Honors faculty support Schreyer Scholars in achieving their goals

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For Schreyer Scholars, one of the key parts of an honors education at Penn State are the relationships they build with the faculty. From small honors courses to research projects, to ultimately creating a thesis, faculty support Scholars throughout their education.

“We are so thankful for the faculty who serve as honors advisers and thesis supervisors,” said Schreyer Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Laura Rotunno. “Scholars often cite the thesis as one of the most meaningful experiences during their time in college, and that is largely because of the support they receive from the faculty at Penn State.”

For Sven Bilén, a professor of engineering, getting involved with Schreyer Honors College as a faculty member was an easy decision.

“I went to Penn State and was in the University Scholars Program, which was the predecessor to Schreyer,” Bilén said. “When I came back to Penn State after graduate school, one of the first things I did was get engaged with Schreyer as honors faculty. I knew how valuable the program was.”

Bilén serves as both an honors adviser and a thesis supervisor to Schreyer Scholars. Honors advisers work with Scholars to ensure that they are meeting the requirements and standards of the honors college, as well as pushing them to achieve their goals both personally and academically. Thesis supervisors mentor Scholars throughout the intensive thesis process. Scholars spend time creating a research or creative project in a subject that they are curious to explore. The challenging and rewarding experience is celebrated at Gong Days, when each Scholar hits a gong to signify the completion of their thesis.

For Bilén, getting students started with research before they start their thesis project is key to a successful experience.

“During a Scholar’s junior year or even earlier, I’ll engage with students who are interested in working with me in a lab,” Bilén said. “This helps them get some experience and build up their experimental capabilities, and then toward the end of their junior year, we begin to frame out what their thesis topic might be.”

This early start helps Scholars get their background research done over the summer, so that when they return to campus in the fall they are ready to work in the experimental environment. Bilén has noticed that the longer thesis process has better prepared Schreyer Scholars for graduate school after Penn State.

The honors thesis looks different in each academic field. While Bilén is bringing Scholars into the lab to work on experiments, Claire Bourne is taking them to the Eberly Family Special Collections Library to explore textual editing of ancient books. For Bourne, a professor of English, a key piece of working with honors Scholars is encouraging them to slow down and deeply investigate the texts they are working with.

During the smaller honors courses she has taught, Bourne said she is able to challenge the students to take on a more patient mentality and see the bigger picture and context of what they are learning before diving into the projects they are working on. This allows them to engage deeply with the material and explore more than they may have without the challenge of being patient.

“Honors students in particular are always moving,” Bourne said. “They’re taking lots of classes, they’re really committed, and they’re busy all the time. I tend to employ a slow-down pedagogy to give time and space for the student to dwell with a text and take time to observe.”

This “slow-down” pedagogy also informs her approach to mentoring Scholars who are working on their theses. She meets with students to help them get a broad understanding of their interests and then helps them narrow it down into a project and a proposal. The Scholars that she works with often have very different projects each year, she said, so it is important for her to tailor her mentorship to each student’s needs.

“Some students who have more of an idea of what they want to research come in wanting someone to keep them accountable, whereas other students need help shaping their thesis at the early stages,” Bourne said.

Jennifer Chang Coupland, professor of marketing, reflected on the importance of customizing the thesis experience for each student. She said her approach hinges on the fact that writing a thesis is not a linear process.

“I think creating a thesis is eye-opening for students,” Coupland said. “In the beginning there is a learning curve for this type of research project. The students are prepared to take on the learning curve, but it's not something they’ve experienced in the past.”

Coupland challenges Scholars to find topics that they personally resonate with and have internal passion for. She said she has helped Scholars write theses about topics ranging from Taylor Swift and parasocial relationships to how consumer behavior research can be used in politics. For Coupland, the Scholar working on their thesis should feel like they have ownership over their research.

In addition to being a thesis supervisor, Coupland also serves as the honors adviser for the marketing department in the Smeal College of Business. She meets with each Scholar before they start their thesis project, outlines all of the components, gives advice about how to work with a thesis supervisor, and helps them develop a framework for success.

“There is something special about a really insightful undergrad,” Coupland said. “They see research through fresh eyes. They haven’t been exposed to all the frameworks or the way academic papers are written, so they are coming at this from a scholarly perspective, but also from the perspective of someone outside looking in.”

While writing a thesis can be time consuming for both the Scholar and their thesis supervisors, Bilén, Bourne and Coupland all said they view the process as an opportunity to work closely with a student who is deeply engaged with research. A thesis allows Scholars to dive deeper into a subject they are curious about and even become an expert in that research; Scholars often go on to publish their research or continue pursuing the project beyond their undergraduate education.

“Working with Scholars brings light to something that has always interested you, but maybe you’ve never taken the time to explore,” Coupland said. “A Schreyer Scholar will permit you the opportunity to open that world and investigate it with them."

Faculty who are interested in becoming a thesis supervisor can contact Laura Rotunno, associate dean of academic affairs in Schreyer, at ler12@psu.edu.