Honors Program : Journalism & Mass Communication : U of M

Honors Program

Admission to the University Honors Program (UHP) is highly competitive. Students who are invited to participate have a strong record of achievement, both inside and outside of the classroom. UHP strives to provide all qualified students with the opportunity to participate in its curricular and co-curricular offerings. Applicants are accepted into the program each fall.
New freshman with an interest in the journalism major will be admitted directly to SJMC when they enter the University Honors Program in the fall semester of their first year. This eliminates the need to go through the secondary admission process required for all other students who want to major in journalism.

To graduate with Honors, a student must:

be admitted to the Honors program
meet the Honors graduation GPA requirement
complete the SJMC Honors opportunities listed below
complete the UHP Honors opportunities.

Download the 2009-10 Honors Program Booklet.

SJMC Honors Experiences

A minimum of four honors experiences completed in your freshman and sophomore years under the guidelines below are required to continue in the [University Honors Program http://www.honors.umn.edu]. A minimum of three honors experiences completed in your junior and senior years are required for the degree.

Freshman UHP requirements: 4 Honors experiences (minimum of 6 credits in coursework)

2 Honors courses (H, V, Freshman seminars or Writ 1401 accepted)—Could include JOUR 1001H here in first semester; JOUR 3004V here in second semester
2 additional Honors experiences (coursework or UHP approved experiences)

Sophomore UHP requirements: 4 Honors experiences (minimum of 6 credits in coursework)

2 Honors courses (H or V designators)—Could include JOUR 1001H, JOUR 3004V, JOUR 3101H
2 additional experiences (coursework or UHP approved experiences)

Junior UHP requirements: 3 Honors experiences (minimum of 3 credits in coursework)

1 Honors upper division course (H, V course at 3/4xxx-level; 8xxx level or UHP approved 5xxx-level graduate course accepted) – Could include JOUR 3101H, other H or V designator journalism course sections
2 additional Honors experiences (Honors coursework or UHP approved non-course experiences) – Could include JOUR 3996 internship for one credit or a non-credit internship with UHP approval

Senior UHP requirements: 3 Honors experiences (minimum of 3 credits in coursework)

1 jour Honors upper division course – JOUR 4733V for 3 credits during which thesis is completed; Honors project-based thesis students enroll in JOUR 4993H for 3 credits
1 additional Honors experience
submission of the completed honors thesis

Honors Theses
Students writing an honors thesis must enroll in the JOUR 4733V Honors Thesis Seminar in the semester in which they are working on the thesis.

Students working on an honors project-based thesis (only at the magna or cum laude levels) enroll in JOUR 4993H for 3 credits of independent study with a faculty member.

Consult the Honors handbook for complete information on the honors thesis.