Undergraduate Research Honors Program

Undergraduate Research Honors Program (URHP)
Approved Spring 2003, Site updated October 2023

Current Program Coordinator: Dr. Aubrey Dueweke

The Department of Psychology at ETSU offers enhanced educational opportunities for its most able psychology majors through the Undergraduate Research Honors Program in Psychology. Psychology URHP students may be eligible for in-state or out-of-state scholarships. Interested students should direct questions to the URHP-in-Psychology Program Coordinator at DUEWEKE@mail.etsu.eduand scholarship information can be found here. This information should be reviewed before accepting an honors scholarship.

Academic Program of Study

The Psychology Undergraduate Research Honors Program of study consists of:

  1. 12 hours of honors-enriched coursework: Only 3000 and 4000 PSYC courses can be taken as honors-enriched psychology courses. PSYC 4900 may NOT be taken for honors credit. If there is not a separate honors section, an honors student should contract with the instructor of the course to be taken for honors credit outlining what extra work will be done in order to receive honors credit.The student should discuss the requirements for earning honors-enriched credit with the course instructor. Students will complete the Course Honors-Enrichment Agreement Form. The student and instructor should sign this form, and each should keep a copy. An additional copy should be given to the psychology URHP Coordinator (currently Dr. Dueweke). The student will need to sign up for the 088 section of the course to be taken for honors credit. A permit request form can be completed in room 420 Rogers Stout.
  2. 6 hours of Honor's Thesis coursework: All honors students must complete a senior honors thesis under the tutelage and mentorship of a full-time member of the Department of Psychology with an active research lab, by enrolling in 6 semester hours of PSYC 4018. Theses must be submitted electronically following the directions here.

Psychology Honors Thesis Instructions

Psychology Honors Check Sheet

Psychology URHP Scholarship Contract

Admission Requirements

  1. Entering first year students are not eligible for the URHP in Psychology.
  2. Students entering programs after their first semester at ETSU: To be admitted into the URHP in Psychology, students must have:
    1. completed at least 45 semester hours of undergraduate study (9 in Psychology)
    2. maintained at least a 3.35 overall GPA and at least a 3.50 GPA in psychology coursework
    3. secured the mentorship of a full-time faculty member of the Department of Psychology with an active research lab.
    4. been admitted to the program by the Department of Psychology Honors Admissions Committee.
  3. Transfer students: To be admitted into the URHP in Psychology, transfer students must have:
    1. completed at least 45 semester hours of undergraduate study (9 in Psychology)
    2. maintained at least a 3.35 overall GPA, and at least a 3.50 GPA in psychology coursework at ETSU and the transfer institution
    3. secured the mentorship of a faculty member with teaching duties in the department of psychology
    4. been admitted to the program by the Department of Psychology Honors Admissions Committee.

Application & admissions procedures

If you are interested in applying for admission to the URHP in Psychology, you should start by making an appointment with the Psychology URHP coordinator (DUEWEKE@mail.etsu.edu) to discuss programmatic options.

Applications for the 2024-2025 academic year will open in January 2024 and must be received by March 1, 2024.

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Retention Requirements

To remain in good standing in the Psychology URHP program, students must maintain an overall grade-point-average of 3.35 and a psychology grade-point-average of 3.50 during their final three semesters of matriculation at ETSU.

Students falling below the minimal requirements will be placed on temporary probation in the Psychology URHP program, and will have a one-semester grace period to meet or exceed the grade-point-average requirements. If students are placed on temporary probation or otherwise fail to demonstrate adequate progress in completing the Psychology URHP program, the Psychology URHP Coordinator will notify both the student and the Director of URHP Programs as soon as possible. Students failing to maintain the GPA requirements as a result of their final semester of performance or failing to meet the other honors requirements will be not be awarded the Psychology URHP designation upon graduation. Students earning less than a B in thesis hours will dismissed from the URHP Program.

Graduation Requirements

To graduate with the Psychology URHP Designation, students must:

  1. Be admitted to the Psychology URHP program;
  2. Complete all necessary coursework (honors, major, general education, and otherwise); honors coursework includes four honors-enriched courses and 6 hours of honors thesis credit. The instructions for completing honors-enriched courses can be found here.
  3. Maintain an overall GPA of 3.35 and a psychology GPA of 3.50;
  4. Earn at least a B in PSYC 4018 (Honors Thesis) coursework; and
  5. Present the results of their honor's theses publicly and orally.