University of North Dakota Grand Forks |
http://www.und.edu/dept/honors/
The Honors Program serves motivated, accomplished students by nurturing creativity, critical thinking, and scholarship beyond the usual academic frameworks. Through classes, co-curricular activities, service projects, and advisement, the Honors Program creates a learning community that emphasizes intellectural exploration. Students may participate in the Honors Program throughout their undergraduate career. High school graduates are encouraged to apply at the time of their initial registration in the University. Students may also enter the Program after the first year; inquiries from interested students are welcome at (701) 777-2219 (honors@sage.und.nodak.edu). Students in any college of the University may enroll in the Honors Program.
The Program is administered by a
Coordinator and a University Honors Committee. The Honors Program has its own
administrative apparatus and can adjust academic programs to fit the needs and
goals of individual students. In response to this flexibility, Honors Program
students are expected to demonstrate intellectual excellence in their own lines
of interest and to pursue learning independently. Opportunities to do so are
offered in Honors colloquia, Honors tutorials, other special classes, Honors
sections of regular courses, and regular courses taken in Honors mode. Most
students graduate from the Program as “Scholars in the Honors Program” while
also fulfilling a major in the Colleges, but the Honors Program also offers the
option of creating an individually designed program of study through Honors.
This option may result in either a B.A. or a B.S. degree earned through the
College of Arts and Sciences.
For beginning students in the
Program, special introductory courses are available to familiarize students
with the nature of the Program and to acquaint the Honors faculty with the
students. Advanced courses, colloquia, introduce students to the full range of
the disciplines which make up the University.
The requirements to graduate as a
Scholar in the Honors Program are: (a) a minimum of 24 credits in Honors work
including 8 credits of colloquia; (b) a Sophomore Honors Portfolio; and (c) a
senior thesis and oral presentation (with a grade no lower than “B”) in some
field of specialization. After successful completion of 9 Honors credit hours
and submission of the Sophomore Honors Portfolio, the student will be
considered for full membership in the Honors Program. For students who graduate
through the Honors Program, these requirements substitute for the University
General Education Requirements. To graduate without a major in the Colleges,
students are additionally required to develop, in conjunction with an Honors
advisor, an academic program based around individual needs. This program of
study must be approved by the Honors Program. The colloquia mentioned above are
topical and, usually, interdisciplinary discussion courses, one semester in
length, on topics chosen according to student and faculty interests. The Honors
mode entails an extra credit of work in a regular course so a greater than
usual depth and/or breadth of knowledge can be achieved in that course.
In addition, Honors Program students
are expected to maintain a solid academic performance. The present criterion is
that a student should attain a 3.2 average by the sophomore year and maintain
it. If this does not occur, the Honors Committee reviews the standing of the
student.
Students in the Honors Program have
many opportunities to develop their own ideas and their writing and research
skills; they also benefit from close association with faculty and other
students who share their intellectual interests. Honors Program courses
encourage students to think independently and critically; to express their
thoughts clearly, and to forge connections among disciplines. Successful
completion of the Program is a clear signal to prospective employees and
graduate schools that the graduate is a serious, well-prepared, accomplished
student.
http://www.und.edu/dept/honors/
In the Senior Honors System
(formerly known as Departmental Honors), students of marked ability may pursue
in their senior year a voluntary program of supervised independent study
leading to the bachelor’s degree with honors in the major field of study. The
purpose of this program is twofold: first, to give public recognition to the
superior student; and second, to enable the student to broaden, deepen, and
enrich the educational experience.
In order to be eligible, a student
must have completed 75 hours of work by the end of the first semester of the
junior year with a general grade point average of at least 3.2. Students must
apply for admission to honors work by April 1 of their junior year. If he or
she is certified by the chairperson of his or her major department, Academic
Dean, and the Honors Committee, the student and his or her supervisor will then
plan a course of independent study for the following year.
The credits in independent study
shall total nine credits. At the discretion of the department and of the Honors
Committee these credits may be either in addition to major requirements or in
place of some requirements. Such a study may consist of honors courses,
tutorial readings, projects of research, seminars, creative work, a thesis, or
any combination of these which the department and the Committee may approve.
This study, whatever its nature may be, will appear on the student’s record
with the number 489 and the title ‘‘Senior Honors.’’ The study may be either
departmental or interdepartmental. To qualify for Senior Honors, the student
must receive a grade no lower than a ‘‘B’’ for this work. Theses will be bound
and deposited in the University Library. The student will be expected to meet
the nominal charge involved.
The student must maintain a GPA of
at least 3.2, make satisfactory progress in his or her course of independent
study, and submit a progress report to the supervisor at the end of the first
semester of the senior year. At that time, the student, the department, or the
Committee may decide to terminate the student’s honors work. At or near the end
of the senior year, if the work is continued, the student will participate in
the Honors Undergraduate Research Conference or take a comprehensive oral
examination at which a member of the Honors Committee shall be present.
An unsuccessful candidate for Senior
Honors will receive the bachelor’s degree with the usual General Honors if his
or her record meets the grade-point requirements. A successful candidate for
Senior (Departmental) Honors will receive the same distinction; the additional
notation ‘‘with honors in (the major field)’’ will appear on the Commencement
program and transcript.