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GRADUATION WITH DISTINCTION IN BIOLOGY

Eligibility & Criteria (last updated 17 November 2008)
The Biology Department honors a limited number (around 10%) of graduating majors with Distinction in Biology. Each spring the faculty review those eligible students who have applied for Distinction in Biology, and award those who best fulfill departmental ideals of excellence, creativity, and interest in biology with the aid of the criteria below.

Eligibility

To be considered for Distinction in Biology, a student must be a biology major who has participated in Biology Department activities during his/her tenure in the department and who has conducted significant independent research.  A significant research experience may include an Independent Research (IR) course, participation in St. Olaf’s Summer Research program, or participation in research (summer or during the school-year) off-campus. In cases where a student has participated in a collaborative research project, the student’s own contribution must be clearly described.

If a student’s significant research has been off-campus or with a St. Olaf faculty member outside of the biology department (such as Chemistry), the student must arrange for a member of the St. Olaf Biology Department to mentor them in applying for Distinction in Biology.  Talk to Mike Swift or Kevin Crisp about arranging for a mentor.  Remember that the permission of the student’s off-campus research supervisor must be obtained before any presentation of the work (including applying for Distinction in Biology).

Eligible students must submit an application for Distinction in Biology (available from the Department Office in RNS 360) by Friday March 6, 2009. This application includes an abstract of the student’s research, as well as places for the student to indicate all of the Biology Department activities in which they have participated. The student must also attach an unofficial degree audit to the application form, and submit an electronic copy of the abstract to Tory Borovsky (borovskt@stolaf.edu). Dates for Distinction deadlines for this year are on the back.

Criteria

While the criteria below are necessary for consideration for Distinction in Biology, simply meeting these criteria is not a guarantee of this honor.

1. Distinction Paper: The Distinction Paper is a research paper, or another suitable written project, authored solely by the student in consultation with his or her mentors.  It is a major piece of work that after submission will be reviewed by two readers designated by the Biology Department who will share their assessment of the work in the departmental deliberations.
2. Poster Presentation: The student must have presented the research to the Biology Department during one of two poster sessions (one in the Fall [8 Dec 2008] and one in the Spring [20 April 2009]). The Biology faculty will visit the students at their posters and evaluate the quality of the poster as well as its presentation.
3. Departmental Participation: Part of the application for Distinction in Biology involves detailing the ways in which the student has been an active member of the Biology Department over his/her tenure at St. Olaf. This includes but is not limited to: attendance at seminars, departmental employment, participation in Tri-Beta and Biology Club, work on the natural lands, etc.
4. Grade Point Average: The student's grade point average in her/his biology major and overall will be considered; while no official cutoff point is designated, generally students with an overall GPA below 3.0 are not considered for Distinction in Biology.

Calendar 2009

Application - will open as a PDF file