Honors and Awards for the College of Arts and Sciences

Each year the Department of Communications honors all its graduating seniors at an awards dinner. Special recognition is given in the areas listed below.

The Creativity in Film and Video Award is presented to a student who has shown exceptional talent and growth in film and/or video.

Department Honors is presented to the graduating senior with the highest grade-point average.

The Excellence in Journalism award is presented to a student who has excelled in journalistic work.

In memory of Morgan Reichner, who served on the Adelphi University Board of Trustees for many years, the Morgan S. A. Reichner Award recognizes a student who has shown a high level of academic achievement in communications across multiple areas.

The Research and Writing Award is presented to a student who has demonstrated the highest academic achievement by completing a substantial, high-quality original research project in his or her senior year.

Awards in English
The Department of English awards the Roundtable Prize for Graduate Studies, honors in creative writing, honors in English and the Donald Everett Axinn Awards in Creative Writing.

Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP)
All graduate students are enrolled as members of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP). This organization provides professional and artistic support and assistance in finding positions. AWP members can take advantage of its job-listing and dossier-forwarding services.

The standards for Departmental Honors in the Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences are a 3.5 GPA in environmental studies/earth science courses and completion of an environmental studies seminar with a grade of B or better.

Departmental awards are presented to high-achieving students at the annual awards dinner. Awards include the Chester L. Barrows Award for the outstanding graduating History major, several scholarship awards, and induction into Phi Alpha Theta (National History Honor Society).

Join the national honor society Sigma Iota Rho.

International studies students can apply for membership in the prestigious Sigma Iota Rho, the national honor society for international studies. The society promotes and rewards scholarship and service among students and practitioners of international studies, international affairs and global studies and global studies.

Members have many benefits, including writing for the student publication in The Journal of International Relations, travel and research grants, and access to professional networks.

Departmental Honors are conferred to students with a 3.5 GPA or higher in the language studied at Adelphi with a minimum of 18 credits in the language and with at least one 300-level course or one literature course.

Honor Societies
Membership is usually by invitation only, limited to students who have demonstrated leadership, high general academic scholarship, and excellence in the study of Spanish, French, and Italian.

For specific requirements, contact the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures.

• French Honor Society: Pi Delta Phi
• Spanish Honor Society: Sigma Delta Pi
• Italian Honor Society: Gamma Kappa Alpha
• International Honor Society: Sigma Iota Rho

Department Honors
Departmental honors are conferred on students who have a Quality Points Awarded (QPA) of 3.5 or better in the major and have completed a seminar with a B or higher.

Pi Sigma Alpha (National Political Science Honor Society)
As a political science student, you can join Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society. Pi Sigma Alpha has almost 700 chapters at most leading colleges and universities in the U.S., and induction into Adelphi’s Nu Theta chapter consists of a ceremony and dinner for you and your family. It is not necessary to be a political science major to join.

Department Awards
Annually, your achievements can take center stage as we award the top students in our program at the Political Science and Senior Dinner, which is held in May. Students awarded departmental honors will be recognized, as well as recipients of the following awards:

• Hugh A. Wilson Award for Social and Economic Justice: The award recognizes a senior for activism in the areas of social and economic justice.
• Robert J. Johnson Prize for Best Political Science Paper: The award honors the student with the best paper that received an A during the previous three semesters. Students can submit no more than three papers for consideration.
• W. Grafton Nealley Award for Excellence in Political Science: This most-outstanding senior award is decided by a committee of faculty who examine GPA in political science, the difficulty of courses taken and academic improvement.

The Department of Sociology recognizes student achievement with the presentation of annual department honors and awards to graduating seniors, which are presented by the faculty at an Awards Banquet for the honorees and their parents.

Honors in Sociology
Students who graduate with a GPA of 3.5 or higher will be granted honors in sociology.

Departmental Awards
The awards are based on the submission of papers which are judged by the entire department faculty. The awards include the:

• Bensman-Vidich Award for Excellence in Academic Research
• Elliot Liebow Award for Excellence in Field Research
• William Spinrad Award for Excellence in Library Research
• Paul Lazarsfeld Award in Quantitative Research
• Excellence as a Sociology Minor

Announcements regarding the submission of papers to be eligible for these awards are made late in the fall semester.