The student must be approved by the departmental honors committee chair to participate in the departmental honors program. To be approved, the following criteria must be satisfied:
a. The student must have a 3.0 GPA or greater to start the program.
b. The student must identify an EECS faculty member who is willing to advise a research project that will result in the publication of an honors report.
c. The student must submit a research proposal including a title and abstract. The faculty advisor must approve of the proposal.
If the above criteria are satisfied, the departmental honors committee chair will grant permission for the student to enroll in ECE/CMP_SC 4995 – Undergraduate Honors Research in ECE/CMP_SC. The committee chair will notify the student, faculty advisor, and the academic advisor of this approval.
The student enrolls in at least 3 credit and up to 6 hours of ECE/CMP_SC 4995 and conducts research that results in the writing of an undergraduate honors report (or publishing of a paper in a national or international conference in substitution of the report). The report/paper must be submitted to the departmental honors committee chair for approval. To be approved the following criteria must be satisfied.
a. The format of the report is expected to follow the format for a MS report/thesis in the department.
b. The report must demonstrate sufficient rigor and quality to satisfy the faculty advisor and at least one other faculty member in the EECS department. These faculty members are called “readers” and must give their signature approval on the report cover page.
If the above criteria are satisfied, the departmental honors committee chair will notify the student, faculty advisor, and academic advisor that the report component for departmental honors has been satisfied.
The academic advisor will check to see if the student still has a 3.0 GPA or greater. If the GPA is satisfactory, and the honors report has been approved, the academic advisor will process the request for the departmental honors designation to be added to the student’s transcript.
Benefits of Departmental Honors
Participation in the program will introduce the student to the research process in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and will help to explore the student’s interest in pursuing graduate study.
If the student pursues a MS degree, and if the advising faculty member agrees, the honors report may be used as a basis for developing a full master’s thesis to fulfill the requirements for the MS degree.
Participation in the honors program will serve as a talking point with employment recruiters and for graduate student applications.
Participation in the departmental honors program will enhance the student’s chance for receiving student awards in the department and college.
Completion of the departmental honors program in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science will be noted the student transcript.
The student will receive a special honors cord to wear during graduation ceremonies.