Honors Specialization
Honors Specialization Overview
The Honors Specialization Program is designed to provide in-depth knowledge in a specific area of a student’s academic study. It is also designed to reward ACMT’s strongest students by giving them additional freedom and challenge during their junior and senior years. Strong students (G.P.A. of 3.4 or above) are able to organize in-depth learning in a specific area of study, and to take responsibility for accomplishing this specialized program of study. In recognition of the student’s extra effort and the additional learning he or she has gained, students who successfully complete the Honors Specialization Program are given a certificate attesting to this fact. This Honors Specialization Certificate, along with the completed Honors Specialization Portfolio, helps to differentiate these students to future employers and academic institutions.
The Process
Application Process
- Students entering their junior year with a GPA of 3.4 or above may elect to participate in the program. A student with a GPA below 3.4 must be recommended and sponsored by a faculty member. A letter of sponsorship written by the sponsoring faculty member must accompany that student's application. The sponsoring faculty member will also be the student's specialization mentor. The minimum GPA for a sponsored specialization is 3.0.
- Applications must be submitted to Student Services by Friday of week 2 of the student's first quarter of his or her junior year. This is usually the Fall Quarter and the assumption is that the student still has 5 academic quarters left at ACMT (including the quarter of application). The application form is available under the section labeled “Forms”.
- Upon submission, the student’s application is reviewed by the Honors Specialization Committee. If the student’s application is accepted, a mentor is assigned to the student.
The Specialization Process
The specialization process is entirely student driven. Once the student is accepted into the program and assigned a mentor, he or she must contact the mentor for an appointment to discuss the student’s goals and plans for his or her specialization in more detail. It is important that the mentor and the student agree about the best way for the student to complete his or her specialization.
As each quarter passes, the student must be in contact with the mentor to ensure that his or her projects are satisfying the requirements of the program. It is advisable for the student to be in contact with his or her mentor at least twice per quarter—once to discuss the specialization project the student plans to complete that quarter, and once for the student to submit the completed specialization project to the mentor for approval.
(Note: Projects that go into a portfolio must come from courses taken during the student's junior or senior year only. Taking junior classes during the sophomore year eliminates the possibility of doing specialization projects for them. In this case, a student's choices will be limited to the classes they have left during their junior and senior year only.)
Each project the student completes goes into the student’s portfolio which is assembled during the last quarter of the senior year (please see “Portfolio Design Requirements” below). The finished portfolio should consist of a minimum of 5 projects (4 + senior project). The student must submit the completed portfolio to his or her mentor for approval, and then submit the finished and mentor-approved portfolio to the Specialization Coordinator (currently Ana Simundic) . The deadline for the submission of the completed portfolio is the Friday of Week 6 of the spring quarter of that student’s senior year.
Upon submission, the portfolio will be reviewed by two faculty reviewers. Projects may either be accepted, rejected, are accepted on the condition that changes are made. Once all projects in the portfolio are approved by both faculty reviewers, the students can be said to have successfully completed the Honors Specialization Program. In addition to an approved specialization portfolio, the student will also receive an Honors Specialization Certificate.
Discontinuing the Program
If a student wishes to discontinue the program, he must indicate his intention to his mentor in writing. If at any time, the student is not fulfilling his obligations to the program, the mentor will give him two warnings and then drop him from the program. A student who has discontinued this program may not start it up again.
Component Parts of the Honors Specialization Program
The Area of Specialization:
A student’s specialization portfolio should represent in-depth knowledge in a specific area of study. Because of this, students should select a specialization area which falls within their main program of study and/or their area of concentration.
Please note that the specialization area must be specific. For example, it would not be acceptable for a student completing a concentration in HR to select HR as his or her area of specialization; however, it would be acceptable for the student to select one area of HR, for example staffing, as his or her specialization area.
Please keep in mind that specialization areas may be from the concentration (ex. branding (small business), staffing (HR)) or from the main program of study (ex. leadership, innovation).
There are many possible areas of specialization, and students are encouraged to choose an area which they find to be particularly interesting. However, in order to maintain the highest possible academic standards, there must be at least 2 ACMT faculty members who have extensive knowledge in that area. One will serve as the student’s mentor, and the other will serve as one of the two reviewers of the finished Honors Specialization Portfolio.
The Mentor:
Mentors are full-time faculty members who have extensive knowledge in the student’s area of specialization, and who are willing to assist students with the specialization. The specialization mentor will also be the student’s mentor for his or her senior project.
The Projects:
The finished portfolio should consist of a minimum of 5 projects. One of the projects must be the student’s senior project. Students should normally complete one project per quarter, though it is possible to complete two projects during one quarter.
Students must work with their mentors to ensure that the projects they complete meet the requirements of the Honors Specialization Program. The two most important criteria are 1) that the project represents in-depth knowledge in the specialization area, and 2) that it meets such requirements as length, earned grade, etc.
Because the student’s portfolio is designed to represent in-depth knowledge in the specialization area, it is recommended that projects are taken from core and concentration courses as much as possible.
Project Length:
All projects included in the student’s portfolio must be a minimum of 7 pages in length.
Minimum Grade:
For inclusion in the Honors Specialization Portfolio, each project must earn a grade of B or higher. Students should retain the graded version of their projects for inclusion in their portfolios.
The Use of Group Projects:
It is best if the specialization projects are individual projects completed by the student. However, it is possible for the student to include a group project. If a group project is included, the student must complete a separate and identifiable part of the project by him or herself. The student must indicate which part of the project he or she completed. This portion must be a minimum of 7 pages in length. The student must then ask the course instructor to give his or her part of the group project an independent grade. As with the individual projects, that grade must be a B or higher.
Independent Projects:
It is also possible for the student to complete an independent project outside of his or her normal coursework. Possibilities are:
-an annotated bibliography of readings in the specialization area
-critiques of relevant speakers or events that relate to the specialization area
-an independent in-depth research paper
-descriptions and analyses of co-op experiences relevant to the area of specialization
If the student would like to complete an out-of-coursework independent project, he or she must gain the approval of his or her mentor. The mentor will then be responsible for assessing the quality of the independent project, and whether it is worthy to be included in the student’s portfolio.
The Portfolio:
The portfolio is a compilation of all the projects the student has completed for his or her specialization, including senior project. The student's portfolio will contain a minimum of 5 projects. Specific guidelines for assembling the portfolio are located under "Portfolio Design Requirements".
The Certificate:
Upon the approval of a student’s specialization portfolio, the student will receive an official Honors Specialization Certificate indicating his or her area of specialization. The student’s diploma is independent of the specialization certificate. If a student completes a specialization successfully, that student will receive a separate certificate for that accomplishment. The certificate will state that the student completed a specialization in whatever area he or she chose. The certificate is only issued to students that submitted a portfolio which was reviewed and approved by the specialization review board.
Portfolio Design Requirements
The portfolio can be spiral bound or the projects can be placed in a loose-leaf binder or an expandable file folder. The portfolio must be "packaged" or "bound" as follows:
- Title Page
- Short Introduction
- Table of contents:
- Project title with section number in Roman Numerals
- Outline of project contents with page numbers
- Project title
- Brief summary of project contents
(Arrange the projects in an order that makes sense to you)
- The projects:
For each project include:
- A separation sheet (preferably in a different color) for each project which contains:
- Title of Project
- Course for which it was submitted
- Date of submission
- Name of Professor
- Evidence of the grade that the project earned. This is most often the first page of the project, upon which the course instructor has written the grade. It can also be an official grading sheet or a printout from My Courses.
- The project; if it is a group project, be sure to indicate the part of the project which you completed.
**Note: if your senior project is not yet completed, hand in the rest of the portfolio; the senior project may be added later
- Closing Summary
(Note: The Introduction and Closing Summary should contain some overall idea of what you have learned from doing these projects).
- 2 copies of the filled out Portfolio Review Sheet with your name, e-mail, specialization area, mentor, and the title of each project filled in. The Portfolio Review Sheet is available under the section labeled "Forms". Please note that all projects must be listed. If more space is required for additional projects, additional copies of the second page can be made. Please adjust the project numbers to reflect your portfolio and any additional projects.
Forms
Specialization Application
