To earn Honors credits at Penn State Greater Allegheny, students have several options:

  1. Enrollment in a designated honors course: Take courses specifically designated as Honors courses.

  2. Completion of an Honors Option: Complete an Honors Option in a regular course taught by a full-time faculty member. This involves additional work beyond the standard course requirements.

  3. Completion of an Honors Independent Study: Undertake an Honors Independent Study under the supervision of a full-time faculty member. This allows for personalized research or study in a specific area of interest.

  4. Completion of a 400-level course during freshman or sophomore year: With instructor permission, students may take a 400-level course early. This course must be approved to count for Honors credit.

Student guidelines

  • Honors Designated Credits: Complete 6 Honors Designated Credits per academic year to maintain active status in the Honors Program.

  • Honors Option or Independent Study: Students can propose an Honors Option or Independent Study with any full-time faculty member at Greater Allegheny. The Honors Option must be formally added via an add form from the campus Registrar. Students should contact the instructor by the first week of the semester for approval and completion of the form.

  • Presentation Requirement: For Honors Option courses, present the results of your work in the form of a poster at the Student Research and Creativity Conference. Failure to submit and present the poster will result in the removal of the Honors designation from your transcript.

  • Commitment: Filing an Honors Option signifies a commitment from both student and instructor to complete the project. The course cannot revert to Non-Honors status without instructor permission. Any change must be communicated in writing to the Office of Academic Affairs by the end of the sixth week of the semester.

Spring 2025 Honors Section Course

Course 

Course Name 

Instructor 

COMM 222N

Social Justice and the Image

MaryEllen Higgins

To enroll in a course as an Honors Option, work with the course instructor to complete the Honors Option Form.

Spring 2025 Honors Options

The following courses are available for possible Honors Options in Spring 2025:

Course 

Course Name 

Instructor 
ART 3

Visual Images on the Web

 Lori Hepner
BBH 143 Drugs, Behavior, and Health Katherine Mclean

BBH 203

Neurological Basis of Human Behavior

 Kristal Tucker
BBH 310 Research Strategies for Studying Biobehavioral Health Kristal Tucker
BBH 411W Research and
Applications in Biobehavioral Health		 Kristal Tucker

BBH 440

Principles of Epidemiology

 John Peles
BIOL 230W Biology: Molecules and Cells Kristal Tucker
CAS 100A (Monday Morning Session) Effective Speech Michael Vicaro
CAS 101N Introduction to Human Connection Michael Vicaro
CAS 252 Business and Professional Communication Rosemary Martinelli
CRIMJ 412 Crime, Social Control, and the Legal System Katherine Mclean
EMCH 213 Strength of Materials Eric Lipsky
ENGL 140 Contemporary Literature James Jaap
ENGL 202A Effective Writing: Writing in the Social Sciences MaryEllen Higgins
MATH 220 Matrices Kuei-Nuan Lin
MGMT 401 Contemporary Issues in Management Rosemary Martinelli
MGMT 431 Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management Bernie Cerasaro
MICRB 106 Elementary Microbiology Andrea Stevens
PHOTO 100 Introduction to Photography Lori Hepner
PSYCH 100 Introductory Psychology Elizabeth Mazur
PSYCH 260 Neurological Bases of Human Behavior Kristal Tucker
RPTM 433W Program Evaluation and Research in Recreation Services Kudzayi Maumbe
RPTM 456 Programming in Recreation Services Kudzayi Maumbe