Honors Requirements

Requirements to Graduate from Newman's Honors Program

To graduate as a member of the Honors Program, a student must have earned at least a 3.70+ GPA, completed all other graduation requirements and completed the following honors requirements:

• Honors 1103

  • Freshman honors seminar (3 credits)
    • Interdisciplinary course, ordinarily team taught, looks at human nature and what it means to be human from a variety of perspectives.
    • Ordinarily taken the first semester at Newman.
    • Teaches a set of content/thinking skills, furthers a sense of community among the students, and communicates to incoming honors students the expectations involved in honors work at the university level.

• Honors Senior Thesis:

  • Honors Senior Thesis - a 6 credit, full year (ordinarily the student's senior year) independent research project completed under the direction of a faculty advisor and presented to a committee consisting of that advisor, the honors director, and two other faculty representatives.

• At least 18 further credits earned in honors classes

  • At least 9 of these credits must be earned outside of the student’s “school.” These may be earned in three ways:
    1. Designated honors classes
       • Appearing either under the "Honors" catalog designation or with an "H" following class number in the schedule of courses.
    2. Honors options
       • Ordinary catalog courses which the instructor and the student agree to expand to make into an honors course.
         • Requirements for these honors options will be arranged by the faculty and students involved, and must be submitted for approval to the Honors Program Director.
         • Such options will be significantly more challenging than the ‘ordinary’ expectations of the course. This will frequently involve additional work, but may involve substitution of different assignments instead of those completed by other students, if this will successfully deepen the honors student’s understanding of the material.
    3. Independent study or conference courses
       • Such opportunities will be negotiated between students and instructors.

Graduation Requirements for Transfer Students

• Transfer students who have earned fewer than 15 credits must meet all of the requirements of the program.
• Transfer students who have earned between 15 and 45 credits must meet all the requirements of the program except that they may graduate from the Honors Program with 21 total honors credits.
• Transfer students who have earned more than 45 credits must meet all the requirements of the program except that they may graduate from the Honors Program with only 18 total honors credits, and may substitute other honors and the freshmen seminar requirement