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The GRU Honors Program offers superior students the opportunity to pursue a program of study that leads to recognition as a Georgia Regents University Honors Program Graduate. Balancing breadth and depth, the GRU Honors Program offers sections of core courses specifically designed for able and energetic learners, seminars that cross the boundaries of discipline and/or culture, the faculty and administrative support to produce an Honors thesis in the student’s academic field, and support for the student to present their research at appropriate academic or professional venues. The Honors Program is not a separate degree program but is designed to augment the course work required for a degree and to prepare capable students for graduate and professional schools and challenging career paths. In most cases, honors courses can be substituted for required credits. The Honors Program office is housed in the Quad Wall and can be reached at (706-729-2083) and (706-729-2452), and at honorsprogram@gru.edu.
The GRU Honors Program is affiliated with the National Collegiate Honors Council, the Southern Regional Honors Council, and the Georgia Collegiate Honors Council, making available to interested GRU students a variety of honors opportunities locally and nationwide.
Honors Program Classes
Honors classes differ in kind from other classes. They are usually smaller; they involve more interaction with the instructor; and they encourage independent work and collaboration among students and between students and professors. Often professors in honors courses see themselves more as facilitators than as instructors or lecturers, and, when possible, guide students to work with primary materials. Honors classes ask students to explore course work more actively and intensively, but students are not evaluated on a more demanding grading scale than in other courses, nor should they require more work than non-Honors sections.
Recognition
Honors Program Graduates are honored with a certificate at GRU’s Honors Night, and their diplomas and transcripts carry the designation of Honors Program Graduate.
Program Requirements
To earn recognition as an GRU Honors Program Graduate, a student accepted into the program must complete the requirements below and have an overall GPA of 3.3. Should the GPA drop below the required 3.3, the student will be allowed to continue in the program on probationary status as long as the GPA does not drop below 3.2. Students will not be allowed to begin work on a thesis prospectus (HONR 3999 ) or a thesis (HONR 4000 ) with a GPA below 3.3.
Freshman/Sophomore Requirement: 5 courses - (15 semester hours)
- or an approved substitute Honors course
(and)
- 4 Honors sections of core courses. A section of HONR 1900 can count as one of these four. One of the four must be multicultural or interdisciplinary.
Junior/Senior Requirement:
- - (3 semester hours)
- One upper division honors elective to be selected from the following: (3 semester hours)
- a second section of HONR 3900 ,
- a departmental honors course (a departmentally approved independent study or a regular departmental offering with an additional honors component), or
- an approved honors alternative
The HONR 3999-4000 sequence (begun in the junior year and completed by the end of student’s penultimate term):
- –(1 semester hour)
- –(2-3 semester hours)
- –(1 semester hour; taken in the senior year, ideally in student’s last term).
Eligibility and Admissions
Students may seek entry into the Honors Program by submitting a completed application to the Honors Program Director. Application forms are available in the Honors Program office or at http://www.gru.edu/honors_program/applyonline.html.
Entering Freshmen who meet one of the following criteria are invited to join the Honors Program:
- Combined Math and Verbal SAT scores of 1160 or more and a cumulative high school GPA of 3.2 or better.
- Combined Math and Verbal SAT scores of 1100 or more and a cumulative high school GPA of 3.5 or better.
Students Already Enrolled at GRU are invited to join the Honors Program if they are not simultaneously in Learning Support, have completed 9 semester hours of academic work at GRU, and have an overall GPA of 3.4.
To be able to complete program requirements without taking several additional courses, students should seek acceptance into the program and begin taking honors courses early in their careers.
Transfer students who bring in an unadjusted 3.4 GPA on at least 9 semester hours of course work from another institution and have SAT scores at least equivalent to those required of entering GRU honors freshmen will be eligible to apply for admission to the Honors Program and to register immediately for honors courses on a space available basis. They will be eligible to apply for admission to the Honors Program after they have completed 6 semester hours at GRU with a GRU overall GPA of 3.4. Honors courses taken before a student is formally admitted to the program may count toward Honors Program Graduation.
Students transferring from another institution’s Honors Program are subject to the general transfer policy defined above, but, once admitted to the Honors Program, may count Honors Program hours completed at their previous institution(s) toward completing Honors Program requirements at GRU.
GRU students who are not simultaneously in Learning Support, and who have completed 6 or more semester hours at GRU with an unadjusted GPA of 3.4 may take Honors Program courses on a space available basis. |
