Honors Program SubjectArea Information Meeting

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Honors ProgramSubject-Area Information Meeting

• September 5 and 11, 2007

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The Honors Program Staff

• Director
• Dr. Barry Falk
• Associate Director
• Dr. Maureen G. Shanahan
• Assistant Director
• Ms. Mary Kay Adams
• Prestigious Scholarship Coordinator
• Dr. Melinda Adams
• Administrative Assistant
• Ms. Karen Allison
• Lab Manager
• Sara Cobaugh

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Honors Program Benefits

• Join a great community of student and faculty
  scholars
• Take small classes capped at 20 students with
  leading professors
• Priority registration
• Honors computer lab lounge
• Field trips to DC, elsewhere
• Fall Banquet Spring Awards ceremony
• Scholarships

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Unique Seminars

• Rhetoric of Survival
• Dr. Kate Kessler, Writing Program
• syllabus selected for publication in Honors in
  Practice (2006)
• Mandel Fellow, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Great Questions
• Dr. Dave Pruett, Mathematics (top right)
• syllabus selected for publication in Honors in
  Practice (2006)
• Biology the Movies
• Dr. Christopher Rose, Biology
• Science News report
• Womens Colloquium
• Ms. Karen Evans
• conversations with faculty staff from diverse
  backgrounds
• Gullah Language Literature
• Joseph Opala, History (lower right)
• national expert on Gullah, Sierra Leone

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Undergraduate Research

• Work one-on-one with a faculty advisor in your
  major
• Present your research
• at a professional conference in your discipline
• at an undergraduate conference
• Southern Regional Honors Council conference
• National Collegiate Undergraduate Research (NCUR)
• General Education conference
• Publish your results be immortalized

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Win an Award

• National conference awards
• NCHC/VCHC Awards
• JMU students are winners
• The Honors Program
• Phi Beta Kappa Award
• Phi Kappa Phi Award
• Departmental Awards

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Graduate with Distinction

• Wear the Honors medallion at graduation
• Stand up and take a bow
• Receive with distinction on your diploma and
  transcript

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After Graduation

• Go to top graduate and professional schools
• Win a nationally-competitive internship at the
  Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum
• Win a fellowship at the National Institute of
  Health
• Win a nationally prestigious award

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Requirements Review
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Frequently Asked Questions

• How do I join the Honors Program as a Subject
  Area student?
• Complete the application form found under Honors
  Program Admissions and essay and submit it to our
  office.
• How many honors courses per semester should I
  take?
• At least one course per semester.
• Can I take honors courses if I study abroad?
• Yes. Consider an independent study with a JMU
  professor in your major. Meet with us
  beforehand.
• What if I cant fit an honors course in my
  schedule?
• Consider an honors option.
• When should I start the senior project?
• Start early in identifying a professor who will
  be your advisor.

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Senior Project Timetable(standard path)
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Keys to Success

• Know the program and project requirements READ
  THE HANDBOOKS.
• Read the Honors Updates sent by e-mail and posted
  on the honors website under News Events.
• Schedule an appointment with our office to
  discuss
• questions about your status
• your study abroad plans
• honors option questions or
• any questions about coordinating the program with
  your major or minor.
• Get to know your professors, especially those in
  your major who may become part of your honors
  project committee.
• Limit your extracurricular activities.

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More Questions?

• Visit us in Hillcrest House
• Monday-Friday, 830am-430pm
• students and staff will be available to answer
  questions
• call us [phone]
• Honors Program website
• visit our website www.jmu.edu/honorsprog/