Requirements: You must be enrolled in a bachelor's degree program. GPA of 3.3 or higher. A cumulative GPA of 3.3 is required for graduation from The Honors Program.

To Join: Contact the Honors Program Director dburke01@iue.edu and Karen Chambers karecham@iu.edu.

Participation in The Honors Program is by invitation or by application. Students matriculating to the university with an accumulated grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale are automatically invited to participate in the program. Upperclassmen who have obtained an accumulated grade point average of 3.3 may apply. Continued membership in the program is contingent upon the maintenance of a minimum accumulative grade point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale and the completion of the appropriate courses in The Honors Program curriculum each year.

A combination of minimum grade point attainment and the completion of all courses and requirements in The Honors Program curriculum is required for graduation from the program. Course requirements in the programs may vary according to students’ date of matriculation.

Honors Online is a dimension of The Honors Program devoted to supporting the particular needs of Honors students who are completing their course work remotely. A full suite of Online programming and planning tools is available to students in The Honors Program Canvas site. 

• HON-H 100 Freshman Honors Seminar (3 credits) - This course is a specially designed Freshman Year Seminar for academically accomplished students. Course content and activities guide students through meaningful self-exploration that informs their introduction to The Honors Program and to university life.
• HON-H 209 Introduction to Honors Program (for online students; 1-3 credits) - Interdisciplinary, special topics course with an introduction to research, service learning, and portfolio writing.
• HON-H 233 Sophomore Humanities (3 credits) - This course is a survey of the Great Books and the Great Ideas of the Western Tradition. Students will engage in explication and analysis of the history of the human endeavor from myriad perspectives, including philosophy, history, literature and the fine arts.
• HON-H 303 Honors Colloquium (3 credits) - The topic of this course is variable as it will be taught by different faculty from various departments. This course is designed for Honors students to learn about cutting edge research and creative work being conducted by faculty across the disciplines.
• H-option courses (9 credits) - These courses are ones in which students will personalize their general study by conducting individualized inquiry that reaches beyond common content of the class. Students will present the artifacts of their H option work in the Honors Poster Session at Student Research Day.
• HON-H 499 Honors Senior Thesis (3 credits) - This course is the capstone research experience which is student-designed and faculty-mentored. Students may elect to complete a written thesis or a creative project in their major area or in a different discipline of study. Student will present their final thesis project during the Honors Oral Presentation Session at Student Research Day.
• Co-Curricular requirements
  • 3 curated, cultural learning experiences
  • Completion of E Portfolio
  • Maintain a 3.3 GPA

Students who are admitted into and active in the Honors Program and meet certain requirements are eligible for the IU East Honors Program Scholarship. You must apply for this scholarship annually through the central IU Scholarships application. Available to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

Learn more about the Honors Program scholarship

The Paul and Pat Lingle Scholars program is for incoming freshmen from Wayne County, Indiana, and enrolling in the Honors Program is part of the requirements of this scholarship.

Learn more about the Paul and Pat Lingle Scholars program

Graduating seniors who successfully complete their Honors Thesis and participate in Student Research event on campus are automatically considered for awards for Best Theses/Projects in the following categories: 1) Research, 2) Creative Work, and 3) Service-Learning.

Learn more about Student Research at IU East

Honors students interested in taking on a major research or creative project over the summer months should consider the SUMRS Scholars Award. This highly-competitive award is open to all IU East students, not just Honors students. For this award, you will need a faculty mentor and a complete application.

Learn about the SUMRS Award on the Research & Creative Work site

H-option courses

In H-option courses, faculty work closely with students to create and complete an additional unit of study focused on the students’ more personalized interests in the discipline.  This additional unit may be an extra assignment or research project pre-designed by the faculty member.  Or, it may be a unit of study wholly created by the Honors students. Faculty will receive a $100 stipend for each honors student they mentor in an h option course.

Each semester, a list of pre-approved, Honors option, or H option, courses are available in the schedule of courses. To find these classes, click the appropriate term; select IUE for campus; then click “Approved for Honors Credit” under “Attributes.”

 This list of courses will be comprised of a combination of general education classes and upper division courses in various major and minor programs.  The courses on this H option list will be available for direct registration for Honors students.

Honors students, faculty, or advisors may also elect to petition their course instructors to add H-option sections for existing courses. This Honors Option petition process will consist of the following steps:

1. Honors students interested in proposing an H option section of a non-Honors course will contact the course instructor to obtain their approval.
2. If the instructor agrees to working with the Honors student in an H option class, together they will develop the unit of study, decide upon the desired deliverable, and designate the method of discipline-specific assessment of the project.*  
3. The instructor then emails the registrar (earecord@iue.edu) and director (dburke01@iue.edu) to add the class to the schedule and to add the student into that section.

The Honors Option unit of study should be seen as a ‘class within the class,’ meaning that faculty are encouraged to have periodic contact with Honors students throughout the completion of the unit of study, and to set distinct deadlines for the submission of project parts.  The weight of the process and project that comprise the Honors option unit of study should be equal to 20% of the overall point total in the class.

Faculty will receive a link for their assessment of the students’ H-option work.  Faculty will decide how they wish to apply H-option assignments in the calculation of final grades. Directing the work of Honors student in H options courses is considered Service to the Campus Community.

H-Option Statement for Syllabus

Honors HON-H 499 Course

Honors HON-H 499 is the Senior Honors Thesis which is the capstone project in the Honors Program at Indiana University East. By design, the project integrates attributes of undergraduate research and Masters level practices and protocols. Thus, the project is one which brings together attributes of Honors education in general, and best practices in accelerated undergraduate research in particular.

The faculty research mentor works closely with the Honors students to determine a specific timeline for the completion of each portion of the thesis project. Serving as the faculty research mentor for an Honors 499 Senior Thesis Project is a funded opportunity.

Completion of the Honors 499 project ought to adhere to the following guidelines:

1. The Honors student is the one who takes the lead in brainstorming about possible topics for the Honors thesis which can be focused on the student’s major or minor, or another topic or discipline as appropriate for each individual student. Aside from preliminary brainstorming about topic, the first step in the project is the formulation of the first draft of a thesis project proposal. The second step is to invite a faculty member to serve as a research mentor through the project. The third step is then to work in conjunction with the faculty research mentor to refine the proposal. When ready in final form, the proposal is forwarded to the Director of the Honors Program. The project proposal should include the topic of choice, the methods of research that will be employed, and the projected final form of the project. A timeline for project completion should also be included.
2. The thesis project proceeds with the compilation of the literature review or annotated bibliography . Working in conjunction with the faculty research mentor, the student will locate the most recent and most relevant resources to provide information, data and statistics to support critical analysis and impactful explication of the most compelling ideas and issues embedded in the thesis topic. The document will be submitted to and approved by the faculty research mentor, and if directed, the final draft will become a part of the formal thesis submission.
3. Upon the completion of research in and analytical interaction with the resources captured in the literature review or annotated bibliography, the student is then ready to compose the first draft of the thesis project. The first draft will bring together the student’s deep learning about the thesis topic, facilitated both by the thesis research and by the student’s original critical thinking, explication and analysis. The result is new knowledge that the student then presents in a cited and documented, extended essay.
4. The faculty research mentor will evaluate the first draft of the thesis project, recommending revisions and modifications to guide the student’s final work. These recommendations will culminate in the completion and submission of the final draft of the thesis project.
5. The faculty research mentor will designate specific due dates for all thesis project components and will assess the quality of the thesis project in regard to discipline specific content.  The faculty member will submit the final assessment of the Senior Honors Thesis to the Director of The Honors Program by the end of the term, 
6. All thesis projects will become a part of Student Research Day at the conclusion of the academic year. Held the first Friday of April, Student Research Day is a campus wide showcase of student research and creative work, and an important part of the program is the Honors Thesis Track. Taking place in the afternoon, the Honors Thesis Track will be comprised of three break-out sessions during which students will present a summary and brief analysis of the key research findings of the Honors thesis projects. Members of the Honors Program Planning Committee will assess the Honors Education elements of the projects using a rubric comprised of the essential learning objectives of The Honors Program.
7. All thesis project authors will be invited to publish their work in the Indiana University East Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal. Details of submission will be provided to students at the Student Research day event.

HON-H 499 Student Evaluation Form

Please direct questions and concerns about these guideline to the Director of the Honors Program, Dianne Moneypenny, at 765.973.8339.

The Honors Program Planning Committee

Faculty who would like to become more intrusively involved with the inner workings of  The Honors Program at the ‘meta’ level are encouraged to join The Honors Program Planning Committee.  Membership on the committee is by appointment. Interested faculty are encouraged to contact the Director of The Honors Program at dburke01@iue.edu.