694:495, 496 MBB Honors Research Course

At the time of graduation, a student may have earned two types of honors: General Honors or Departmental Honors. These are all distinct types of honors, although they often overlap, and many students are eligible for all of them.

Note: You must apply to be considered for the MBB Departmental Honors Program. Applications are submitted and reviewed by the MBB Dept. Applications for the 2007-2008 academic year are due 5/9/08 to the MBB Undergraduate Secretary, Shalene Montgomery, Rm A-325, Nelson Labs, Busch Campus (732 445-3979).

1. General Honors are based SOLELY on GPA, and are determined in the few days between the end of exam period and graduation day. General honors are the ONLY type of honor to appear on a student's diploma. The general honors status also appears on the student's permanent transcript, (but does not appear in the commencement program, because of timing constraints with the printer).  There is no application required for General Honors.

2.  Departmental Honors are given at the discretion of the department, and can be based on the criteria the department sets. To qualify, a student must have attained, a teh end of the junior year, a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.4 and a grade point average of 3.4 or better in courses required for the major. (In exceptional cases students with a GPA <3.4 can petition the department to be allowed into the departmental honors program.) Students accepted to the program are expected to complete two semesters (6 credits per semester) of honors research (01:694:495, 496). A written thesis and an oral thesis presentation are required. Near the end of the project, late in the Spring semester of their senior year, departmental honors students must turn in a written honors thesis and present it before a convened thesis committee.  Each faculty member of the committee will submit an Honors Evaluation Form (doc) (pdf) to the department which includes a recommendation as to the level of honors (Highest Honors, High Honors, Honors, or No Honors) that the student should receive.  The students research advisor who directly supervised the honors project will decide the letter grades for both semesters.

Students must apply to be considered for Departmental Honors. Students must provide:
- Completed Application Form (doc) (pdf) signed by your research advisor. 
- Current Full Transcript printed from Student online services: www.acs.rutgers.edu/grades.
- Project Overview: A description of the project (at least two pages) read by your advisor.
- Curriculum vitae (CV) with research and employment experience and awards.

Applications for the 2008-2009 academic year are due 5/9/08 to the MBB Undergraduate Secretary, Shalene Montgomery, Rm A-325, Nelson Labs, Busch Campus (732 445-3979).

3. Final Honors Decision.  The final decision as to what level of Departmental Honors to assign a student is decided by a departmental committee consisting of the instructor(s) of the senior seminar series (01:694:483-4).  The decision process includes a review of the Honors Evaluation Forms (doc) (pdf) submitted by the faculty on the thesis committee as well as other relevant information.

The fact that a student takes part in the Departmental Honors Program does appear in the commencement program, as well as in the student's permanent transcript.