This Week In Honors
The week of February 1st, 2016
Honors Committee Meeting
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Where: Honors Lounge, L216
Please come by the Honors Lounge at noon on Tuesday to voice your opinions about the Honors Program. We would love to hear what you think of the courses offered, as well as events being held. Stop by for a snack and let us know if you have any suggestions for this semester! Hosted by Honors GA Ellen Snyder.
Commonwealth Honors Projects
Become a Commonwealth Honors Scholar!
We encourage all honors students to graduate as Commonwealth Honors Scholars, the highest distinction for students graduating from public colleges and universities in the state of Massachusetts. In addition to the regular honors requirements, students must complete a Commonwealth Honors Project, present the project at a public forum or conference, and graduate with a 3.2 GPA or above. About 1/3 of recent graduates achieved this distinction, and we would like to see even more of our students do so in the future.
Commonwealth Honors Projects should be completed in your junior or senior year. We have posted guidelines and an application form on the honors student portal web site. Please note that applications are due on 2/15.
Conferences
The statewide Undergraduate Research Conference (4/22) at UMass-Amherst and the WSU Celebration of Scholarship and Creativity (4/13) are the perfect forums for Commonwealth Honors Projects. We encourage you to both present your work on campus and then take your show on the road at UMass. Please let us know if you submit applications for these conferences.
CHP Prize
We are pleased to announce the third annual Commonwealth Honors Project Prize. A panel of faculty and administrators will judge the projects at the Celebration of Scholarship and Creativity, and the winner will be awarded certificates and cash prizes.
Consult the Honors Directors
Dr. Weierman (English) and Dr. Hood-DeGrenier (Biology) would be happy to answer any questions and guide you through the process. Please consult the professor whose field is closest to your own. Book an appointment using Starfish (on the myWSU student portal). Click here for some proposal writing tips.
Important Dates
2/15: Commonwealth Honors Projects—proposal deadline
2/19: Undergraduate Research Conference at UMass--Application and Abstract deadline
4/13: Celebration of Scholarship and Creativity, WSU
4/22: Undergraduate Research Conference, UMass-Amherst
Worcester State Foundation: Call for Proposals
proposals for student projects in research, scholarship and creative activity. The Student Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Grant Fund provides grants of varying amounts up to a maximum of $1,500 per individual per year for student endeavors. Interdisciplinary projects are encouraged.
When: Applications due by February 5th at 4pm delivered to the academic dean's office.
Who is eligible: Any matriculated full-time or part-time undergraduate or graduate student at Worcester State University.
Where: Applications are available from academic department chairs, the deans’ offices, and the academic affairs office.
Interested in Becoming a Presidential Student Ambassador?
The presidential student ambassador program is a chance for student leaders to serve as representatives of the university and interact with a variety of important constituent groups both on and off campus. These students will have the opportunity to attend social functions, speak about student life and academic experiences, and present suggestions and ideas to improve the campus for generations to come.
Applicants for the PSA program must be currently enrolled as a undergraduate at Worcester State and have completed at least 12 credits here, maintained at least a 2.7 GPA and good judicial and academic standings, and be available to start in Fall 2016 for the full 2016-2017 academic year.
Applications due by February 26th, 2016.
More information about the PSA program can be found here: http://www.worcester.edu/Presidential-Student-Ambassadors/
Students can apply using the online application found here: http://www.worcester.edu/New-Ambassador-Application/
In a NY state of mind? Join us for our finest Honors tradition!
NYC Trip 2016!
We hope you will join us on our annual overnight trip to New York (April 2nd—3rd). We will leave early on Saturday morning and return late Sunday evening.
As always, we will stay at the very nice Crowne Plaza Times Square hotel. This year's trip includes free time on Saturday, and a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and tour of Central Park on Sunday. Please note that the hotel, bus, and Sunday activities will be paid for by the Honors Program. You'll need spending money for food, subways, additional activities, etc.
Sign up: Thursday, February 11th in the Honors Lounge (LRC-218)
7:30 a.m.: priority registration for Honors students in good standing (GPA and events) who have never attended the NYC trip before
8:00 a.m.: registration for Honors students in good standing (GPA and events) who have attended the NYC trip in previous years.
Procedures:
-You must sign up in person. If you cannot attend the signup, then please email Dr. Weierman that morning to get on the list.
-We will keep an active wait list for the trip.
-There will be two lists: trip sign up and suggested roommates.
-Don’t worry if you don’t have a roommate: we will find you one! And while we will do our best to accommodate all roommate requests, we can't promise to keep all groups together.
-Please be sure to check your calendars in advance: make sure you don’t have family, work, school, or sports conflicts. This is a serious commitment.
-The library’s front doors open at 7:30 a.m., but you can get in the building earlier through the first floor entrance on the side of the LRC.
-We will notify travelers about their status via email as soon as we've vetted the list.
Spring Calendar Highlights--stay tuned for details!
2/17 and 2/18: Book Discussions of She's Not There
2/19: UMass Undergraduate Research Conference--application deadline
2/25: University Keynote Lecture by Jennifer Finney Boylan
3/17: President's Dinner and Theatre Night
4/2-4/3: NYC trip
4/13: Celebration of Scholarship and Creativity
4/22: UMass Undergraduate Research Conference
Use the RSVP form to earn honors events credit
Remember that honors students need to attend two events per semester. These events may be sponsored by our program or by other campus organizations. Please consult the honors calendar on the blog and web site (or even embed the honors calendar in your own google calendar) and respond using our online RSVP form. Please let us know if there are any events on campus we’ve missed; we are always glad to add events to the calendar. The RSVP records are maintained by the graduate assistants; please address any questions to Ellen Snyder (esnyder@worcester.edu).
Contact Us
Dr. Karen Woods Weierman, Director
Dr. Jennifer Hood-DeGrenier, Assistant Director
Mary Flibbert, Honors Assistant
Ellen Snyder, Graduate Assistant
Beth Powis, Graduate Assistant
Email: kweierman@worcester.edu
Website: http://www.worcester.edu/Honors/
Location: Office LRC- 218
Phone: 508-929-8466
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Worcester-State-University-Honors-Program/223088314371280
Twitter: @honorswsu