Hutton Honors College

Contact: Scott Wissink Swain, West 206 855-9748 wissink@indiana.edu

Contact: Valerie Aquila Swain, West 244 855-2391 vaquila@indiana.edu

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

The persons listed above advise students about the honors program in physics. Professor Wissink is the chair of our Undergraduate Academic Advising Committee. Ms. Aquila is the Departmental Academic Advisor.

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

The undergraduate advisors may suggest the honors program as a possibility to physics majors during regular advising. Students may recommend themselves. There are no formal requirements for admission into the program.

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

The key component of the honors program is participation in an independent research project, which must culminate in the writing of an Honor's thesis (PHYS-S 406). An oral presentation describing the work would also be expected. Students are also expected to complete most of the course work that is "recommended" for the BS degree; in particular, at least two of the three courses P332, P442, and P454 must be completed. To graduate with honors, students must also maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher in all physics course work.

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

A student in the honors program will typically complete P221-P222 (Honors sequence), P301, P309, P321, P331-P332, P340, P441 P453 and a 400-level laboratory course, plus mathematics S211-S212, M301, M311 and M343 by the end of their junior year.