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To receive the transcript designation “Completed University Honors Program” upon graduation from NC State, students must:

(1) Complete 12 credit hours of HON courses with a grade of B- or better earned in each course.

(a) Students entering the UHP as freshmen must enroll in and complete at least one 3-credit hour HON seminar in their first semester,
preferably one of the seminars restricted to incoming freshmen (HON 202 for Fall 2009). Students entering the program in their second
or third semester at NC State must complete at least one HON seminar within their first two semesters in the program.

(b) UHP students must complete an additional three 3-credit hour HON seminars (ideally within the first four semesters). Alternatively, it is
possible to accumulate 1- and 2-credit hour HON courses (HON 101,102, or 398)1 to substitute for one (or more) 3-credit hour HON
seminars. Please note that, in general, Honors sections of courses do not satisfy the HON course requirement.

(c) One HON seminar may be substituted with one of the following pre-approved courses2. Only one such substitution is allowed.

 

--ECD 296H (Caldwell Fellows) 1 --HON 298 (Honors Research/Independent Study; or equivalent departmental course) 1,3 --STS 302H (Benjamin Franklin Scholars)2 --HON 395 (Honors Cooperative Education)1,3 --HI 481H (Thomas Jefferson Scholars)2 --HON 397 (Honors Extension & Engagement)1,3 --Honors Study Abroad (no course registration is associated with this)3 --ALS 398H (CALS Honors Seminar—a 2-credit hour course, so an additional 1 hour HON course will be needed) --A designated seminar course associated with other honors programs in the departments and colleges3

¹ Credit-only registration is accepted for these courses (and, in some cases, is the only option). An “S” must be earned to satisfy this requirement.
² Other courses may be considered for seminar replacement, subject to approval by the UHP Director. Note that those courses must be 3-credit hours and passed with a grade of B- or better (credit-only does not count). STS 302H and HI 481H must be taken for a grade; a B- or better is required to count.
³ These require prior approval from the UHP Director—instructions and forms are available on this web site.

(2) Complete a 6-credit hour (or equivalent) Honors Capstone Project.

All UHP students must complete a two-semester (minimum 6-credit hour or equivalent) capstone research/creative project (typically done in the junior or senior year) that results in a public presentation of the work (this could be in the form of a thesis, an oral defense, or a talk or poster at a research symposium). For many students the capstone requirement will be satisfied in whole or in part by the research/thesis project of their disciplinary honors program. It can also be satisfied by senior design projects in the College of Engineering and the College of Design, subject to approval in advance by the UHP Director. HON 498 and HON 499 exist to provide for capstone project registration for students who are not part of a disciplinary honors program and/or do not have another senior project opportunity. The capstone requirement may be satisfied by a variety of course combinations (including HON 395, HON 397, and Honors Study Abroad) as long as those combinations comprise an integrated and approved Capstone experience. All Honors Capstone Projects (whether involving UHP courses or courses in other departments) must be submitted for approval to the UHP Director.

(3) Earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25.

UHP students must maintain a minimum 3.25 GPA throughout their undergraduate career in order to remain in the program. If a student’s cumulative GPA falls into the range of 3.00-3.24, the student is placed on probation and has one semester (two semesters if the student is a freshman placed on academic probation because of their initial fall semester GPA) to regain a GPA of 3.25. The student retains access to all aspects of the program during the probation period. If after one semester their GPA is not above 3.25 or at any time when their cumulative GPA falls below 3.00, the student is no longer able to participate in the program (but may reapply for admission once their GPA is above a 3.25). Students are limited to one probation. If their GPA falls below 3.25 a second time, they will be dropped from the program and will have to reapply for admission once their GPA is above a 3.25. At the time of graduation from NC State, the final cumulative GPA must be a 3.25 or higher.

(4) Maintain their active status in the program, as defined at the beginning of each academic year.

For the 2009-2010 academic year, UHP students must certify their active status in the UHP each semester. This can be accomplished automatically by being registered in an HON course or approved substitute. If not so registered and a student has not completed all of their HON seminar requirements, the student must contact his/her UHP adviser (e-mail is preferred) to request a waiver from HON registration. In the request, the student should attest to their desire to remain in active status in the program and provide a plan by which they intend to complete the UHP requirements in a timely manner. Waivers are subject to approval by the adviser and UHP Director. The program certifies active status each semester prior to registration for the next semester.

(5) Maintain the highest level of integrity.

The University Honors Program is a community of scholars with very high expectations of its participants. These include not only high expectations for academic achievement, but also high expectations for academic integrity. UHP students are offered special opportunities because they are associated with the program. To insure that these opportunities will be available for UHP students of the future, we must maintain the reputation of the UHP as a program with the highest standards of academic excellence and academic integrity. UHP students should act according to the principal of “Honor in all things,” not only excellence and integrity in their academic performance, but also in their day-to-day life. As part of our ongoing review of the progress of UHP students, we will ask the Office of Student Conduct to certify that our students are in good-standing with regard to academic integrity and judicial violations. Those who are not will have their status in the program reviewed, with expulsion from the UHP being one possible outcome of the review. Final certification of completion of the University Honors Program is subject to approval by the UHP Director.