10.0 Honors program

Students enrolled in the honors program in the College of Public Health will:

  • Enrich their program of study through honors or honors embedded coursework
  • Complete an honors project
  • Receive priority scheduling
  • Have the opportunity to apply for honors housing
  • Be able to participate in special programming that is offered through the University Honors and Scholars Center
  • Be able to participate in special programming offered by the College of Public Health

Being enrolled as an honors student does not entitle students to receive Latin or college honors at graduation. The only way to graduate “with honors” from the College of Public Health is to successfully complete a College of Public Health honors contract and have met all requirements therein at the time of graduation. Learn more about Latin and college honors.

Enrolling in the honors program

Incoming first-year students

Incoming freshmen can apply for the university honors program prior to starting at Ohio State. Interested students must indicate this on their application to The Ohio State University.

Current Ohio State students switching to the BSPH

Current Ohio State university honors students who transfer into the College of Public Health from other Ohio State academic unit do not need to apply to the College of Public Health honors program. However, they are required to:

  • Meet with a College of Public Health undergraduate academic advisor during the same term they transfer into the BSPH major or pre-major
  • Complete an honors contract in order to retain their honors status

Current BSPH majors/pre-majors

BSPH majors and pre-majors who are not Ohio State Honors students but wish to join the College of Public Health undergraduate honors program are required to:

  • Complete a minimum of 15 Ohio State credit hours
  • Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher
  • Have at least four semesters remaining before graduation (excluding summers) beyond the semester in which they are applying to the honors program
  • Meet with a College of Public advisor to discuss the honors program and to receive instructions on completing an honors application
  • Complete an honors application
  • Submit the honors application and an advising report to the honors advisor (through a Qualtrics form).

Transfer students (new to Ohio State)

Transfer students who enter as BSPH majors or pre-majors who wish to join the College of Public Health honors program are required to:

  • Complete a minimum or 12 hours of coursework at The Ohio State University
  • Have a minimum 3.4 cumulative GPA
  • Have completed no more than 60 earned hours
  • Have an opportunity in the curriculum to take honors courses without taking additional elective hours

Review of applications

Each honors application will be reviewed by the College of Public Health honors co-directors, who will decide whether the student should be admitted into the honors program. Once a decision is made, the student will be notified of the final decision.

Maintaining honors enrollment

Students must meet the following criteria to maintain honors enrollment:

  • Maintain a 3.4 cumulative GPA
  • Complete a minimum of 18 credit hours of honors-quality coursework courses over the first three years of study. Honors-quality coursework is defined as:
    • Honors-designated courses ("H")
    • 3000-level courses taken in years 1-2
    • 4000-level courses taken in years 1-3

Upper division BSPH core, specialization, and major elective courses do not count as honors-quality (regardless of when they are taken), as they are required for all BSPH students (honors and non-honors).

Reviews of academic records are conducted each term to confirm that students meet the criteria to remain in the honors program.

The College of Public Health honors contract

The honors contract allows students to construct an especially challenging curriculum by incorporating strong coursework throughout their program of study. Once approved, an honors contract admits students to candidacy for graduation with honors in public health.

The honors contract should be completed within two semesters of entry into the Public Health honors program.

Completing the honors contract

To complete the honors contract, students are required to:

  • Complete a degree plan that includes 18+ credit hours of honors-quality coursework, over the first three years of study courses. This degree plan should be made in consultation with the student’s academic advisor
  • Make a preliminary decision on the honors capstone experience type
  • Submit the contract to their academic advisor

Students will receive a copy of their approved honors contract. The approved contract describes all requirements the student must meet to be eligible to graduate with honors in public health. The student should refer to the approved contract often to make sure they are following their approved curriculum. The college is aware that degree plans change and recommends that students discuss any potential changes with their academic advisor to ensure that all honors requirements are met.

Honors capstone prep

Honors students must enroll in PUBHLTH 3180E as their capstone prep course.

Capstone options for Honors students

Honors students can select from three types of capstone experiences:

  • PUBHLTH 4191 Capstone Internship in Public Health (2 credit hours)
  • PUBHLTH 4999.01H Senior Honors Thesis (2 credit hours minimum)
  • Education Abroad:
    • PUBHLTH 3189.05: Field Experience in Global Public Health: Costa Rica (2 credit hours)
    • EARTHSC 5797.20 Exploring Environmental and Human Health Issues in Japan (3 credit hours)
    • Other pre-approved (by CPH) Education Abroad Experience
       

Honors project

All BSPH honors students will complete an honors project via one of two pathways to engage in experiential learning that relates to the Ohio State University Honors G.O.A.L.S (Global Engagement, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Immersion). These two pathways for the honors project align with the student's choice of capstone experience:

Pathway A: Honors research thesis

Pathway B: 2+ credit hours of internship of education abroad and at least one additional substantial experience that relates to the Ohio State University Honors G.O.A.L.S. 

For students who choose Pathway B, the honors project is designed to enhance and give students credit for experiences that benefit their education and future career, and that they may already be engaged in (e.g., research with a faculty member, internship, etc.).

All honors students will present their honors project in a one-hour oral defense in front of two CPH faculty members. Specific requirements for this presentation for each pathway are described below.

Pathway A: Honors research thesis

The honors research thesis is completed under the mentorship of a faculty advisor who will guide the student through the process. Students must identify an advisor and a research topic well in advance of the graduation semester. Ideally, the student would start the thesis research at least three semesters prior to graduation. Students must also choose a second faculty member to serve as the second reader of the thesis. Either the faculty advisor or the second reader (or both) must have a primary appointment in the College of Public Health.

The faculty advisor is responsible for overseeing the honors thesis project. Prior to beginning the thesis project, the student and faculty member should establish guidelines for frequency of meeting, submission of preliminary drafts and deadlines for submitting work. Failure to follow these guidelines may result in termination of the project. The faculty advisor should also indicate how long they will take to review drafts.

If the faculty member will be absent during any part of the project, they must appoint another faculty member to supervise the project during that period, and the honors co-directors should be notified of this arrangement. If the student will be conducting research off campus, the student and faculty member should devise mutually acceptable guidelines for maintaining contact and reporting progress. In some cases, this might include the designation of an "on-site" advisor, and the honors co-directors should be informed of these arrangements.

The faculty advisor is responsible for informing the student if it appears that their research will require approval of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for human subjects research or approval of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (ILACUC) for animal subjects research.

At any point, if it appears that the work on the honors thesis is not of superior quality to qualify for graduation with honors research distinction, the student and faculty member may agree to continue the project as regular independent study or to terminate the project. The honors co-directors must be notified of the decision not to complete the project for graduation with honors research distinction. If the project is not completed, the faculty advisor may still judge that sufficient work has been done to merit a grade of "S" in the 4999.01H course.

Students will typically complete and defend the honors thesis during the semester in which the student graduates, but earlier dates are acceptable as well. See below for information about the oral defense.

Electronic submission of thesis

The thesis must be submitted electronically to the University Libraries’ knowledge bank no later than the last day of final examination week of the semester in which the student will graduate.

Pathway B: Internship/Education Abroad with Additional Experience(s)

On this pathway, students complete either a capstone internship (PUBHLTH 4191) or an approved education abroad capstone (e.g., PUBHLTH 3189.05 or EARTHSC 5797.20), during which they will present a poster at the end-of-semester BSPH Capstone Poster Session using a provided template. In addition to this capstone experience, students must complete at least one additional, pre-approved learning experience (credit-bearing or co-curricular) that aligns with a different letter of the Honors G.O.A.L.S. framework - meaning it cannot overlap with Global Awareness ("G") for education abroad or Service Engagement ("S") for internships, nor can it be part of general course requirements. Finally, students will present their complete honors project in a one-hour oral defense before two CPH faculty members using a standardized slide template, highlighting the connectivity between both experiences and their future career goals.

Oral defense of honors project

All honors students, regardless of their chosen pathway, are required to orally defend their honors project to a committee of at least two faculty members. For students completing a research thesis (Pathway A), these two faculty members will be the faculty advisor and second reader. For students completing an internship or education abroad plus additional experience(s) (Pathway B), this committee will include two faculty members, one of whom is often one of the honors faculty co-directors.  The student’s academic advisor can assist in finding faculty members to serve on this committee.

It is the student's responsibility to schedule the one-hour defense and reserve a room for the meeting. All members of the committee must be present at the oral defense, with video conferencing allowed if necessary.

The defense should be scheduled for one hour. The student should prepare a 20 to 25-minute presentation (including slides/visuals), and after the presentation the committee will ask questions for another 20-25 minutes. Typically, questions go beyond just reviewing the project and often require students to critically think about their honors project or to draw on material taught in courses. While an oral exam may seem stressful, it is an opportunity for the student to demonstrate their expertise and articulate and defend their ideas.

At the conclusion of the oral exam, the committee will ask the student to briefly leave the room so they may discuss the exam. If the committee judges that the student has satisfactorily completed the oral defense, they will sign the appropriate form to indicate that the student qualifies for graduation with honors (Pathway B) or with honors research distinction (Pathway A). This form must be returned to the Office of Academic Programs and Student Services by the 10th Friday of the semester of graduation.

Graduating with honors

There are two types of honors graduation distinction available to BSPH honors students: graduation with honors in public health and graduation with honors research distinction in public health. Details are provided in this handbook in 8.0 Graduation.

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