do, instead, an additional advanced course.

6. How might the work required for earning an honors degree be particularly beneficial in future endeavors?

In addition to preparation for graduate work, completion of the honors degree is beneficial in the eyes of prospective employers in industry and provides more depth and breadth of training in computer science.

7. What are the advantages for students who pursue the honors degree compared to a regular degree in your area?

Honors students have additional opportunities for advanced instruction with other honors students.

8. Explain the background of honors course offerings in your discipline. When were honors courses or sections first offered? When was your honors degree program instituted?

Our first honors course, S201, was taught by Mitch Wand in 1980. One special section of our C201 was taught by Doug Hofstadter two consecutive fall semesters before that. Doug Hofstadter taught the course again in the fall of 1981. The honors program is mentioned in the COAS Bulletin as far back as 1973, the beginning of the department. The honors committee is first documented in 1982, with Doug Hofstadter as chair.