General Academic Policies
1. All participants in the Theodore Roosevelt Honors Leadership Program (TRHLP) must be baccalaureate
degree seeking. It is mandatory all TR scholars graduate with a Leadership Studies Minor.
2. Students will only be admitted in the fall and if they have less than 60 college credits total.
3. If a student is admitted as a freshman, (0-23 credit hours) he/she will receive 4 years of funding. If a
student is admitted as a sophomore (24-59 credit hours) he/she will receive 3 years of funding.
4. If a nursing student is admitted as a freshman (0-23 credit hours) he/she will receive 5 years of funding. If
a nursing student is admitted as a sophomore (24-59 credit hours) he/she will receive 4 years of funding.
5. To keep their scholarships, students must maintain all program requirements
6. All TRHLP courses involve intensive reading and writing assignments.
7. Students are expected to take at least one class from the TRHLP curriculum per semester. Those classes
and a Course of Study are listed below and in the 2017-2018 Dickinson State University Catalog. Students
take additional courses in their discipline or other general education courses to meet the mandated
full-time student load of 12 hours or more of coursework.
a. Qualified DSU and transfer students may enter the TRHLP in the fall only and if they have under 60 credit hours. These students will need to make up required coursework in order to earn the Leadership Studies Minor.
b. Nursing students should consult with the Department of Nursing Chair and the TRHLP Director when planning their course of study. Nursing students may receive 5 years of funding, provided they maintain all program requirements.
c. College Composition I and II taken through the high school early entry (formerly known as dual credit) program will ONLY count toward TRHLP curricular requirements if the student received an “A” grade.
d. Fundamentals of Public Speaking taken through the high school early entry (formerly known as dual credit) program will ONLY count toward TRHLP curricular requirements if the student received an “A” grade.
8. Students must be attending courses on campus during their time as TR Scholars and DSU students
9. Students are expected to be very active in the program. The TRHLP requires students attend certain events
and activities. These include, but are not limited to: all-class meetings, co-curriculars, program events, and
other events/activities deemed mandatory by the Director. More information is available in the
Maintenance of Honors Program Status section below.
10. The TRHLP is very service learning oriented. All students will complete 90 service learning hours over the
time of their scholarship. These must be volunteer hours and not for pay. Thirty of these hours will be
completed in the LEAD 495H-1 Introduction to TRHLP course that students take during their first
semester. The remaining 60 hours will be completed by taking the LEAD 495H-2 Service Learning course.
Students can take this course for 1 credit at a time and complete 30 service learning hours per credit, or
they can take it for 2 credits and complete 60 service learning hours. Students will engage in other
service learning opportunities during their time as TR Scholars, but will only earn credit towards the
required 90 while enrolled in the appropriate courses.
11. TRHLP Scholars who study abroad at a university that has a formal exchange agreement with DSU can
maintain their TRHLP Scholarship, but must enroll in equivalent honors courses at the foreign university
or in courses approved by the TRHLP Director before the beginning of the study abroad experience.
12. When applying for graduation, graduating seniors must indicate they will graduate with a Leadership
Studies Minor.
Graduating Seniors will also need to schedule a graduation audit with the TRHLP
Director the semester prior to graduation.
Maintenance of Honors Program Status
- Students must enroll in all appropriate courses (detailed in the Course of Study) and maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.25.
- If a student’s cumulative GPA is below 3.25, he/she will be placed on academic probation for the following semester. If the student does not have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 after the probationary semester, he/she will forfeit the scholarship beginning the next semester. A student will be placed on academic probation only two times. Instead of being placed on academic probation for a third time, the student will forfeit the scholarship.
- Appeal of this removal or requests for waiver of this requirement because of special circumstances must be submitted in writing to and received by the TRHLP Director within 10 working days of student receipt of either a letter of probation or of non-renewal.
- Being placed on both academic and participation probation at the same time indicates a lack of suitability for continuance in the TRHLP and will also result in immediate removal. Please note this could mean revocation of the scholarship in the middle of the school year. See below for information about participation requirements.
- Students removed from the TRHLP may not apply for re-admission to the program or the scholarship.
- Students attending the National Collegiate Honors Conference must be in good academic standing.
All TRHLP Scholars are required to attend mandatory events for each semester. These include, but are not limited to: monthly all-class meetings, donor luncheons, Freshman Retreat, Homecoming Parade, and other events deemed mandatory by the Director. These events will have a sign-in sheet. If you cannot attend a mandatory event, inform the Director or Office Manager. Additionally, each semester all students must attend three DSU co-curricular events and write a response to them. Acceptable co-curriculars include, but are not limited to: speakers on campus, Global Table, sessions at the NCHC conference, sessions at the TR Symposium. The focus of the co-curriculars should be educational and not mainly for entertainment purposes. Athletic, musical, and theatrical events do not count as co-curriculars. Your response should answer the following questions for each event attended:
Your three response essays will be due at the same time as your TRHLP Semester Update form at the end of each semester, but if you would like to submit them as they are completed, it is highly encouraged. The TRHLP office prefers electronic submissions. Electronic submissions can be sent to Mari Kovash at
Marietta.kovash@dickinsonstate.edu.
- What was the name/title of the event
- Who spoke? What was said?
- What was the most important lesson you learned? Please explain.
a. Students must attend all mandatory events or provide a reasonable excuse in order to maintain satisfactory participation. Even if a student has a reasonable excuse, if he/she misses several events, then his/her participation will be considered unsatisfactory.
b. If a student does not have satisfactory participation for a semester, he/she will be placed on participation probation for the following semester. If the student does not have satisfactory participation during the probationary semester, he/she will forfeit the scholarship beginning the next semester. A student will be placed on participation probation only two times. Instead of being placed on participation probation for a third time, the student will forfeit the scholarship.
c. Appeal of this removal or requests for waiver of this requirement because of special circumstances must be submitted in writing to and received by the TRHLP Director within 10 working days of student receipt of either a letter of probation or of non-renewal.
d. Being placed on both academic and participation probation at the same time indicates a lack of suitability for continuance in the TRHLP and will also result in immediate removal. Please note this could mean revocation of the scholarship in the middle of the school year. See above for information about academic requirements.e. Students removed from the TRHLP may not apply for re-admission to the program or the scholarship.f. Mandatory Events: When attending mandatory events, you must sign in or do what is necessary to verify you were in attendance. If you were not in attendance but someone signs you in, both parties will be immediately placed on probation. If one or both parties already have a probation on file, you will be removed from the TRHLP.
g. Mandatory All-Class Meetings: In the event a TRHLP Scholar misses a mandatory monthly class meeting, please ask your TREC representative for an update within 7 days.h. Update Forms: Students must complete the online TRHLP Update Form and submit it electronically to the TRHLP Office each semester by the deadline established in the announcement email. This form supplies an array of important data used to improve the program and facilitate timely graduation and communication