Williams Honors College curriculum

A DISTINGUISHING ACHIEVEMENT

Williams Honors Scholar

As a student in the Williams Honors College, your program of study will include unique opportunities that will provide you with a distinguished recognition of your achievements. Students completing the requirements to become a Williams Honors Scholar shall have this noted on their transcripts and diplomas, and they shall be appropriately recognized as Williams Honors Scholars at the graduation ceremony.

To graduate as a Williams Honors Scholar, you must

• satisfy the requirements of your baccalaureate degree with a commencement GPA of at least 3.40. Your progress may be accelerated by:
  • Credit by examination
  • Credit awarded for satisfactory achievement (as defined by present University policies) on high school advanced placement tests and various other achievement tests (e.g. CLEP)
• complete the Honors Distribution requirements, satisfying the four groups of disciplines. This is in lieu of the university's General Education requirements;
• complete three  Honors Colloquia courses, one each in Humanities, Social Science and Natural Science;
• complete an Honors Research Project, i.e., an Honors thesis, or an original or creative work appropriate to the student's area of interest and meeting high standards of scholarship. The student must be awarded a grade of B or above to satisfactorily meet this criteria. Research performed through an external experience (e.g., a study abroad program or through field experience) may be used in part as a basis for the project.
• complete 17 hours of Honors credit (including colloquia, Honors sections, Honors credit by contract, and Honors Research project)

Although each Honors student will be encouraged to become proficient in a language other than English, the foreign language is mandatory only if required of all students in the student's major department or division. In addition, study abroad experience is encouraged but not mandatory to graduate as a Williams Honors Scholar.

Honors Grade-Point Average (GPA) Requirements

• Graduation GPA Requirement: 3.40 commencement GPA
  Note that the commencement GPA is determined after ALL final grades have been reported on the academic record. All graded courses, including repeated and reassessed courses, are including in the calculation of the commencement GPA. Students that do not meet the GPA requirement but complete all other Honors College requirements will still be welcomed at the Williams Honors College Graduation Recognition ceremony.
• Students must receive a grade of B or higher in their colloquium courses as well as their Honors Research Project to graduate as a Williams Honors Scholar.
• To remain in Good Standing and to retain the Honors scholarship:
  • Spring of Year 1: 3.25 cumulative GPA
  • Spring of Year 2: 3.30 cumulative GPA
  • Spring of Year 3+: 3.40 cumulative GPA

Note: Only the grade for the most recent attempt at a course will be used in the calculation of the cumulative GPA. These requirements are determined from approximately the 60^th percentile of the given class and have been developed to ensure good progress toward the graduation GPA requirement.

GPA is checked only at the end of the Spring semester, and the student is given one probationary year to meet the GPA requirement to remain in Good Standing, provided his/her GPA is 3.00 or greater. Any student whose GPA falls below 3.00 will be dismissed from the Honors College without probation.