112:190 Research Honors Course

Prerequisite: Consent of Mentor and Program Director

All Students engaged in mentored research are invited to participate in the Dental Student Research Honors Program.  Such students may register for 1 or 2 semester hours of academic credit during each of the Fall, Spring, and Summer terms.

Registration is required for DRA's and is optional for students with Dows, NIDCR, or other awards or situations.  Students will only be allowed to register for 1 s.h. in the Fall semester of their freshman year.  Each student's letter grade will be assigned by the Program Director in consultation with the student and mentor.

In addition to research progress, each student will be expected to participate in the Iowa Section of the AADR held in February.  Other research-related activities may also be required by the director or mentor.

1. The Research Honors Program enables the college to award visible and documented recognition of the extra efforts involved in the planning, conduct, and reporting of research.  This adds a measure of performance accountability, i.e. excellent performance is rewarded whereas poor performance or non-performance will be negative and visible.

2. An estimate of the time required to accomplish the objectives listed on the registration form is intended for students and mentors to carefully plan the semester's activities.  Remember, it is expected that each s.h. is equivalent to at least 3 hours of effort per week in the semester.

3. DRA's are required to register for at least 4 s.h. or credit in their freshman, sophomore, and junior years, and at least 2 s.h. of credit in their senior year (See Table 1).  Thus, a DRA accumulates between 14 to 21 s.h. or research honors during dental school.  This has the potential for making an appreciable difference in a student's cumulative grade point average.  Faculty should be aware of this impact and therefore assign grades in a responsible manner!

Table 1.  Flexible scheduling possibilities for registering in 112:190.  The columns contain minimum and maximum numbers of semester hours for which a student researcher may register for in a given semester.