BSPS Honors Program
The College of Pharmacy’s Honors Program allows highly motivated and well-prepared students to participate in academic-experiences that contribute to both their professional and personal development.
Through the Honors Program, students have the opportunity to develop scientific knowledge, participate in community service and immerse themselves in a different cultural environment.
Students will complete a project that falls within the healthcare field, such as conducting laboratory research, participating in outreach and engagement activities or completing an industry internship. Students are encouraged to customize their project so that it relates to their interests and aligns with their future career goals.
Membership to the Honors Program can be granted in two ways:
- Students may apply to the University Honors Program when they apply to the university.
- Students who meet the requirements for the program may formally request to join by speaking with their academic advisor within the college.
Criteria to join the program:
- Students must have at least 30 credit hours
- Students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher
- Students must complete at least one honors course
Honors students who transfer to or are admitted to the college with previous honors status will need to speak with their academic advisor to confirm that their honors status will transfer.
Requirements for the honors program include:
- Students must submit a BSPS Honors Contract, which must be approved by an academic advisor
- Students must complete all BSPS program requirements
- Students must be accepted into the honors program
- Students must complete 18 hours of honors courses, including six from STEM fields
- Students must complete a four credit hour honors project (PHR 4997), including the creation of a document summarizing the results of the experience and participating in an undergraduate research forum
- Students must maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher
Honors students may graduate with distinction, in which a formal research project replaces the honors project.
Please note the above requirements are valid for students who began at Ohio State in AU17 and beyond. If you began at Ohio State prior to AU17 and you have questions about the honors requirements, please contact your assigned academic advisor.
Students begin their project by submitting the Honors Project Initiation Form to their academic advisor for approval by the BSPS Program Committee. The form summarizes the nature of the project, the goals to be accomplished, identification of a project mentor/advisor and the project advisor’s approval.
Faculty mentor responsibilities include periodic check-in meetings to evaluate student progress, reviewing student materials, such as research notes, literature notes or diary entries, training the student in appropriate methodology and helping the student with preparation of the presentation and writing of the research.
To complete their honors project, students must create a document summarizing the project, as well as present their experience at an Undergraduate Research Forum.
Requirements for completing a BSPS degree with honors and distinction include:
- Students must complete all honors requirements
- Students must participate in research for at least two semesters with an average commitment of two to three credit hours of PHR 4998
- Students must present their work at an Undergraduate Research Forum
- Students must complete a written report (2-3 pages in length) describing the learning goals accomplished; OR, students may complete a written thesis (10-15 pages in length) describing the research conducted.
A variety of project activities are acceptable, provided the activity falls within the life sciences or healthcare field. Projects may be completed under the direction of mentors outside of the College of Pharmacy. In this situation, students should register for research hours in the mentor’s department.
PDFs:
- Presentation
Comparing engagement between social media platforms on an educational prescription-cost resource
- Thesis
Evaluation of Coumarin Derivatives as Probes in Monitoring CYP2A6 Activity in Cancer Cells
- Poster
The Introduction of Cultural Competency Standards in an Undergraduate Pre-Health Curriculum
- Thesis
Characterizing pathologically relevant mutations in human plastin 3
- Thesis
A substituted indole scaffold as a class of allosteric HIV-1 integrase inhibitor