Honors Program
The CALS Honors program is part of the combined University Honors College. Honors students are admitted into the joint program and do honors work with students from all departments on campus in their first two years. In their junior and senior years students will do honors work in CALS as part of the CALS Honors program.Established in 2001, the Honors program brings together a small group of students from throughout CALS who seek additional academic challenges and opportunities to think critically across traditional academic boundaries. The centerpiece of the program is the senior honors thesis, a substantial, original, independent, scholarly work which is completed under the direction of an advisor within the student's major.
Each year, a select group of approximately 15 first-year students are invited to participate in the Honors College program. Other students who amass an outstanding first-year academic record at UVM are welcome to apply for admission to the Honors College Program as sophomores. Normally, an approximately equal number of students are admitted to the Honors College program in their first and second years.
Honors students also receive several other benefits, including the use of a special honors lounge (for study or for simply relaxing and socializing), in-class priority registraiton, opportunity to live in the Honors College housing at University Heights (with students from honors programs throughout the university), field trips and other events.
Graduation Requirements
In addition to the regular requirements for your major and for the CALS core-competencies, Honors course requirements and standards include:First year of study
- 6 credits: Honors College Ethics course
- 0.5 to 1 credit: first year CALS colloquium
Second year of study
- 2, 3 credits Honors College electives
Third Year of study
- 1 credit of undergraduate research (or equivalent) taken within your home unit
- 2 credits of Honors College seminar
Fourth Year of study
- 6 credits of undergraduate research (or equivalent) within your home unit
Additional Requirements
- Complete a department approved senior thesis project under the direction of a faculty
advisor within your major
- Departmental approval of senior thesis
- Maintaining at least a 3.2 grade point average