Registrar
Academic Policies
Honors
Founder's Medal
The Founder’s Medal, signifying first honors, was endowed by Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt as one of his gifts to the University. The recipient is named by the dean after consideration of faculty recommendations and overall academic achievements, as well as grade point averages of the year’s highest ranking summa cum laude graduates.
Latin Honors
Honors noted on diplomas and published in the Commencement Program are earned as follows:
Students who earn grade point averages of 3.44 or higher will graduate cum laude; 3.64 or better, magna cum laude; 3.80 or better, summa cum laude.
Graduates who complete the requirements of the College Scholars program are awarded “Honors in the College of Arts and Science,” and this designation appears on their diplomas. Candidates successfully completing departmental honors programs are awarded Honors or High Honors in their major field, and this designation appears on their diploma.
College Scholars Program
Entering freshmen with outstanding academic records and freshmen who achieve academic distinction during their first semester at Vanderbilt are invited to participate in the College Scholars program. These students have the exclusive opportunity to pursue advanced scholarly work in honors seminars and enriched courses or independent-studies projects. They may earn the designation “Honors in the College of Arts and Science” on their diplomas.
To earn the designation, College Scholars must accumulate fifteen “honors points” by achieving the grade B or better in approved courses and projects. A maximum of thirteen of these honors points may be earned in honors seminars. Honors seminars in the humanities, natural sciences, and the social sciences serve toward satisfaction of College Program requirements in these areas. For a complete description of how honors points may be earned and a listing of honors seminars offered, see the entry on Honors in alphabetical order under Courses of Study.
The College Scholars Center, available to all students in the program (at any time), includes a seminar room where many of the honors classes meet, study space, microcomputers, a small kitchen, and a collection of reference books. It provides space for study, special lectures, and informal exchanges among College Scholars.
College Scholars are not required—although many will choose—to earn Honors in the College of Arts and Science; all, however, may enroll in as many honors seminars as they want. To remain in good standing in the program, students must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.000. Further information on the College Scholars program and Honors in the College of Arts and Science may be obtained from the Office of the Dean.
Departmental Honors
To encourage individual development and independent study in a special field of interest, many departments of the College offer honors programs for selected, superior candidates. Students normally begin departmental honors work in the junior year, but exceptions may be made in the case of outstanding seniors. To qualify for consideration, students must have (a) attained a minimum grade point average of 3.000 in all work previously taken for credit and in the program of concentration, and (b) exhibited to the department(s) concerned such other evidence as may be required to indicate a capacity for independent study. Some departments require higher grade point averages in the major. Formal admission is by the Office of the Dean after election by the department(s) concerned, with the approval of the director of honors study, who supervises the program with the aid of the Committee on the Honors Program.
Provisions vary somewhat from department to department (see descriptions in the appropriate department sections of this catalog), but generally honors students are exempted from some normal junior and senior class work in their major fields in order to devote time to independent study under the supervision of a faculty adviser. Candidates are required to demonstrate some degree of originality and maturity in the methods of independent investigation, analysis, and criticism, and skill in the written presentation of independent work. This standard usually requires a senior thesis but may be satisfied, in departments that have gained approval of this procedure, by a series of briefer critical papers.
Departmental honors work culminates in an examination given in the second semester of the senior year. The examination shall be both oral and written except in departments where honors students must take all courses required of standard majors in addition to those required of honors students. These departments have the option of making the examination either oral or both oral and written. The examination shall be conducted by a committee with a majority of examiners who have not participated in the candidate’s honors work. Where feasible, examiners from other institutions may be included. The examination shall cover the thesis and specific fields of the independent work and may, at the discretion of the department, include all of the major work. Successful candidates are awarded Honors or High Honors in their field, and this designation appears on their diplomas.
Deans List
The Dean’s List recognizes outstanding academic performance in a semester. Students are named to the Dean’s List when they earn a grade point average of at least 3.500 while carrying 12 or more graded hours, not receive a grade of F, and not have any temporary or missing grades.
Phi Beta Kappa
The Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in the state of Tennessee honors scholarly attainments in the liberal arts and sciences and annually elects seniors and juniors to membership during the spring semester.
Seniors who have completed at least 60 semester hours in the College of Arts and Science and earned a grade point average of 3.600 or better are eligible for consideration, as are juniors with a grade point average of 3.850 who have completed at least 70 semester hours at Vanderbilt.
Attainment of the minimum average is not a guarantee of election. Membership is based on broad cultural interests and scholarly achievements. The following guidelines normally apply: at least 90 hours of the student’s total program must be liberal, rather than applied or professional, in nature; and the breadth of a candidate’s program, as shown by the number and variety of courses taken outside the major, is considered. Grades earned in applied or professional work are not counted in computing the grade point average. Candidates are expected to have satisfied both of the upper-level options in Mathematical Reasoning/Foreign Language of the College Program in Liberal Education. These mathematics and language courses cannot be taken on a P/F basis.
To be considered for election in the junior year, students should have completed all of the CPLE requirements by the end of the junior year, including both of the upper-level options in mathematical reasoning/foreign language. Students who go abroad on foreign study programs in their junior year are not eligible for election as juniors, but are considered in due course during their senior year.
In no event may the total number of persons elected from any senior class exceed 10 percent of the class, and from any junior class exceed six persons.
Honor Societies for Freshmen
Freshmen who earn a grade point average of 3.500 or better for their first semester are eligible for membership in the Vanderbilt chapters of Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Lambda Delta.
