Honors Program
Guidelines and Requirements

I. Mission Statement
The honors program at Davis & Elkins College seeks students of outstanding intellectual promise and potential and endeavors to provide them with an intellectual environment in which to explore new ideas and develop their own intellectual identities and passions.

II. Admission to the Program
Honors students typically enter the program as freshmen and sign a contract detailing their academic responsibilities and the academic standards they are expected to maintain (see below). Students already enrolled at Davis & Elkins who have distinguished themselves academically and who have received the recommendation of one or more faculty members may also apply for admission to the program.

III. Grade Point Average
First-year students are expected to maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0. From their sophomore year onward, honors students are expected to maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.2. Under special circumstances the honors committee may allow students failing to meet the specified grade point average to remain in the program on a semester-to-semester basis.

Honors students who have achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.6 or higher, who have completed 18 credit hours of honors course work, and who have completed their senior honors project (HONR 397) graduate with a ‘distinguished’ citation. Honors students who have achieved a cumulative grade point average of less than 3.6, who complete 18 credit hours of honors course work, and who have completed their senior honors project (HONR 397) graduate with an ‘honor program completion’ citation.

IV. Honors Course RequirementsTo successfully complete the honors program students must complete a minimum of 18 credit hours of honors coursework. Three (3) of these credit hours are earned by taking HONR 397 (Senior Honors Project). An additional three (3) credit hours are typically—though not always—earned by taking a second semester first-year English seminar.

Of the remaining twelve (12) to fifteen (15) credit hours, a maximum of 8 credit hours (though no more than two courses) may be earned by applying for honors credit for courses or experiences not designated as honors courses in the Davis & Elkins College catalog. Typically, this will involve students adding an ‘honors component’ to a non-honors course or participating in a special or non-traditional learning experience (e.g. studying abroad, conducting academic research, etc.). In order to be granted these honors credits students must submit an application offering a rationale for why these credits should be considered honors credits. All such applications will be reviewed by the honors committee whose decision shall be final.