University at Buffalo (UB)
About Ms. Callaghan
Having grown up in the area, I love everything about Buffalo! Every time I foolishly move away, Buffalo calls me back. Western New York is a special place with amazing people. Buffalo has so much to offer—excellent food, plenty of cultural events, beautiful scenery, “fun weather,” and so many opportunities to explore the outdoors.
I earned my bachelor’s degree in psychology from Canisius College (now University) and went on to earn my master’s degree in school counseling here at UB. After working for seven years in middle and high school as a school counselor, I made the transition to higher education. At Canisius University, I oversaw first-year registration, First Year Experience, and the Cura Personalis Team (students of concern committee). I also recently finished my second master’s degree in higher education and student affairs administration from Canisius.
When not at UB, I love trying out new cookie and macaron recipes (feel free to stop by to taste test), knitting, kayaking, and trips to the beach to look for sea glass. I love my two crazy dogs, Pete and Finn, and am immensely proud of my two children.
With experience in every level of education, from preschool to university, I have spent the last 15 years in higher education and love working with college students. Advising and student success are my “why” and I am so excited to be a part of the the Honors College team.
Contact Information
Tracy Callaghan
Senior Academic Advisor
University Honors College
Phone: 716-645-3020
Email: tracycal@buffalo.edu
Current Honors Students: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
For research or internship projects, if you are not earning academic credit on your transcript for the experience, you can petition to have the experience count as in-house “credits” (we keep track of them in Honors, but they do not go on your transcript) by following the directions for petitioning on the Honors Experiences page.
- Make sure you indicate that you are petitioning for Honors Experience credit. Your “Project Mentor” is just your supervisor who will confirm the number of hours you will have completed.
- In the petition process, every 45 hours of work/research etc. counts as one in-house “credit”.
Research: Academic Credit
- The Honors College does not register students for research credits.
- If you are working with a faculty member on research, you can see if their department can register you for 498 credits (that is the course number for research credits in all departments).
- Any 498 credits on your transcript will automatically count toward your Honors Experience credits on your Academic Advising Report.
- You should consult your faculty supervisor and your department’s undergraduate academic coordinator about enrolling in 498 credits.
If you are not earning academic credit on your transcript for the research, you can also petition to have the research experience count as in-house “credits,” as explained above.
Internships: Academic Credit
- The Honors College does not register students for internship credits.
- You can potentially earn internship credit (496) through your department. Consult with your department’s undergraduate office about this option.
- Note that if you are doing a summer internship, you will need to pay summer tuition for the credits.
- Any 496 class on your transcript counts toward your Honors Experiences on your Academic Advising Report.
- SEAS majors, visit the Engineering Internship and Co-Op Advisement Guide for information on internship credit.
If you are not earning academic credit on your transcript for the internship, you can also petition to have the experience count as in-house “credits,” as explained above.
The credit that you earn for TAing CSE 115 is CSE 495, and any 495 course automatically counts as Honors experience credit on your Academic Advising Report.
If you are only earning one credit of CSE 495 on your transcript, you can petition the experience for additional credits as long as the experience is at least 90 hours of work. In the petition process every 45 hours or TAing/internship/research is equal to one in house "credit" (we keep track of them here in Honors but they do not go on your transcript). So, if you spend more than 45 hours TAing (which you likely would), you can petition for the additional hours by following the directions for petitioning on the Honors Experiences page.
For a graduate class to count toward your Honors Experiences, you must be enrolled in the graduate version of the course. To be enrolled in a graduate course, an undergraduate student must submit the following completed form to petition for course credit outside of your primary academic career.
Once you obtain the necessary signatures, you may email the completed form to your Honors advisor, who can forward it along to the Office of the Registrar for them to enroll you.
NOTE: The form gives you a choice to enroll in the course for undergraduate credit or for graduate credit. If you want to use the course for a major, minor, or UB curriculum course (or toward your 120 credits you need to graduate with an undergraduate degree) it must be taken for undergraduate credit. You would also need to confirm with your department that the course will count toward your major. If you take it for undergraduate credit, it will still show on your transcript as a graduate course, but it will be factored into your undergraduate GPA.
Whether you take the course for graduate or for undergraduate credit, it will fall under your Honors Experiences on your Academic Advising Report.
Honor societies are not affiliated with the Honors College. However, if they are a national organization with a chapter at UB, then they are legitimate.
For these type of honor societies, we generally advise students that joining them makes sense if you plan on participating actively in the society.- Generally, we would not advise you to join an honor society only to have a line on your resume indicating their membership. There are often more impactful experiences to pursue in college for resume building (including research, internships, TAing and club leadership) that you could reflect on in job interviews and grad school applications.
- If you do choose to join and become an active member of the honor society, that experience could be similarly impactful.
The following sources have information that may be helpful:
The Honors College staff does not provide letters of recommendation.
The Honors College policy discourages the staff from writing letters for students for things like REUs, Nationally Competitive awards, and graduate school applications (except if a staff letter is explicitly requested).
Why we say no
- Such opportunities are competitive and so all your recommendations should come from faculty (even if one of them comes from someone that doesn’t know you that well). We cannot truly speak to your research abilities and or even your academic abilities, other than your grades.
- We made this policy in part because we find it very difficult to say “no” to students (we of course want to help you, so we hate to say no). But we would be doing you a disservice by writing on your behalf for graduate school, as our words do not carry the same weight as a faculty member.
When we might say yes
- Something like study abroad is a little bit different, in that these programs aren’t as competitive and often ask us to speak more to the overall suitability of a student for a study abroad experience, so if it means getting an application in on time, we will write them.
- We may also write a recommendation letter if one is specifically requested from the Honors College staff.
How we can help you
If you want to chat about other faculty member options, we are happy to brainstorm with you.
- Please review the Honors Experiences page, which includes ideas and recommendations.
- Here is the process for course conflict requests:
- Students need to obtain written permission from both instructors.
- Students email advisor with permissions and justification for the request.
- Advisor forwards request to the Associate Dean of the student’s major.
- Dean reviews request and grants approval or denies request.
- Student can be forced into class that conflicts with original class by advisor.
These requests are not typically approved, particularly if the student has any other options that will allow them to avoid the time conflict—i.e. choosing another section or taking one of the classes in another semester. If you have not yet selected your Pathway courses in the Pathfinder Tool, we suggest that you do that ASAP. (You can Watch a Path Finder video tutorial beforehand if you are unclear on how to select and save your pathways.)
You can also see which Pathway courses are open for the semester by going to this SEAS Pathways website (you do not have to be an engineer to use the site) scrolling down to “SEAS Pathway Resources” and clicking on the “By Term” tab.
Students have to keep certain academic standards to maintain funding and aid. Please review the Financial Aid website for more information.
In addition to meeting all other petition eligibility requirements, e-board positions must be from a UB-approved student organization, have a UB faculty/staff advisor who can verify your involvement and hours, and involve leadership beyond simply operating club meetings.
When you submit a petition for an e-board position, you will be required to also include a detailed breakdown of how you spent your time in your role, including activities and hours worked.