Honors Tutorial College Information 1997-98

Honors Tutorial College

35 Park Place

Joseph H. Berman, Dean
Ann C. Brown, Assistant Dean

The Honors Tutorial College offers 25 challenging degree programs to qualified students admitted at the beginning of the freshman or sophomore year. The Honors Tutorial College also administers the Departmental Honors Program, a thesis option for eligible undergraduates in other colleges at Ohio University.
The unique tutorial program is modeled on the educational method used in British universities, notably Oxford and Cambridge. Although other colleges and universities have adopted particular features of this model, Ohio University is the only institution in the United States that has a degree-granting college incorporating all the essential features of the traditional tutorial system.

Goals of the Program

To provide the high-ability student with a flexible and personalized alternative at the undergraduate level.

To provide an intensified learning experience by:

Replacing lecture with tutorial in your major.

Permitting you to progress at an optimum pace.

Promoting advanced competency in a specific field.

Allowing you to earn a bachelorÕs degree in three years.

Encouraging you to develop critical perceptions as well as creative and intellectual independence.

Acquainting you with accomplished scholars through the one-to-one tutorial relationship.

Fostering a living-learning environment in a special residence hall.

Providing preprofessional students with practical training through internships and other individually arranged educational experiences.

A One-to-One Learning Experience

The most important aspect of the program is the tutorial, required in your major, occasionally available in a secondary field. During this weekly conference you and the tutor discuss previously assigned topics, posing new questions and problems for later discussion. Since you are expected to participate actively during tutorials, independent preparation occupies much of your time between sessions.

The rapport established in this one-to-one relationship enhances learning and expedites progress in the field. It also ensures that your ability and specific interests are reflected in the content of the tutorials.

Honors Tutorial Majors

Through formal arrangements with various academic departments in the university, the Honors Tutorial College offers majors in:

Biological Sciences
Business
Chemistry
Computer Science
Dance
Economics
Engineering Physics
English
Environmental and Plant Biology
Film
French
Geography Hearing and Speech Sciences
History
Interpersonal Communication
Journalism
Mathematics
Philosophy
Physics and Astronomy
Political Science
Social Work
Sociology/Criminology
Spanish
Telecommunications
Theater

Only these disciplines are available as tutorial majors at the present time. Certification in secondary education may be added to the tutorial degree in another major by a limited number of students.

Participating departments have well established research facilities, and the tutors are full-time faculty with many years of professional experience.

Tutorial students preparing for careers in law may major in any of the above areas or choose special prelaw programs in economics, history, philosophy, and political science.

Detailed descriptions of departmental programs in tutorial studies can be obtained by contacting:

Honors Tutorial College
Ohio University
35 Park Place
Athens OH 45701-2979
telephone 740-593-2723
fax 740-593-9521
e-mail hcdept@ouvaxa.cats.ohiou.edu

Individualized Program

To ensure both supervised structure and independent choice, each participating department has a director of studies who coordinates the programs of tutorial students in that major. Combining departmental requirements and your interests, the director helps to develop a curriculum that best meets your needs.

While preparation for advanced training in a particular discipline remains the overall objective of the tutorial program, pursuit of other intellectual or creative inclinations is encouraged.

Major requirements generally include a sequence of tutorials, collateral studies, lectures, seminars, comprehensive examinations, and, in some areas, laboratory, field, or studio work. In many departments, you will also complete a research thesis or creative project under the direction of a faculty member.

Examinations

In most tutorial majors, you will take comprehensive examinations. When the tutor judges that you have thoroughly mastered all relevant material, a comprehensive examination is given to test your competency, either in the field as a whole or in a selected portion of it. Like the tutorial, these examinations require, on an expanded scale, that you assimilate information and consider it again in the light of other knowledge and experience.

Since the tutorial system works best when the faculty-student relationship is free from the pressure of formal examinations, departmental committees prepare and grade comprehensive examinations. However, the tutor may, at any time, use a variety of methods to test your grasp of ideas and to assess your progress. This process not only intensifies your participation in tutorials but also forms the basis for the tutorÕs quarterly evaluation, a report notifying both the college and you that satisfactory progress is being made or that specific problems require attention.

Degree Requirements

To earn a bachelorÕs degree in the Honors Tutorial College, you must fulfill all academic requirements established by the department for your tutorial major and have at least a 3.0 overall grade-point average (g.p.a.). You must also satisfy the universityÕs English composition requirement. To foster measurable competency in a given field, the Honors Tutorial College does not mandate a fixed hour or residency requirement or a specific course distribution (except as required by individual departments). To earn a second bachelorÕs degree in another college at Ohio University, you also must complete all the requirements established by the second college.

Academic departments participating in the Honors Tutorial College set their own tutorial degree requirements, including required courses outside the major field. In this respect, the tutorial curriculum is much like that of a graduate program. Each department offering a tutorial program has developed a course of study designed to give you mastery of the field at an advanced undergraduate level. When the department is satisfied that all tutorial requirements have been met, you may graduate from Ohio University with a degree in that major.

A Bachelor's Degree in Three Years

Many of the tutorial programs enable you to graduate in three years, although additional time may be desirable in a variety of circumstances. Graduates of the Honors Tutorial College frequently find their level of preparation comparable to that of students entering the second year of graduate work.

Degrees conferred by the college include the Bachelor of Fine Arts in (major), Bachelor of Science in Journalism, Bachelor of Science in Communication in (major), Bachelor of Arts in (major), Bachelor of Science in (major), and Bachelor of Business Administration.

Placement of Graduates

The Honors Tutorial College has earned a reputation for graduate and professional school placement. To date, most students wishing to continue their education have been placed in masterÕs programs, doctoral programs, law schools, and medical schools. Others have readily found employment in fields related to their undergraduate work, particularly in journalism, theater, hearing and speech, and business. A number of graduates in the humanities have found teaching or research jobs. With a relatively small enrollment in this degree program, faculty tutors and college administrators guide you personally toward your graduate interests and career opportunities.

Housing Privileges

If you are admitted to the Honors Tutorial College you are invited to live in Hoover House, an intensive-study dormitory on the New South Green. A computer laboratory in this residence hall is available for all students in the college. You may use your own computer or those in the laboratory. Located among upperclass residence halls, Hoover House provides an environment conducive to mature self-discipline and intellectual dialogue. While most tutorial students choose this unique living-learning opportunity, alternative university housing is available for those who prefer it.

Selectivity and Admission

Tutorial studies are available only to the well qualified, highly motivated student who wants to pursue one of the 25 academic areas listed above. You apply for admission to a specific discipline.

With the approval of participating departments, the college admits a limited number of majors each year. Although most eligible students enter the program at the freshman level, others may apply after completing a year of undergraduate work. Transfer and re-entry students are also admitted.

The college requires excellent academic credentials. Standardized test scores and high school records help to determine your eligibility. To apply, fill out the standard Ohio University application and submit it with the required materials to the Honors Tutorial College. Materials must be received by December 15. After your file has been reviewed, you will be notified if you have been selected for an admission interview, which must take place by January 15 of the year you wish to enter the college. Many departments admit students on a rolling basis until spaces are filled, so early application is encouraged. Unsuccessful candidates may reapply provided that they attain at least a 3.5 g.p.a. after two or more quarters in another college.

Departmental Honors Program

Outstanding undergraduate students at Ohio University may choose to earn departmental honors by presenting a thesis. Depending on your major field, the thesis may be either an expository or creative piece of original work, the result of supervised research, or a collection of artistic endeavors. A departmental thesis advisor helps in the decision of an appropriate project and guides you toward completion of the thesis.

Before enrolling for departmental honors, you should discuss the project with the faculty member who will serve as your thesis advisor. Departments determine eligibility for the program and suitability of the proposed thesis. After the proposal is approved by the department, apply for departmental honors at the Honors Tutorial College, 35 Park Place.

You are responsible for informing the Honors Tutorial College of the nature of the project at least a month before graduation to ensure that the proper recognition can be given at Commencement and inscribed on the degree. When applying for graduation, be sure to indicate on the form that you are completing an honors project.

Following departmental approval of the completed thesis, you submit it to the Honors Tutorial College for final confirmation. To graduate with departmental honors, you must have satisfied the honors criteria required by your major department (such as a particular g.p.a.). You are advised to start planning this program during your junior year.

University Publications and Computer Services revised this file (http://www.ohiou.edu/~ucat/97-98/colleges/htc.htm) August 25, 1998.

Please e-mail comments or suggestions to "ucat@www.ohiou.edu."