The Honors Program
The Honors Program at Saint Mary’s College brings together students and faculty who are interested in challenging themselves and transforming their lives and the ways in which they view the world. Honors students study together, earn honors course credit, contribute to scholarly research and creative projects under the direction of expert faculty and develop leadership skills.
The program looks for students who want to continue their studies beyond their undergraduate degree. The honors contract courses and the senior thesis demand work which approaches graduate-level quality. Students receive the support, mentorship and opportunities they need to develop their exceptional abilities.
The program looks for students who want to continue their studies beyond their undergraduate degree. The honors contract courses and the senior thesis demand work which approaches graduate-level quality. Students receive the support, mentorship and opportunities they need to develop their exceptional abilities.
Honors Thesis: Me 3.0
Me 3.0 - Creating A New Me: A How-To Build a Personal Brand for College Students
Objectives: Personal branding, which has gained viability with the rise of the internet marketplace, helps people differentiate themselves from their competitors by teaching them to identify and articulate their “unique value proposition.” A Unique Value Proposition is the attributes particular to an individual that makes them uniquely valuable to an institution or organization. In summer and fall of 2010 I will develop a method of teaching personal branding strategies to two distinct student populations, Honors FYAC students and first year High Potential Students, in order to determine whether the method might have wider value in a collegiate atmosphere. In the spring 2011 in conjunction with my capstone business course I will analyze the results of my efforts with the goal of publishing and later marketing my methods.
Objectives: Personal branding, which has gained viability with the rise of the internet marketplace, helps people differentiate themselves from their competitors by teaching them to identify and articulate their “unique value proposition.” A Unique Value Proposition is the attributes particular to an individual that makes them uniquely valuable to an institution or organization. In summer and fall of 2010 I will develop a method of teaching personal branding strategies to two distinct student populations, Honors FYAC students and first year High Potential Students, in order to determine whether the method might have wider value in a collegiate atmosphere. In the spring 2011 in conjunction with my capstone business course I will analyze the results of my efforts with the goal of publishing and later marketing my methods.
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Honors Contract: Advertising
Advertising in the 21st Century: From New Product to a Campaign
Overall Objective: . While my colleague will merely work on one aspect of an advertising campaign with a product that has been provided, I will develop a comprehensive advertising campaign for a new product which I will fabricate. My colleagues will create a strategy for an established brand, while I, through research on consumer behavior and preferences, will establish my fabricated product’s brand within an established consumer market. For the major outcome, I will articulate a creative strategic advertising campaign and pitch it to Professor Holden as a final take-away for a client.
Benchmarks:
Overall Objective: . While my colleague will merely work on one aspect of an advertising campaign with a product that has been provided, I will develop a comprehensive advertising campaign for a new product which I will fabricate. My colleagues will create a strategy for an established brand, while I, through research on consumer behavior and preferences, will establish my fabricated product’s brand within an established consumer market. For the major outcome, I will articulate a creative strategic advertising campaign and pitch it to Professor Holden as a final take-away for a client.
Benchmarks:
- I will identify a niche in an already established market then fabricate a hypothetical product to advertise within that market in order to learn to create a targeted advertising strategy.
- I will research different consumer targeting in order to do a consumer analysis and cultural trends. This research will help me understand consumer behavior that will be useful in future advertising opportunities.
- Write a creative brief which will entail the consumer, category, and product information. Having a creative brief will help me learn to focus the “product message” in a communication strategy, which is essential to every advertising plan.
- Develop a concise media plan which will include numerous creative concepts in different mediums. Learning about different mediums is essential to creating a well-developed advertising plan for a client.
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Honors Contract: Business Communication
Effectively Communicating Your Brand Through an E-Portfolio and E-Resume
Overall Objective: In Business Communication, we will focus on reconstructing our verbal and written communication skills to respond to the changing business environment of today’s world. In addition to what my colleagues will be doing, I will look at an electronic resume and portfolio as a means of effectively communicating my brand in the business world, which will be a significantly more in-depth and rigorous application of the current class objectives.
Benchmarks:
Overall Objective: In Business Communication, we will focus on reconstructing our verbal and written communication skills to respond to the changing business environment of today’s world. In addition to what my colleagues will be doing, I will look at an electronic resume and portfolio as a means of effectively communicating my brand in the business world, which will be a significantly more in-depth and rigorous application of the current class objectives.
Benchmarks:
- Examine and research recent articles and collect an annotated bibliography of sources on how to best represent yourself on existing social media networks, i.e LinkedIn in order to begin collecting information on best practices for my own strategy.
- Survey best practices on building your resume through the Web 2.0 and social media networks. Then, I will demonstrate what I have learned by writing a 1-2 page summary of my findings of how to best construct a stellar resume in the business world.
- Analyze most effective means by which college students can create a e-resume and e-portfolio in order to create and present a tutorial to 70 honors students.
- Create my own e-resume and e-portfolio utilizing these mediums and mentor students doing the same in order to refine my skills.
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