The Management and Leadership Programs Departmental Honors provides students pursuing a major within the Management and Leadership Programs Department, in the College of Business, with opportunities for academic enrichment and challenge beyond usual course coverage and requirements. The program encourages and enables outstanding students to pursue high-level internships, collaborative research projects and other high-impact practices.
The program enhances students' capacity for critical inquiry and independent learning and develops their potential for leadership in the entrepreneurship, human resources, international business, healthcare administration, and management professions. Academic credit earned doing honors work in the management and leadership program's departmental honors may also potentially count for students currently in the University Honors Program.
Participation in the management and leadership program's departmental honors is documented on the student's university record. For more information, please get in touch with Dr. Kristy Lauver, department chair of management and leadership programs, or an academic advisor within the Advising, Retention, and Career Center (ARCC).
Eligibility
To earn honors distinction upon graduation, students with entrepreneurship, health care administration, human resource management, international business, and management majors must have a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or higher and a major-specific GPA of 3.8 or higher at the time of graduation. The student must also complete the application eForm, including the required essay and submission of a degree audit, for admittance into the honors program.
Procedure
Students will be invited into the honors program after completing forty-five (45) credits of coursework, and applications may be submitted any time after that. Advisors will receive a report on the grade point eligibility of all students who may be considered for the honors program. Any student who has a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher will receive information about the department honors program. This information will include a document detailing the honors process and directions on how to access the application eForm.
Requirements
To graduate with departmental honors in management and leadership programs, students must achieve cumulative GPAs of 3.75 or higher and major GPAs of 3.8 or higher at the time of graduation, to pass the final review by the department honors committee, indicating appropriate rigor in the student's honors work. Students must successfully complete at least two of the following honors experiences, each in consultation with a faculty mentor:
- Participate in a substantial faculty/student collaborative research project;
- Present the results of a research project at a regional, national, or international conference or participate individually in a regional or national competition;
- Design and execute, under the guidance of a department faculty member, a substantial professional project, that may be completed with involvement from a community mentor who works in conjunction with the faculty mentor (e.g., for community members or agencies, for local companies);
- Undertake an approved management and leadership studies internship or health care administration residency;
- Study abroad or participate in the National Student Exchange, with completion of a related honors project;or
- Another honors project that is approved by the chair of the department of management and leadership prgorams and the department honors committee;
Students must write a substantial reflection paper for each of their honors projects that incorporates the following elements:
- The paper must describe the project in detail and the work the student completed during the course of the project;
- The paper must address the contribution(s) of the honors project to the student's overall educational experience and address what the student has learned through completing the honors project; and
- The paper must address how the honors project contributed to the student's professional development within his/her chosen profession.
Students will work continuously with their faculty mentor(s) and submit proposals and papers to the department honors committee throughout the honors process, using the eForm as needed. Papers must be completed and submitted to the department honors committee at least six (6) weeks before finals week in the semester the student wishes to graduate, to ensure documents are received and reviewed by the department honors committee by the deadline.
Any questions about the completion requirements and processes of the management and leadership honors program should be directed to Dr. Kristy Lauver, department honors coordinator for management and leadership programs.
Honors Application Forms
