Honors in Discipline
Psychology Honors-In-Discipline (HID) Program
Approved Spring 2003, Site updated Spring 2018
Current Program Coordinator: Julia Dodd, PhD
The Department of Psychology at ETSU offers enhanced educational opportunities for its most able psychology majors through the Honors-in-Discipline program in Psychology. Psychology Honors-in-Discipline students may be eligible for in-state or out-of-state scholarships. Interested students should direct questions to the Honors-in-Psychology Program Coordinator at doddjc@mail.etsu.edu and scholarship information can be found here. This information should be reviewed before accepting an honors scholarship.
Academic Program of Study
The Psychology Honors-in-Discipline program of study consists of:
- 12 hours of honors-enriched coursework: Only 3000 and 4000 PSYC courses can be taken as honors-enriched psychology courses. PSYC 4900 may NOT be taken for honors credit. If there is not a separate honors section, an honors student should contract with the instructor of the course to be taken for honors credit outlining what extra work will be done in order to receive honors credit.The student should discuss the requirements for earning honors-enriched credit with the course instructor. Requirements should be written on the Course Honors-Enrichment Agreement Form. The student and instructor should sign this form, and each should keep a copy. An additional copy should be given to the psychology Honors-In-Discipline Coordinator (currently Dr. Clements). The student will need to sign up for the 088 section of the course to be taken for honors credit. A permit request form can be completed in room 420 Rogers Stout.
- 6 hours of Honor's Thesis coursework: All honors students must complete a senior honors thesis under the tutelage and mentorship of a full-time member of the Department of Psychology, by enrolling in 6 semester hours of PSYC 4018. Theses must be submitted electronically following the directions here.
Psychology Honors Thesis Instructions
Admission Requirements
- Entering first year students are not eligible for the Psychology Honors-in-Discipline program.
- Students entering programs after their first semester at ETSU: To be admitted into
the Psychology Honors-in-Discipline program, students must have:
- completed at least 45 semester hours of undergraduate study;
- maintained at least a 3.35 overall GPA and at least a 3.50 GPA in psychology coursework
- secured the mentorship of a faculty member with teaching duties in the department of psychology
- been admitted to the program by the Department of Psychology Honors Admissions Committee.
- Transfer students: To be admitted into the Honors-in-Psychology program, transfer
students must have:
- completed at least 45 semester hours of undergraduate study
- maintained at least a 3.35 overall GPA, and at least a 3.50 GPA in psychology coursework at ETSU and the transfer institution
- secured the mentorship of a faculty member with teaching duties in the department of psychology
- been admitted to the program by the Department of Psychology Honors Admissions Committee.
Application & admissions procedures
If you are interested in applying for admission to the Psychology Honors-in-Discipline program, you should start by making an appointment with the Psychology Honors-in-Discipline coordinator (doddjc@mail.etsu.edu) to discuss programmatic options.
Retention Requirements
To remain in good standing in the Honors-in-Psychology program, students must maintain an overall grade-point-average of 3.35 and a psychology grade-point-average of 3.50 during their final three semesters of matriculation at ETSU.
Students falling below the minimal requirements will be placed on temporary probation in the Psychology Honors-in-Discipline program, and will have a one-semester grace period to meet or exceed the grade-point-average requirements. If students are placed on temporary probation or otherwise fail to demonstrate adequate progress in completing the Psychology Honors-in-Discipline program, the Psychology Honors-in-Discipline Program Coordinator will notify both the student and the Director of Honors-in-Discipline Programs as soon as possible. Students failing to maintain the GPA requirements as a result of their final semester of performance or failing to meet the other honors requirements will be not be awarded the Psychology Honors-in-Discipline designation upon graduation. Students earning less than a B in thesis hours will dismissed from the Honors-in-Discipline Program.
Graduation Requirements
To graduate with the Psychology Honors-in-Discipline Designation, students must:
- Be admitted to the Psychology Honors-in-Discipline program;
- Complete all necessary coursework (honors, major, general education, and otherwise); honors coursework includes four honors-enriched courses and 6 hours of honors thesis credit. The instructions for completing honors-enriched courses can be found here.
- Maintain an overall GPA of 3.35 and a psychology GPA of 3.50;
- Earn at least a B in PSYC 4018 (Honors Thesis) coursework; and
- Present the results of their honor's theses publicly and orally.
- Submit two bound copies of the honors thesis to the Psychology Honors-In-Discipline Coordinator
Other Considerations
Students cannot receive an Academic Performance Scholarship (APS) and an Honors-In-Discipline Scholarship simultaneously. They should consider the risks and benefits of changing from APS to honors. The honors scholarship pays more and includes no work requirement, but the GPA requirement is more stringent. If the student loses an honors scholarship or decides to withdraw from the honors program, the APS scholarship cannot be regained.