CALS Honors in the Major

Honors in the Major on Biology is an undergraduate program designed for students who desire a more challenging academic program leading to a degree with the designation "With Honors".  The program has a prescribed 20-credit requirement of Honors or equivalent courses in addition to a Senior Honors Thesis involving at least 4 credits of a senior honors thesis course offered through an academic department. The student is obligated to submit their senior thesis to the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and to present their work orally at the Spring CALS Research Forum.

To participate in the Honors in the Major Program, a student must be admitted to the CALS Honors Degree Program. This can be achieved by being in the upper 10% of their high school graduating class, by receiving an ACT score of 28 or an SAT score of 1240; students who have completed one or more semesters of college will need a GPA in college courses of 3.3.

The required 20 credits must be in courses that satisfy requirements 4 and 5 of the Biology Curriculum, although other courses can be approved by the Biology Curriculum Committee on a case-by-case basis. At least 6 credits of the 20 must be in courses at 500-level and above. Senior Honors thesis and other independent research credits do not count toward this 20-credit requirement.

Progress toward the "Honors in the Major" degree in Biology will be monitored by the program staff. Questions should be directed to the Honors advisors in the department. Students must maintain a GPA of 3.3 and satisfy the requirement listed above.

To apply: First declare the Biology Major, then pick up an Honors packet and Honors form from either the CALS Office of Student Academic Affairs in 116 Agricultural Hall or the Biology Major Office in 445 Henry Mall, room 118.

Before enrolling in an Honors thesis course, the student must produce a two-to-three page double-spaced thesis proposal that briefly introduces the biological problem and then describes the line of experimentation that is proposed for the thesis work. This proposal must be signed by both the student and his/her faculty mentor and submitted to be Biology major office. It will be evaluated by the Honors Committee of the Biology major and the student will be notified of its acceptability. The proposal should be submitted well before the semester begins to allow time for approval and possible resubmission. The department the thesis is done in will determine requirements (i.e. due date, format). Two copies of the completed thesis, signed by the faculty mentor, must be submitted to the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, which must certify it before Honors can be awarded at graduation.

For the requirements for Honors in Research or for Individualized Honors, see the CALS Office of Student Academic Affairs in Room 116 Agricultural Hall or "Guidelines and Specifications for Submitting Your Thesis" on the website for CALS Honors.