Junior/Senior Curriculum
In the junior and senior years, Honors College students focus more intensively on their major field of study in their home school or colleges. Junior/senior requirements vary slightly by school and college, but typically consist of a 3-credit Honors requirement in the junior year, together with HCOL 101, the one-credit thesis preparation class offered to all juniors. In the senior year, students complete a 6-credit thesis project under the supervision of a faculty mentor.
Information about HCOL 101 can be found here:
If students complete all four years of Honor College requirements in addition to their school or college major requirements, they will graduate as Honors College Scholars. As always, students should work with their academic advisor to ensure all requirements are met both in their major(s) and in the Honors College.
Click on the links below (or simply scroll down) to see each college or school's specific requirements for the junior and senior years:
- College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
- College of Arts & Sciences
- School of Business Administration
- College of Education & Social Services
- College of Engineering & Mathematical Sciences
- College of Nursing & Health Sciences
- Rubenstein School of Environmental & Natural Sciences
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND LIFE SCIENCES
For information: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, contact: Douglas Johnson at Douglas.Johnson@uvm.edu
Junior Year
- CALS 196 Junior Honors Seminar - 2 credits, spring
- CALS recommends that its HCOL juniors take HCOL 101 (Thesis Preparation Course) in either the fall or spring semester
- Each CALS Honors College student will also take a minumum of one
credit
of undergraduate research, undergraduate independent study, special
problems, special topics or research methods - according to their
department requirements:
- Animal Science: ASCI 198 Undergraduate Research, ASCI 298 Advanced Special Topics
- Biochemistry: BIOC 192 Undergraduate Research
- Biological Sciences: BSCI 198 Undergraduate Research, BSCI 298 Advanced Undergraduate Research
- Community Development & Applied Economics (CID, CE, PCOM): CDAE 291 Special Problems, CDAE 296 Field Experience/Practicum, CDAE 298 Undergraduate Research
- Environmental Sciences: ENSC 196 Independent Research, ENSC 299 Environmental Sciences Honors
- Environmental Studies: ENVS 201 Research Methods
- Molecular Genetics and Microbiology: MMG 198 Undergraduate Research, MMG 298 Advanced Undergraduate Research
- Nutrition and Food Sciences (Dietetics, NFS): NFS 198 Undergraduate Research
- Nutrition and Food Sciences (NFS/DPT): Refer to Senior Year Requirements
- Plant Biology: PBIO 198 Undergraduate Research, PBIO 298 Advanced Undergraduate Research
- Plant and Soil Sciences (ECAG, SLH): PSS 198 Undergraduate Independent Study, PSS 298 Undergraduate Independent Study
Senior Year
- Each CALS Honors College Student will take a total of 6 credits; usually, three credits will be taken in the fall and three credits will be taken in the spring.
- Animal Science: ASCI 197/198 Undergratuate Research, ASCI 297/298 Advanced Special Topics
- Biochemistry: BIOC 191/192 Undergraduate Research
- Community Development & Applied Economics (CID,CE,PCOM): CDAE 191 Special Problems, CDAE 291 Special Problems, CDAE 296 Field Experience/Practicum, CDAE 297/298 Undergraduate Research
- Environmental Sciences: ENSC 196 Independent Research, ENSC 299 Environmental Sciences Honors
- Environmental Studies: ENVS 201/202 Research Methods
- Molecular Genetics and Microbiology: MMG 197/198 Undergraduate Research, MMG 297/298 Advanced Undergraduate Research
- Nutrition and Food Sciences (Dietetics, NFS): NFS 197/198 Undergraduate Research
- Nutrition and Food Sciences (NFS/DPT): First year of professional courses for DPT, RMS 220 Research 1
- Plant Biology: PBIO 197/198 Undergraduate Research, PBIO 297/298 Advanced Undergraduate Research
- Plant and Soil Science (ECAG, SLH): PSS 197/198 Undergraduate Independent Study, PSS 297/298 Undergraduate Independent Study
- Note: To allow flexibility for study abroad or similar experiences, alternative 200 level courses may be used to satisfy the Junior/Senior Honors College requirements as deemed appropriate by CALS faculty.
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
For information: College of Arts and Sciences, contact: Sarah Helmer at sarah.helmer@uvm.edu. Also, please see: College of Arts & Sciences HC Webpage
Changes have recently been made to the junior year requirements for the CLASS OF 2014. All students should have received a full information sheet with details of the new requirements. If you did not receive this information, you can find it all on the College of Arts and Sciences website:
Requirements for HCOL students in the College of Arts and SciencesJunior Year
- HON 196A Honors Enrichment Contract, Course Option (3+1 credits) or HON 196B Honors Enrichment Contract, Lab/Studio/Performance Space Option (3 credits) - fall or
spring semester (click on each option for more information)
- HCOL 101 HC Thesis Preparation Course - one
credit - fall or spring semester (spring semester preferable if possible)
- HCOL students in the College of Arts and Sciences will ordinarily take HCOL 101 in the spring semester of the junior year. Exceptions include students who will be studying abroad in the spring of the junior year, who should take HCOL 101 in the fall semester of the junior year.
- Students majoring in Environmental Studies who are taking ENVS 201 in their junior year are waived from the HCOL 101 requirement.
- Students who are already well-prepared for the thesis in their
junior year may submit a waiver application for HCOL 101. The
waiver must be filled out by both the student and the thesis
advisor. Waiver forms are available from Sarah Helmer in the
College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Office.
- Propose and gain approval of a College Honors Thesis or
Creative Project. These proposals are submitted to the College of Arts
and Sciences Honors Committee at completion of HON 101 in late March, or,
for those who are abroad in the spring of their junior year, early in
the fall semester of the senior year.
- In order to be eligible to submit an Honors Thesis Proposal to the Honors Committee, a student must have a cumulative UVM GPA at the time the proposal is submitted of 3.4 or higher.
Senior Year
- HON 201 HC Thesis Seminar - 0 credits - fall AND spring semester
- HON 2XX HC Honors Thesis - a total of 6 credits - fall and spring semester
Reminder
Honors College students in the College of Arts and Sciences must complete all seven B.A. distribution requirements (regardless of whether one is seeking a B.A. or B.S. degree).
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
For information: School of Business Administration, contact: Susan Hughes at Susan.Hughes@uvm.edu
Please see below changes in curriculum effective Fall of 2013.
First year
- BSAD 40 and BSAD 60
Sophomore year
- BSAD 120, BSAD 132
- Complete one of BSAD 141, 150, 173, 180
- Select Business Discipline Concentration prior to your Junior year.
Junior Year
- BSAD 193 - Honors Research Methods course (fall semester).
- Complete 3 or 4 BSAD Field Courses AND 1 or 2 BSAD Discipline Concentration courses.
- Develop an approved Honors proposal (Thesis or Project) with your BSAD faculty Honors advisor.
- BSAD recommends that their HCOL students take HCOL 101 (Thesis Preparation Course) in the spring semester.
Senior Year
- BSAD 191 and any remaining BSAD field courses
- BSAD 298 HC Honors Project (6 crs) OR BSAD 299 HC Honors Thesis/Project (6 crs) OR
- BSAD 288 Finance Honors Seminar (3 crs), OR BSAD 252 Marketing Research Practicum (3 crs), OR BSAD 293 Integrated Professional Development (3 crs) AND BSAD 298 Honors Project (3 crs) or BSAD 299 Honors Thesis (3 crs), for a total of 6 credits.
BSAD Curriculum Effective Fall 2013
First year
- BSAD 10 (the Business Enterprise), BSAD 15 (Business Communications), BSAD 30 (Decision Analysis - spring)
- General education requirements and minor requirements
Sophomore year
- BSAD 60 & 61, BSAD 25 (Sustainable Business Strategies- fall), BSAD 120 (spring)
- Select Business theme and/or concentratio prior to your Junior year.
- General education requirements and minor requirements
Junior Year
- BSAD 193 - Honors Research Methods course (fall semester).
- Complete other field courses: BSAD 141, BSAD 150, BSAD 173, BSAD 180
- Complete one or two courses in the selected business theme and/or business concentration courses
- Develop an approved Honors proposal (Thesis or Project) with your BSAD faculty Honors advisor.
- General education requirements and minor requirements
Senior Year
- BSAD 191 and additional theme/concentration courses
- BSAD 298 HC Honors Project (6 crs) OR BSAD 299 HC Honors Thesis/Project (6 crs) OR
- BSAD 288 Finance Honors Seminar (3 crs), OR BSAD 252 Marketing Research Practicum (3 crs), OR BSAD 293 Integrated Professional Development (3 crs) AND BSAD 298 Honors Project (3 crs) or BSAD 299 Honors Thesis (3 crs), for a total of 6 credits.
- Minor requirements
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES
For information: College of Education and Social Services, contact: Holly-Lynn Busier at Holly-Lynn.Busier@uvm.edu
Sophomore Year
- CESS Honors students will meet with their CESS Honors College Advisor to plan the junior year program. This meeting will take place in early part of spring semester.
Junior Year - 3 credits
The 3-credit requirement during the junior year is a designated Honors Course with a research (enhancement) component:
- EDFS 203: Social, Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Education OR
- SWSS 164: Introduction to Social Work Research OR
- HDFS 197: Independent Study; OR HDFS 291: Special Problems; OR HDFS 296: Field Experience OR
- EDEC 291: Special Problems; OR EDEC 296: Field Experience
- HCOL 101 Thesis Preparation Course - one credit - spring semester
- 6 credits of research resulting in a thesis OR
- 6 credits of applied research OR
- 6 credits of internship experience that result in an embedded research study.
- Unit specific junior level core course, 3 credit course identified as carrying "honors" designation at the course instructor's designation. The student will:
- Complete CEMS/HCOL Junior-Level Course Declaration Form (pdf) and return to Prof. Snapp
- Identify a specific topic for the Senior Thesis
- Perform a thorough background and literature review on the topic
- Prepare a detailed, written thesis proposal document - Complete CEMS Honors Thesis Proposal Cover Sheet (pdf)
- Assemble a thesis committee and successfully present the thesis proposal to the committee in a formal presentation setting.
- CEMS recommends that HCOL 101 be taken concurrently with the unit specific junior-level course defined above.(Thesis Preparation Course)
- Unit specific Honors Thesis - A total of 6 credits fall and spring semesters. The student must deliver a written thesis document and successfully defend the work under examination by a formal thesis committee of faculty members.
- Fall 2012 - NH295 Special Topics
- NH 251 - Honors Project & Seminar, 3 credits, spring semester
- CNHS recommends that its HCOL students take HCOL 101 (Thesis Preparation Course) in the fall semester
- NH 252 Honors Project & Seminar, 3 credits, fall semester
- NR 199 HC: Honors Seminar - 1 credit - spring semester
- NR 298 HC: Honors Project Planning - 2 credits - spring semester
- RSENR recommends that its HCOL students take HCOL 101 (Thesis Preparation Course) in either fall or spring semester
- NR 299 Environmental Sciences Honors or
- ENVS 203 Honors Thesis or
- FOR 299 Honors or
- NR 299 Honors or
- RM 299 Recreation Management Honors or
- WFB 299 Wildlife & Fisheries Honors
Senior Year Requirements - 6 credits
Each student will work with a mentor who will guide him or her through this process. It may include:
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
Please contact Joan Rosebush, 656-8858 for the details of a specific major. For further information: College of Engineering and Mathematics, contact: Stephen Titcomb at Stephen.Titcomb@uvm.edu
Junior Year
Senior Year
COLLEGE OF NURSING AND HEALTH SCIENCES
For information: College of Nursing and Health Sciences, contact: Sarah Abrams at Sarah.Abrams@uvm.edu
Junior Year
Senior Year
RUBENSTEIN SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES
For information: The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, contact: Allan Strong at Allan.Strong@uvm.edu
Junior Year
Senior Year
Total of 6 credits fall and spring semester.
Last modified April 04 2013 08:16 AM

