A candidate for honors should consult his or her academic adviser or department chair during the spring semester of the junior year. The student must have completed at least 75 credits of coursework with a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 and demonstrated an aptitude for original research. Once admitted, the candidate must enroll in 50:120:491,492 Special Problems in Biology (4 credits in each semester of the senior year), where he or she will carry out a research project under guidance of a biology faculty member and write an honors paper that must be accepted by three faculty members of the biology department who constitute an Honors Committee. The candidate must maintain the requisite grade-point average until the end of the senior year and take a comprehensive examination (oral and/or written, prepared by the Honors Committee) during the last week of classes of the final semester. The Honors Committee will determine whether the student's work merits honors, high honors, or no honors.

Career Development/Civic Engagement Courses

The undergraduate biology program at Rutgers University-Camden has a course plan for career development with your biology degree:

A. Exploring Careers in Biology 50:120:199 (1)

Exploring Careers in Biology is designed for freshmen and first-year students. Students will learn career skills/requirements by experiencing different tracks of potential careers. Five different tracks are offered: teaching, research, medicine/health, plant/environmental nonprofit organization, and entrepreneurship/for-profit companies. Students can choose two tracks per semester and will work 15 hours per workplace (about three hours per week for five weeks) at community partners in the City of Camden. Please contact the department with questions about the course. Unlike lecture courses, we need to prepare workplaces for you in the fall. Students are encouraged to register for the course in advance.

B. Internship in Biology 50:120:299 (3)

Internship in Biology is designed for juniors and seniors. Students will be trained in interviewing, résumé writing skills, and other professional skills.

C. Special Problems in Biology 50:120:491 (BA)

Special Problems in Biology is for seniors. Each student will be cosupervised by one biology faculty member and a community partner. The faculty guides a research problem in their own research lab or in a project outside the university in collaboration with the community partners. This course satisfies elective course requirements for the biology major.