Honors Program

Announcements: What's new with the Honors Program?

The two recipients of the PASSHE Summer Program Scholarship are Chandler Carey and Alyssa Skinner. The students will be traveling all over Europe in partnership with Bloomsburg University during May 27th-June 16, 2013.

The Honors Program would like to congradulate all 2013 graduates! We are proud of your accomplishments!

STUDENT COMPLETION OF THE UNIVERSITY HONORS PROGRAM SPRING 2013:

Zachary M. Dice Dr. Kalie R. Kossar

Honors Thesis: Creating Direct Instruction Lessons from Traditional Social Studies Content

Frances U. Del Duca Dr. Donald Franks

Honors Thesis: Visual Media Series for Student Success

Kaitlin E. Enck Dr. Summer J. Arrigo-Nelson

Honors Thesis: Sea Otters on Display, Creating Zoo and Aquarium Exhibits to be More Like Natural Habitats

Kelly T. Fitzpatrick Dr. Paul D. Williams

Honors Thesis: Calculators: Friend or Foe?

Carla M. Fuccaro Dr. J. Drew McGukin

Honors Thesis: Theoretical Framework of Event Planning and Management

Emma Geiger Dr. Katherine J. Mitchem

Honors Thesis: The Twin Effect-A Case Study of Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Amongst Twins

Rebecca L. Geiger Dr. Marta S. McClintock-Comeaux

Honors Thesis: Domestic Dad’s Dilemma: Masculine Gender Roles in Reality and the Media

Regina M. George Dr. Ralph J. Belsterling

Honors Thesis: The iPad Offers More Therapy Opportunities for Speech-Language-Pathologists: An Examination of its Advantages in Therapy

Anna E. Gerald Dr. Laura A. Tuennerman

Honors Thesis: African American Women and Hair from 1900 to Present Day: A Historical Overview of Hair Straightening, Natural Hair and Black Women’s Identity

Matthew M. Hamel Dr. Craig Fox

Honors Thesis: The Triumph of Realism: A New Model of Bundle Theory

Justin M. Johnson Dr. Sarah Downey

Honors Thesis: Fantasy Stories: How do we Accept the Impossible?

Ashley M. Koval Dr. Matthew J. Price

Honors Thesis: Synthetic Modification of Spiropyran Molecules

Matthew D. Krinock Dr. Sarah L. Meiss

Honors Thesis: Examination of the Effectiveness of Antibiotics on Biofilms

Brittney Lees Dr. Susan D. Ryan

Honors Thesis: The Process of Studying Abroad: Analyzing Universities Involvement and Effectiveness from Students' Perspective

Angelina M. Lorenzo Dr. Connie Monroe

Honors Thesis: Learning Spanish at a Young Age

Melissa R. Lupinacci Dr. Mary Seman

Honors Thesis: The Improper Implementation of Full Inclusion: We are Leaving Children Behind

Andrew J. Marra Dr. Laura Hummell

Honors Thesis: Residence Life Training Prototype

Kathryn L. McAndrew Dr. Paula B. Caffrey

Honors Thesis: Prevention of Tumor Cell Resistance to Chemotherapy

Chad A. Morrow Dr. Christina Fisanick

Honors Thesis: Creating an Honors Video Advertisement: California University of Pennsylvania’s Honors Program

George M. Niezgoda Dr. William E. Dieterle

Honors Thesis: The Next Earth to Space Transportation System: An Update on the Feasibility of Geosynchronous Space Elevator Concept

Kirstie B. Pistner Dr. Rebecca A. Hess

Honors Thesis: A Review of Literature Regarding Exercise-Induced Rhabdomyolysis

Caitlin R. Sowers Professor Maggy Aston

Honors Thesis: Organic Architecture and how it can Improve Your Life; Viewing Architecture Through the Eyes of Frank Lloyd Wright

Samantha C. Zelenka Dr. Carol I. Bocetti

Honors Thesis: Opening Size and Vegetation as Predictors of Butterfly Species Richness and Dusted Skipper Abundance in Northern Michigan

Rebecca E. Zych Dr. Emily M. Sweitzer

Honors Thesis: A Psychological View of Security Failures in Soft Target Attacks

Reminder to Current Students:

The Honors Department, formerly known as Building A, has been renamed Smith Hall in honor of the late Prof. G. Ralph Smith. Please refer to the name change in e-mail and

references to the Department.

The following courses are only offered during the Fall semester. Please keep this in mind when registering for courses:

HON 499 Honors Thesis

HON 100 Honors University Orientation

HON 150 Honors Compostion I

Social Media Connection:

The link to the UHP Facebook social media page is https://www.facebook.com/#!/calu.honors

Honors Students Supercharge Cal U Education

The University Honors Program (UHP) provides an enhanced educational experience for some of Cal U's most talented students. Honors students work with faculty to explore scholarly, professional and artistic exercises outside the classroom and engage in community service activities that complement their studies. The benefits of the University Honors Program are many:

Enhanced educational experience
Challenging Honors coursework
Honors addendum on other coursework
Thesis project
Honors Travel
Compete for PASSHE summer Honors scholarship
Honors Residence Hall option
Early registration

Fall 2013 Courses

HON 320: Topics in Self and Society. Dr. Holiday Adair, Department of Psychology MWF 12:00-12:50. The goal of this class is to examine in a variety of ways, three fundamental human experiences that have emotional, physiological and social components. Students will explore attraction, sexual and emotonal, how and why people fall in love, and the formation and continuance of long-term relationships. It will satisfy a social science general education requirement.

HON 270: Global Transitions Since 1300. Dr. Laura Tuennerman, Department of History and Political Science T& TH 9:30-10:45. This class will look at comparative women's history, focusing on topics such as sexuallity, marriage, beauty and motherhood. Examples will be drawn from all over the world. It will satisfy a humanities or multicultural general education requirement.

Spring 2013 Newsletter

The lasted Newsletter published by the California University of PA Honors Program soon to come!

Learn More!

Who Gets Accepted?

Each year, Cal U reviews the applications of incoming first-year and transfer students. Those with the very highest indicators of past and future academic success are invited to participate in the University Honors Program. Typically, students must have acquired at least a 1200 score on the SAT or a combination of 3.00 high school GPA and 1100 SAT.

What are the Course Requirements?

Honors students have the privilege of early registration. That means they are likely to register for the classes they want, at the times they want, with the professors they want. UHP students are required to complete 24 honors credits in order to graduate from the program. Students accumulate honors credits, or HON credits, two ways:

1. Take honors courses, which are reserved for UHP students only.

2. Transform many Cal U 3-plus credit courses into honors courses through the honors addendum process.

Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher and demonstrate ability in all honors courses and progress throughout the UHP curriculum.

Honors Thesis Project

honors program requirements.

A Scholastic, Family-Like Environment

Students have the opportunity to live in the state-of-the-art Honors Residence Hall if they desire. The hall provides easy access to the UHP offices and computer labs and study rooms reserved exclusively for UHP members. Some residents find they can fully participate in the UHP community by living here because first-year students live and socialize with honors upperclassmen. But regardless of where they live, all honors students receive the program's many benefits.

Honors Travel

Each year, the Honors Program rotates its curriculum. Each curriculum theme is established by the honors courses that are offered during the academic year. Students enrolled in theme classes have the opportunity to complete a research project and may be eligible to take part in the Honors Travel Excursions.

Summer Honors Program

Cal U honors students also have the opportunity to compete for a PASSHE summer honors program scholarship for study at a PASSHE university and abroad. Selected students participate in two weeks of study at the host institution, then study abroad for two weeks.