HP NEWS February 10, 2010 Contents: Dates and Deadlines Honors Program Reminders Contract forms HP Requirements Nebraska Colloquium UCARE Deadline for application Possible UCARE projects Internship Possibility Honors Overnight Hosts needed Computer Lab Dates and deadlines: February 1: Seniors graduating in May, if you have not already done so, please email Dr. Berger your thesis title and advisor's name (pberger1@unl.edu) February 12: UCARE application deadline (see below) February 21-22: Honors Overnight March 5: Honors contracts due April 2: Thesis completion forms due for May graduation April 8: Undergraduate Research Conference April 9: Statement of Academic Interest due (4th semester students) April 9: Memorandum of Study due (6th semester students) April 18: Honors convocation (by invitation) April 26: Completed thesis due for May graduates April 26-May 1: Last week of classes (15th week policies in effect) May 3-7: Finals week May 8: Commencement Honors Program Reminders: Contract forms: Contract forms are available from the HP website or in the HP computer lab. They are due by March 5. Honors Program Requirements: -First year students: you must complete at least 6 H hours with a grade of B or better by the end of this semester in order to maintain your status in the Honors Program and your textbook scholarship. If you are not enrolled in an Honors class and need more H hours, check the HP website at honors.unl.edu for information on contracting classes. -Sophomores: remember, you must complete at least 6 hours of H credit in this academic year, regardless of the number of H hours you completed last year. You must also complete a total of at least 15 H hours by the end of your fourth semester. You must submit your Statement of Academic Interest by April 9, 2010. -Third year students: You must complete at least 3 hours of H credit in this academic year, regardless of the number you have already completed. You must also submit your Memorandum of Study by April 9, 2010. This form must be signed by your thesis advisor, so don't leave it till the last minute. The exception here: any students taking Management 475H do not need an advisor's signature. -Fourth year students: you must complete at least 3 hours of H credit this year, for a total of 9 in the junior and senior years. Your UHON 395H and your thesis hours do count as part of this total. -If you have any questions about registration issues, contact Ann Koopmann or Dr. Lyons before January 19. Nebraska Colloquium: Opportunity to earn one credit hour in Honors: Professor Berger is again offering students the opportunity to earn an honors credit hour by registering for the Nebraska Colloquium. The Colloquium offers a series of lectures focused on China and the Silk Road. There are nine lectures scheduled for the spring semester - the full schedule is available on the Honors Program website (honors.unl.edu). In order to earn the credit, students must attend and write brief (1 to 2 page) reflections on 5 of the lectures. Students are free to choose the 5 on which they wish to write. Of course, students are invited to attend all 9 lectures, if they wish. To sign up for the course, use the usual course registration method. The course call number is 7744 - UHON 198H section 002. Students who earned credit in the first semester are still eligible to earn a credit in the spring semester. Contact Berger at pberger1@unl.edu if you need additional information. UCARE: Deadline for application: The UCARE (Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experiences) program is seeking applications for the 2010-2011 academic year. Applications are due Friday, February 12, 2010. For more information about the UCARE program, including student eligibility and application information, please visit our website, www.unl.edu/ucare. Possible UCARE projects: Dr. Kathy Phillips offers the following UCARE possibility: What is international service learning? Why is it important to the world as a community? What opportunities does it offer undergraduates? What are undergraduates interested in doing as service learning experiences? If you are curious and want to determine the answers to these and other inquiries about service learning, please contact Dr. Kathy Phillips at kphillips2@unl.edu to discuss the possibility of working with her in the UCARE program to explore the potential of meaningful, civic-minded community engagement for undergraduates. Dr. Julia McQuillan offers the following UCARE possibilities. Contact her for more information. 1. Advancing women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. We are looking for undergraduate students who are interested in higher education, gender, and/or the sociology of organizations. In the first year students will help with literature reviews, reports and data analyses for the ongoing Advance grant. In the second year students will be able to select and conduct a project of their own with the Advance team. Students interested in a UCARE experience with the Advance team can contact Julia McQuillan at Jmcquillan2@unl.edu and can explore the following web page: Http://advance.unl.edu 2. Fertility Barriers. Students interested in health, fertility, reproductive decisions, couples, and survey research should seek a UCARE position with the National Survey of Fertility Barriers project. Students with statistical analysis skills, literature reviews, and good analytic thinking skills will get the most from this opportunity. Students interested in this opportunity should contact Julia McQuillan at Jmcquillan2@unl.edu and can explore the following web page: http://bosr.unl.edu/familychoicesstudy 3. Survey research. Students will spend the first year learning about how to design and carry out professional survey research. The second year they will conduct their own research on a topic that they have developed (e.g. how to keep participants in longitudinal surveys, what strategies work best to encourage initial participation in surveys, what are the effects of IRB protocols on response rates, what interviewer characteristics facilitate the best response rates). UCARE students will work in the BOSR learning about survey research for the first year, and in the second year will work with the BOSR director and staff on their own research project. For more information on the BOSR, go to: Http://BOSR.unl.edu Internship possibility: There is also an opportunity for an internship in the BOSR. Each fall and spring semester, the BOSR selects one student for our undergraduate research internship position. This internship is an excellent hands-on learning opportunity for students interested in survey research methodology. Interns will have a broader and more meaningful understanding of the details and the challenges involved with conducting high quality social research. Depending on the research being conducted at the time of the internship, interns will be able to learn: project management, questionnaire design, sample design, sample management, telephone interviewing, specialized data collection software such as WinCati, Epilnfo, Lime Survey and Telepform, Data cleaning, data analysis, report writing, and project budgeting. For students receiving academic credit, the internship will culminate in the creation of a brief research report using data collected by the BOSR. The BOSR is looking for responsible, inquisitive, and energetic undergraduate students for this semester long position. This is an unpaid internship but credit towards academic course work is available. The schedule to be worked is flexible and the position is available to any level college student in the Lincoln area. Majors that would best fit the internship include Sociology and Psychology; however, students from other disciplines who are interested in social research and are also encouraged to apply. If you are interested in this internship opportunity, please contact Stacia Jorgensen at bosr@unl.edu. Honors Overnight Hosts needed: Sunday, February 21 is the Honors overnight. This event is a valuable recruitment tool which offers prospective students the opportunity to experience "real" college life. High school seniors will spend the night with a host and attend classes in the morning of Monday, February 22. If you are interested in hosting a prospective student that evening, or for classes the morning of the 22nd please complete a host form sheet and return it to Ann Koopmann at 104 Neihardt or at akoopmann1@unl.edu **Overnight hosts must live in Neihardt, however, classroom hosts need not live in Neihardt to help. Computer Lab: -The Honors Program computer lab is for the use of Honors Program students only. Students who are not members of the Honors Program should use other computer labs on campus, regardless of where they live. Please cooperate with this policy. -Remember the new computer lab policy: you must provide your own paper for the lab. Please be considerate of the other students working on computers hooked to the printer you're using in order to work out the printing jobs successfully. -It is wise to put contact information on flash drives; in the event you leave one in the computer lab, someone will be able to return it to you. -To open PDFs and other documents from Blackboard, you may need to use Internet Explorer, not Firefox. -Please take precautions to prevent the spread of germs: use hand sanitizer before and after using the lab computers. -If the toner is out in one of the printers or if another problem with the printers or the lab arises, please inform the main Honors office.