Our department presents two annual awards, the Jonathan L. Besecker Best Paper Award and the annual award for the graduating senior with the highest cumulative grade point average.
Past winners of the Besecker Best Paper Award:
2011 - No Award Made
2010 - No Award Made
2009 - Margot Conover
2008 - Katie Sparks
2007 - Cody Zimmerman
Past winners of the highest grade point average award:
2011 - Katie Davis
2010 - Andrew Berglund
2009 – Margot Conover and Brian Chenault – co-winners
Our students are also nationally recognized for their undergraduate research:
- Andrew Berglund won runner-up from Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society for Best Undergraduate Class Paper in 2009 for his paper entitled "Disturbing the Dragon: Chinese Threat Perceptions and the Influence of the United States."
- Erin Phillips won first place from Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society for Best Undergraduate Class Paper in 2008 for her paper entitled "Generational Differences: Examining Significant Factors Influencing Political Science Participation among Cohorts."
- Crystal Dunn's senior thesis entitled "Fighting Terrorism in the Middle East : A Cultural Evaluation of the National Strategy for Combating Terrorism" was published in the Spring 2006 (Volume 6 Issue 1) issue of The Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics.
