Current Student Handbook

The Student Handbook is a guide and reference for current Honors Students. It provides important general and academic information that is useful throughout your career as a student in the SPSU Honors Program. The Student Handbook is available here in its entirety as a web page.

A printable version of the Student Handbook is available in Adobe Acrobat PDF form by clicking here.

Welcome to The University Honors Program

Welcome to Southern Polytechnic State University and more importantly, welcome to the University Honors Program. We are pleased to be working with you. We have worked hard to make your experience in the Honors Program a positive one. You will be working with some of the best faculty on campus. They will push you to think critically and creatively, to raise new questions, and to find your own answers. In addition, they will work with you to develop the kind of communication skills that will allow you to express your ideas as fully as possible. As a life-long learner these thinking and communication skills will enhance your ability to take on new knowledge in any field you choose.

As you work within the University Honors Program at Southern Polytechnic State University, you will become part of a community of scholars, who like you, are here to achieve their goals. We hope that you will enjoy the many opportunities the program will offer you to work with one another and to work closely with faculty. We also hope that you will consider joining the Student Honors Council so that you can help contribute to the growth of our program. Welcome!

Introduction
This handbook is intended to serve as an introduction to the University Honors Program at Southern Polytechnic State University. While this handbook will answer many of your questions concerning the program, it cannot answer all of them. Contact the Director of The University Honors Program for additional information. It is your success that will create the success of the Honors Program. Do not hesitate to ask questions.

Contact Information
You may contact The Director of the University Honors Program, Dr. Nancy Reichert, by calling 678-915 -3928 or by sending an e-mail to honors@spsu.edu . You can stop by the office, D103 for assistance as well. For additional information concerning the Honors Program consult the website at < www.spsu.edu/honors/ >.

Ms. Alda Wood is the Administrative Assistant for the Program. She can be reached at 678-915-3931.

The Faculty Honors Committee makes most of the important decisions for the program. They make decisions concerning student membership, scholarship recommendations, curriculum, and program guidelines. The Committee is composed of the following Southern Polytechnic State University faculty members:

Honors Committee
Dr. Al Churella STS J311 7941 achurell@spsu.edu

Dr. Lance Crimm EET G138 7249 lcrimm@spsu.edu

Dr. Kim Haimes-Korn HTC J320 7427 khaimesk@spsu.edu

Mr. Fred Hartfield ITD J392 6850 fhartfie@spsu.edu

Dr. Norman Russell MET K192 5480 nrussell@spsu.edu

Dr. Andy Wang SE J391 3718 jwang@spsu.edu

Mr. Tim Zeigler CET SJ102 5495 tzeigler@spsu.edu

Mission Statement
The mission of the University Honors Program at Southern Polytechnic State University is to recruit and retain academically talented students and to provide them opportunities to develop their special talents and skills in an enriched version of the curriculum. The Program typically features classes with smaller enrollments and more intellectual rigor; and provides academically talented students the opportunity to work closely with faculty on special projects, independent study, and research. In addition, Honors students are part of a community of peers and will be provided opportunities for social interaction with each other and with faculty.

Honors Courses Information
Honors courses come in two different formats. The Honors version of the Core Curriculum courses is the first type. What makes an Honors section different from a regular section of a course? Honors sections tend to have fewer students than regular sections. The faculty who teach these courses have been selected by the Department Chairs to develop honors courses. The courses themselves were approved by the Honors Committee. While all Honors courses will not be taught in exactly the same manner, most Honors courses will be open to more discussion and greater professor-student interaction. The course work is intended to help you build numerous skills such as critical and creative thinking skills, problem-solving skills, oral and written communication skills, and collaborative learning skills. These are skills you will need for many purposes throughout your life.

The Honors seminar is the second type of course offered through the University Honors Program. The Honors seminar will be a junior or senior-level class that will count towards credit in your major fields. The seminars will be even smaller in size and will often bring interdisciplinary components to the course. For example, you might look at economics in relationship with architecture in one of these courses if you were majoring in management or architecture.

While you do not have to take an Honors class every semester, you do need to accumulate 18 hours of Honors Course Work (six of those hours in upper-division work) in order to graduate with Honors. Many of you will want to take a good number of these hours within the first two years of college since you will find that your latter years at the school will be packed with classes from your major field. I would suggest taking at least one Honors class per semester in the first two years.

Some Pointers for Student Success
Often the success of a student rests not so much on his academic ability, but on his ability to simply get the work done. I believe it was Einstein who created the formula 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration as a means for describing his success. Doing well is often a matter of hard work. Many of the following tips will seem obvious; however, some intelligent students ignore them only to find that they are no longer succeeding in their course work.

•  Attend all of your classes . Arrive on time and be prepared. A number of teachers give important information concerning due dates at the beginning of class. Don't miss this information. A number of teachers may not always collect homework—do it anyway. Your understanding of a subject is often dependent on that homework. The tests are often based upon it as well.

•  Keep a calendar for due dates. Teachers cannot plan due dates around the schedules of each and every student. It's your job to balance your schedule. Learn to set artificial, early deadlines for work that is due on the same date.

•  Visit the instructors of your classes. Ask for help as you need it, but use the time to get to know faculty members. Keep in mind that down the road you may need letters of reference for job applications, graduate school applications, or scholarships and awards. The better faculty members know you, the better chance you have of getting them to write you an excellent letter of reference.

•  Don't turn in late work even when you won't be penalized for doing so. Late work becomes a vicious cycle. Often one late assignment puts you behind for the next assignment until you are hopelessly behind.

•  Emergencies do come up. Handle them as well as possible. If you become ill, e-mail work to professors on the due date. If your emergency will result in numerous absences, call your professors as soon as possible. They are much more likely to work with you when given advance or early notice. Do not make a habit of such excuses. Remember the story of the boy who cried “wolf.”

•  Get involved in campus activities . Join professional organizations and other organizations which demand leadership skills. Membership and leadership in organizations give you insight for your fields and are good items for your resume. Future employers like to see well rounded students.

•  Keep in mind that it is up to you to maintain your academic reputation. Academic dishonesty of any sort will harm that reputation and may be grounds for dismissal from the program.

•  Most importantly, studies show that students who focus on learning the material do better than students who focus on the grade. I know grades are clearly emphasized in a program such as this one, but concentrating on seeing what you can learn from a course normally results in higher grades than concentrating on the grade itself.

Student Obligations
Students who participate in the University Honors Program are under certain obligations. If they do not fulfill their obligations, they may find their membership revoked or they may lose their scholarship/in-state tuition benefits. Here are a couple obligations students should keep in mind:

•  Freshmen who enter the program must take an Honors course their first semester at Southern Polytechnic State University.

•  Students who receive scholarships or in-state tuition because of their participation in the Honors Program must maintain their position in the program to retain these benefits.

Dismissal from the Honors Program

Academic Requirements
Students who fall below the required GPA are placed on probation for one semester. A student on probation whose GPA does not meet the requirements at the end of their next enrolled semester will be dismissed from the Honors Program.

To earn either a University Honors Scholar Degree or a Departmental Honors Scholar Degree, students must have minimum graduation GPA of 3.4. The following sliding scale applies as students move towards graduation:

•  Freshmen must attain a cumulative GPA of 3.2 by the end of the spring term. A freshman is classified as any student with 0 - 29 hours.

•  Sophomores must attain a cumulative GPA of 3.2. This guideline will be used to assess your GPA at the end of any spring term while you have between 30 - 59 credit hours.

•  Juniors must attain a cumulative GPA of 3.3. This guideline will be used to assess your GPA at the end of any spring term while you have between 60 - 89 credit hours.

•  Seniors must attain a cumulative GPA of 3.4. This guideline will be used to assess your GPA at the end of any spring term while you have over 90 credit hours. You must have a cumulative GPA of 3.4 to graduate from the Honors Program.

Probation: The Director of the Honors Program or a designee will examine GPAs at the end of the spring semester for minimum GPA purposes. Students that fall below the required GPA will be placed on probation for the fall semester. Students on probation must raise their grades to the correct cumulative average by the end of the fall semester or they will be dropped from the program.

Appeals Process: Individual students who have been dropped, but who feel that their work has been solid and who feel they can succeed at bringing their grade point average up by the end of the following semester may bring an appeal to the Honors Committee asking that they not be dropped from the program.

(Notice, the Honors Committee will only review your case if you bring an appeal to them. They will not automatically review every case where students are dropped after a probationary period.)

The Honors Appeal should be no longer than one typed page. It should address the following issues:

•  Why you, the student, feel you should not be dropped from the program. Here you may address significant academic improvement that shows your effort even though you haven't reached the guidelines. You may also discuss your involvement within the Honors Program.

•  Your precise plans for improving your current GPA. What changes will you make in study habits and what help will you seek to improve your current GPA?

•  You should also include the names of two faculty members who are willing to act as references to support your continuation within the Honors Program. Please talk to these faculty members first to ensure you have their approval to use their names. Please supply phone numbers and e-mail addresses for your references.

Your appeal should be turned in to the Honors Director on or before the 31st of January in order to give the Honors Committee plenty of time to make a decision.

Academic Dishonesty
All excellent honors programs are committed to academic integrity. An Honors Program is only as good as the reputation of its students. Thus, the University Honors Program may dismiss students from the Honors Program who are found guilty of academic dishonesty.

The University itself has rules concerning academic dishonesty. As you read through the following list, keep in mind that you are also being held to the University's policy as stated in the Student Handbook, http://www.spsu.edu/student/handbook.html#acedreg .

Please make sure you are familiar with the following forms of academic dishonesty :

•  Cheating is giving or receiving unauthorized help on academic work, products, and drawings or obtaining unauthorized access to examinations or other academic materials.

•  Fabrication and falsification include inventing experimental data or changing experimental data, inventing references, or falsely attributing statements.

•  Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional representation of someone else's ideas or materials (a book, an article, an essay, your classmate's paper, a paper written for you by a good friend, material from the Internet) or the use of work you have already written for another class without citing the source or the use of that work. The penalty for plagiarism may be failure of the course or dismissal from the University. Clearly plagiarism is one of the most serious acts of academic dishonesty.

•  Reference padding is the act of listing references you haven't actually read, either to meet a minimum imposed by the professor or to make it look like you did more work than you actually did.

•  Obtaining Unfair Advantage is any act that gives one student unfair advantage over other students. Clearly cheating and plagiarizing are one way that students attempt to gain unfair advantage; however, acts such as removing pertinent texts from the library are also avenues for obtaining unfair advantage over others.

•  Aiding and Abetting is the act of helping another student cheat, plagiarize, falsify information, fabricate information, or reference pad.

Grade Appeals
Do know your rights as a student. You can make a grade appeal if you believe a grade is unfair, but you must follow the appeal process as it is outlined in the SPSU Student Handbook: http://www.spsu.edu/student/h a ndbook.html#gradeappeal . Always begin by consulting the professor who taught the course since a simple error in calculation or in entering the grades into Banner might be the cause of the confusion. While you can ask for my input in this process, do note that I am not within the chain of command for the grade appeal. It goes from professor to the Department Chair on up the ladder to the Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs if necessary.

Advising
As an Honors student, registration will follow a two-part process. It is essential for you to get advising in your major field to ensure you meet the criteria for your major field. It is also essential for you to get advising for the Honors Program so that you meet the criteria for the Honors Program. The Honors Director will advise students for the Honors Program Course Curriculum. The director will also help students with the following:
designing an educational plan;
exploring school resources for travel abroad, co-op and so on;

identifying scholarship opportunities;

identifying conference opportunities; and

applying for admission to graduate or professional schools and applying for fellowships and assistantships.

Honors Communication
Most of the Program communication from me to you, the student will take place through the Honors Listserv. As an Honors student your SPSU e-mail account will be entered into the listserv so that you receive all Honors communication. You are responsible for knowing this information so make sure you access your SPSU e-mail account two or three times a week. Since the University will also be using the SPSU accounts for important information, you have two good reasons to access your account.

Setting Up Your E-mail Account
Follow these steps to create your SPSU e-mail account:

•  Access the following site on the Internet: http://accounts.spsu.edu

•  Click on the "I am a Student" link.

•  Choose option #2. "I would like to create a password for my new campus network account" by clicking on the link.

•  Enter your nine-digit University ID number and your PIN number (your PIN number is probably your date of birth in the following format: MMDDYY. Enter your password. It must meet the following conditions:

•  Starts with an alphabetical character

•  Contains eight characters total

•  Contains a minimum of four alphabetical characters

•  Contains a minimum of two non-alphabetical characters

•  Click on the "Set/Reset My Password" button.

•  Write down your user name and password. Your user name is your first initial and the first seven characters of your last name unless you have a short last name.

Checking your E-mail Account
This is the easiest way to access your school account:

•  Open your Internet connection and type in the address: mail.spsu.edu

•  Bookmark the page so it's easy to access.

•  This is the sign-in page for your SPSU e-mail account. In the first box type in your user name. For example, if I were signing in, I would type in "nreicher." In the second box type in the password. Make sure you type it in exactly--this program is cap sensitive.

•  Click on the "login" button. You can now access your mail.

If you have any difficulties, give me a call: 678-915-3928.

Research Opportunities
Independent Research is featured in most Honors options in the major. Honors students who take part in Independent Research get the chance to work closely with faculty advisors to produce projects. Doing an Honors project is excellent preparation for graduate or professional school and enhances the resume or the portfolio you present to prospective employers.

Honors Diplomas
The Honors Diploma is given to those who have completed the necessary coursework, achieved the required grades, and have completed the Honors Project. An Honors Diploma should not be confused with graduating with honors. Students who maintain a 3.5 GPA whether they're Honors student or not, graduate with honors. However, only students who graduate from the University Honors Program will receive an Honors Diploma. There are currently two types of Honors Diplomas.

1. The University Honors Scholar. Freshman students entering the Honors Program will want to lean in this direction. Students who wish to become a University Honors Scholar will want to complete eighteen hours of Honors credit with at least six hours in upper division coursework.

2. The Departmental Honors Scholar. Transfer students or students who enter the program later in their college careers may want to lean in this direction. Students who wish to become a Departmental Honors Scholar will want to complete six hours of Honors credit in upper division coursework.

Academic Requirements: To earn an Honors Diploma students must have a minimum graduation GPA of 3.4.

Honors Project: Students must complete an Honors Project and presentation. In addition, students are required to submit a final written report that is bound and placed in the library .

Joint Enrollment and Honors
Joint enrollment students who fill out an application and meet the standards set by the University Honors Program can take part in the Honors Program. Joint Enrollment students benefit by applying to the program because Honors courses will be specifically designated on student transcripts. Joint Enrollment students have access to Honors advising, and Honors graduates will receive special recognition upon graduation from Southern Polytechnic State University.

Housing
Currently Honors students who live on-campus are designated to "Honors Areas" of each residency hall. Honor students are placed in rooms with other Honors students whenever possible. As the University Honors Program grows, we hope to designate a full floor to Honors students in Norton Hall.

Student Honors Council

Objective
The Objective of the Student Honors Council is to promote and advance the University Honors Program at Southern Polytechnic State through the active involvement of students in the governance of the Program.

Membership
Membership on The Student Honors Council is limited to students who have been accepted in to the University Honors Program. The SHC is limited to ten students, with a minimum of two students serving from each class.

Governance
The SHC is governed by the President, the Vice President, the Executive Secretary, the Treasurer and the Social Director. The Director of the Honors Program acts as the Advisor to the SHC.

It is the duty of the President to conduct meetings, to ensure the SHC is meeting the needs of its constituents, and to ensure that the duties of the committee are being fulfilled. The President ensures the Director of the University Honors Program is kept apprised of the doings of the SHC and reports to the Faculty Honors Committee at the end of each semester. This office shall be limited to Honors students who have been in the University Honors Program at least two semesters.

It is the duty of the Vice President to maintain an online newsletter that keeps students in the University Honors Program informed of important dates and activities. The Vice President also aids the Director in researching conference, scholarship and other information for students within the University Honors Program. Finally, the Vice President aids the Director in annual elections.

It is the duty of the Executive Secretary to keep minutes of the meetings of the SHC and to ensure the minutes, meeting times and agendas are e-mailed to students in the University Honors Program.

It is the duty of the Treasurer to run the annual fundraiser, to deposit the monies raised in the Foundation's Honors account, to keep track of the account balance for the organization, and to make purchases for the Council.

It is the duty of the Social Director to create social activities for students within the Honors Program. The Social Director will work with the Director of the University Honors Program to hold three large gatherings (the pizza party, the holiday party, and the end-of-the-year party), but also ensures the smaller gatherings and opportunities are held throughout the year. The Social Director is in charge of the Social Committee discussed later in the committee section.

Elections
Elections are to be held annually during the last week of August. Students may use the Honors Listserv during the summer months previous to the election to announce their candidacies and to send short descriptions concerning their qualifications for an office or as a member of the SHC.

Elections occur at the opening meeting of the University Honors Program. Votes are counted by the Director and the Vice President of the SHC.

The Social Committee
The social committee will be run by the Social Director. The Social Committee will be organized at the discretion of the Social Director with the guidance of the SHC.

Meetings
While only the ten Student Honors Council members may vote at meetings, all members of the University Honors Program may attend meetings and raise issues that concern them.

Study Room
The Honors Study Room . The Honors Study Room is located in D100, in conjunction with the office suite for the Honors Program. It is available to students 24/7.

For information on the general-use student computer lab see The Information Technology Services Center within the Student Services Directory .