Hutton Honors College

Contact: Roy Gardner Wylie 215 855-6383 gardner@indiana.edu

Contact: Sue Medland, advisor Wylie 105 855-7809 smedland@indiana.edu

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

The program has a faculty director responsible for overall administration and advising of students. Professor Gardner has been honors director since 1992. Questions are handled by consultation among the honors director, the director of undergraduate studies, and the academic advisor.

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

Students are recruited by a) self-recommendation, b) faculty teaching honors courses and c) the academic advisor. Students who have completed E201, E202, E370, E321, and E322 with a GPA of 3.3 or better are admissible to the honors program.

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

The requirements are (1) GPA of 3.5 or better (2) completion of at least 6 credits in economics courses E390-E490 (3) completion of an undergraduate honors thesis, approved by the honors director. Three to six hours of credit may be earned for preparation of the honors thesis (with permission of the director) by registering for E499.

4. What courses do students take as juniors and before in order to prepare for working on senior project?

Upper division electives in economics in the student's area of interest provide preparation for thesis research.

5. Are there departmental resources available to support internships or research projects related to the senior project?

No.

6. What is the nature of the honors thesis?

The thesis should be original research in an area chosen by the student and approved by the honors director and the student's faculty advisor for the thesis. The thesis is generally a 25-50 page paper focusing on some well-defined research area in economics.

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

The completion of an original research project requires a degree of imagination and responsibility viewed very positively by prospective employers or graduate schools. The thesis itself is perfect as a writing sample in a job or graduate school application, and the thesis content is an excellent source of material for an interview. In one memorable instance, the student's honors thesis was on the company doing the interview-and the student got a job offer on the spot!

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

The program for honors students offers small sections, with a broader curriculum compared to the regular program. The honors seminars and honors thesis in particular afford the student more direct contact with the economics faculty, and facilitate much more detailed letters of recommendation as a result.

9. Please list suggestions for other departments.

Recruit honors students as early in their education as possible, using honors sections as a vehicle. Make "writing across the curriculum" your mantra-it only takes one good writing assignment to jump start an interesting honors thesis.