Honors and Awards

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Honors

Department honors are awarded at the time of graduation. All students are reviewed for honors in the quarter that they have applied to graduate. There are two kinds of honors that can be award in Sociology: department honors and comprehensive honors. There is no limit to the number of possible honors recipients in a given quarter – all students who meet the requirements will be awarded honors. Department honors are indicated on both the student’s diploma and transcript; comprehensive honors are only indicated on the transcript.

Department Honors

Department honors have two levels, Honors and Highest Honors, and are based upon the student’s GPA in courses taken for the major. A student is awarded honors with a major GPA of 3.75 or better. A student is awarded highest honors with a major GPA of 3.9 or better. All courses used toward the major are considered, including requirements satisfied by a substitution petition, or those completed at a community college.

Comprehensive Honors

Comprehensive honors are awarded to students who perform exceptionally well in whichever comprehensive option they choose. Though we are phasing out two of the comprehensive options, all four are listed here.

• Socy 196A – Capstone: Still being determined.
• Senior Thesis: To receive honors the student’s thesis must be reviewed by both the thesis faculty advisor and second faculty member (a second reader). Both faculty members must recommend honors.
• Three-course option: Students must indicate in their file the specific courses they wish to use as their comprehensive courses, and perform excellent to outstanding in those courses.
• Comprehensive Exam: Students must score a 90% or higher on the comp exam to receive honors.

Awards & Scholarships

There are many awards and scholarships available to students throughout the campus. The awards and scholarships outlined below are those most pertinent to Sociology majors but are in no way a comprehensive list of the awards available to students.

Sociology of Race, Class and Gender Award

In 2000 a generous anonymous donor established the Sociology of Race, Class, and Gender Endowment. This endowment was created to fund two annual awards in the Sociology Department: one awarding a senior thesis and another awarding an alumni of the UCSC Sociology Department.

To be considered for the thesis award, the senior thesis topic must address race, class and gender in relation to aging, criminal justice, development, education, environment, health care, language and social interaction, law, leadership, the media, parenting, politics, work, youth or another topic. The submission deadline is the sixth week of spring quarter. Contact the Sociology Undergraduate Advisor for details on the application process.

For more information please see the endowment website.

Previous Winners:

2009: Dmitry Kogan for How to Delete the Word 'Street' from Street Children.

2009: Jeff Lehner for Community Castaways: The Influence of Social Exclusion on Disadvantaged Adolescent Males in the Urban U.S.

2007: Brooke Baxter for Harry Potter and the Sociologist’s Stone.

2007: Shaeleya Miller for Beyond Pole-arity: Negotiations and Accountability Among Feminists.

2005: Ileana Sansano for HIV Test Counselors in California: An Investigation of Class, Race, Gender, Emotional Labor and Family Life.

Alumni Award: Sociology of Race, Class and Gender Award

The Alumni Award recognizes a UC Santa Cruz sociology alumna or alumnus attending a graduate-level program in sociology, either at UC Santa Cruz or at another institution, who has focused her or his graduate studies on issues of women of color and class in an area such as aging, criminal justice, development, education, environment, health care, language and social interaction, law, leadership, the media, parenting, politics, work, or youth. Any undergraduate UCSC Sociology alumni enrolled in a master's or doctoral program in Sociology at any accredited institution of higher education is eligible for an endowed award. For more information on this award, please contact Marilyn Chapin, the Sociology Department Manager.

Dean’s & Chancellor’s Undergraduate Awards

The Dean's, Chancellor's, and Steck Awards recognize exceptional achievements in research projects or other creative activities, in order to both encourage outstanding scholarship and promote research as an important part of undergraduate education. The Deans of the five academic divisions at UCSC award fifty undergraduates (10 from each division) the Dean's Undergraduate Award each year with a cash prize of $100 for outstanding achievement in their division. The projects are be based on work developed in courses or programs in the normal pattern of academic activity at UCSC. Of the Deans' awardees, the top three from each division will be awarded the Chancellor's Undergraduate Award with an additional cash prize of $100. Of the 15 Chancellor's awardees, the most outstanding research project from a graduating senior will receive the Steck Award with an additional cash prize of $1000. Winners are honored at an awards ceremony at the end of the year, which will culminates the annual Student Achievement Week.  The names of the winners are also announced at graduation. Students’ projects and application forms should be submitted directly to the appropriate department office by the spring quarter deadline. Guidelines and application forms are available from the Sociology Undergraduate Advisor or online at vpdue.ucsc.edu/scholarships.htm.

Previous Winners from the Sociology Department:

2009: Susan Lopez for Is Mexico Ready for a Jury Trial? Comparative Analysis of Lay Justice Systems in Mexico, U.S., Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Ireland.

2008: Nicholas Petersen for Lynching and "Popular Justice": A Comparative Analysis of White and African-American Lynching Incidents, 1882-1930.

2007: Shaeleya Miller for Beyond Pole-arity: Negotiations and Accountability Among Feminists.

2005: Jennifer Meissonnier for The Nature of Urban Green Space: An Investigation with Users of Neighborhood Parks in San Francisco.

2003: Maria Borja for The Girl Next Door Part II, Playboy Aesthetics: A Content Analysis on Playboy Centerfolds and a Cross-cultural Comparative Analysis on Playmates and Asian Models, Second Edition.

2002: Roberto Jimenez for Crime in the Face: Decoding Criminality.

2000: Beth Martel for Women in the Military: Bridging the Gap.

Fannie Carruthers Sociology Scholarship

Anne Jane "Fanny" Carruthers Howard died on February 15, 1972. She left a portion of her estate in a trust. Her bequest designated that her trust be used to fund scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students attending the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Held up in the courts for many years, the trust was finally terminated and the balance was distributed as an outright gift to UC Santa Cruz to be administered pursuant to the donor's request. Beginning in 2005, the Fanny Carruthers Sociology Scholarship Fund will be used to fund the Fanny Carruthers Award in Sociology. One or more awards will be made annually, based on financial need and academic merit, to female undergraduate or graduate students of UC Santa Cruz who are graduates of Santa Clara County high schools and who are majoring in any concentration or track within sociology.

For more information see the endowment website.

Glaser Educational Foundation Scholarship

The Glaser Educational Foundation established a scholarship for the study of Sociology at UC Santa Cruz.  Barney G. Glaser, Ph.D. and Hon. Ph.D. in Sociology, was inspired to study Sociology during his undergraduate years.  In honor of the productive start he received in that field, his foundation has established a scholarship for Sociology majors.  The goal of the scholarship is to promote undergraduate education which provides college graduates with a broader perspective and greater insights about the world around them.

All Sociology majors at UC Santa Cruz are eligible to apply. The award is merit-based, and therefore seeks students with a cumulative GPA at UCSC of 3.3 (B+) or higher, and prefer a GPA of 3.5 or higher.  The award will pay for undergraduate tuition while majoring in Sociology. The scholarship can be awarded for each semester that the student is a Sociology major through to graduation.   After the original award, the scholarship is renewed contingent on maintaining a specified GPA.  The student is responsible for sending transcripts to the Foundation when grades are available from each semester. At least once during the academic year, recipients will meet with Foundation representatives in an informal gathering to discuss their experiences in studying Sociology.

The award will be in the form of direct payment to UCSC of the student’s registration fees each semester.  The student will submit a copy of their bill to the Foundation and the Foundation will pay the University directly for the portion labeled registration fees.

The number of scholarships awarded each semester will vary depending on resources available.

Application forms are saved in the computer, and made available to any students who inquire about the scholarship. Typically forms and all other information should be submitted to the Glaser Educational Foundation anytime before July 31 to be considered as a scholarship recipient for the Fall Quarter of the same year, or anytime after that for a later term.  If you have questions, please contact the Sociology Undergraduate Advisor or write to bonnieg@speakeasy.net.

Donald A. Strauss

The Donald A. Strauss Foundation Scholarship is available to students who have a passion and leadership for a sustained public service project.  Fourteen $10,000 scholarships are awarded each year to full-time students who have:

• one academic year remaining until graduation
• a grade point average in the upper 1/3 of his/her class.
• demonstrated an interest in public service.
• outstanding leadership potential.
• developed and can demonstrate effective communication skills.
• the desire "to make a difference" in local, regional, national or international communities.

For more information about the scholarship please visit the website, www.straussfoundation.org.

Recent UCSC Recipients:

2008: Lillian Wilson, College Eight, Community Studies

2007: Ariel Tenenbaum, College Eight, Plant Science

2007: Justin Wiley, Porter College, Environmental Studies

2006: Saurabh Mishra, Merrill College, Economics